Below is a quick reference guide of operating systems supported by the various SQL Server versions
Windows
| Windows Server | 2008 | 2008 R2 | 2012 | 2012 R2 | 2016 | 2019 | 2022 |
| SQL Server 2005 |  | |  | | | | |
| SQL Server 2008 | | | 7 | 5 | | | |
| SQL Server 2008 R2 | | | 6 | 4 | | | |
| SQL Server 2012 | | | | 3 | 2 | | |
| SQL Server 2014 | 9 | 8 | | | 1 | | |
| SQL Server 2016 | | 10 | | | | | |
| SQL Server 2017 | | | | | | | |
| SQL Server 2019 | | | | | | | |
- Requires SQL Server 2014 SP1 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2012 SP2 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2012 SP1 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2008 SP3 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later ref: here
- Requires SQL Server 2008 SP3 or later ref: here
- Requires Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or later ref: here
- Requires Windows Server 2008 SP2 or later ref: here
- Reporting Services – SharePoint & Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint products can both be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 or later ref: here
Linux
| SQL Server 2017 | SQL Server 2019 | |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, or 7.6 Server | | |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Server | | |
| SUSE Enterprise Linux Server v12 SP2 | | |
| SUSE Enterprise Linux Server v12 SP3, SP4, or SP5 | | |
| Ubuntu 16.04LTS | | |
| Ubuntu 18.04 | |
Docker
| SQL Server 2017 | SQL Server 2019 | |
| Docker Engine 1.8+ on Windows, Mac, or Linux | | |