Stable Release v7.0.0

This is the general availability release of Microsoft.Data.SqlClient 7.0, a major milestone for the .NET data provider for SQL Server. This release addresses the most upvoted issue in the repository's history — extracting Azure dependencies from the core package — introduces pluggable SSPI authentication, adds enhanced routing for Azure SQL Hyperscale, and delivers async read performance improvements.

Also released as part of this milestone:

• Released Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions 1.0.0. See release notes.
• Released Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure 1.0.0. See release notes.
• Released Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging 1.0.0. See release notes.
• Released Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider 7.0.0. See release notes.

Changes Since 7.0.0-preview4

Added

• Added actionable error message when Entra ID authentication methods are used without the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure package installed, guiding users to install the correct package. (#3962, #4046)
• Added Azure authentication sample application. (#3988)

Changed

Other changes

• Renamed the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Logging package to Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging to indicate it is for internal use only and should not be referenced directly by application code. (#4038)
• Fixed non-localized exception strings. (#4022)
• Codebase merge and cleanup: (#3997, #4052)
• Various test improvements: (#3891, #3996, #4002, #4034, #4041, #4044)
• Documentation improvements (including Entra ID branding updates): (#4021, #4047, #4049)
• Updated Dependencies (#4045):
  • Updated Azure.Core to v1.51.1
  • Updated Azure.Identity to v1.18.0
  • Updated Azure.Security.KeyVault.Keys to v4.9.0
  • Updated Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory to v9.0.13 (.NET 9.0)
  • Updated Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens to v8.16.0
  • Updated Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect to v8.16.0
  • Updated Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography to v9.0.13 (.NET 9.0)
  • Updated System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager to v9.0.13 (.NET 9.0)
  • Updated System.Diagnostics.DiagnosticSource to v10.0.3
  • Updated System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs to v9.0.13 (.NET 9.0)
  • Updated System.Text.Json to v10.0.3
  • Updated System.Threading.Channels to v10.0.3
  • Updated System.ValueTuple to v4.6.2

Cumulative Changes Since 6.1

This section summarizes all changes across the 7.0 preview cycle for users upgrading from the latest 6.1 stable release.

Changed

Azure Dependencies Removed from Core Package

What Changed:

• The core Microsoft.Data.SqlClient package no longer depends on Azure.Core, Azure.Identity, or their transitive dependencies (e.g., Microsoft.Identity.Client, Microsoft.Web.WebView2). Azure Active Directory / Entra ID authentication functionality (ActiveDirectoryAuthenticationProvider and related types) has been extracted into a new Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure package. (#1108, #3680, #3902, #3904, #3908, #3917, #3982, #3978, #3986)
• Two additional packages were introduced to support this separation: Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions (shared types between the core driver and extensions) and Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging (shared ETW tracing infrastructure). (#3626, #3628, #3967, #4038)

Who Benefits:

• All users benefit from a significantly lighter core package. Previously, the Azure dependency chain pulled in numerous assemblies even for applications that only needed basic SQL Server connectivity. This was the most upvoted open issue in the repository.
• Users who do not use Entra ID authentication no longer carry Azure-related assemblies in their build output.
• Users who do use Entra ID authentication can now manage Azure dependency versions independently from the core driver.

Impact:

• Applications using Entra ID authentication (e.g., ActiveDirectoryInteractive, ActiveDirectoryDefault, ActiveDirectoryManagedIdentity, etc.) must now install the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure NuGet package separately:

dotnet add package Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure

• No code changes are required beyond adding the package reference.
• If an Entra ID authentication method is used without the Azure package installed, the driver now provides an actionable error message guiding users to install the correct package.

Added

Pluggable Authentication with SspiContextProvider

What Changed:

• Added a public SspiContextProvider property on SqlConnection, completing the SSPI extensibility work begun in 6.1.0. Applications can now supply a custom SSPI context provider for integrated authentication, enabling custom Kerberos ticket negotiation and NTLM username/password authentication scenarios. (#2253, #2494)

Who Benefits:

• Users authenticating across untrusted domains, non-domain-joined machines, or cross-platform environments where configuring integrated authentication is difficult.
• Users running in containers who need manual Kerberos negotiation without deploying sidecars or external ticket-refresh mechanisms.
• Users who need NTLM username/password authentication to SQL Server, which the driver does not provide natively.

Impact:

• Applications can set a custom SspiContextProvider on SqlConnection before opening the connection:

var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
connection.SspiContextProvider = new MyKerberosProvider();
connection.Open();

• The provider handles the authentication token exchange during integrated authentication. Existing authentication behavior is unchanged when no custom provider is set. See SspiContextProvider_CustomProvider.cs for a sample implementation.
• Note: The SspiContextProvider is part of the connection pool key. Care should be taken when using this property to ensure the implementation returns a stable identity per resource.

Async Read Performance: Packet Multiplexing (Preview)

What Changed:

• Continued refinement of packet multiplexing with bug fixes and stability improvements since 6.1.0, plus new app context switches for opt-in control. (#3534, #3537, #3605)

Who Benefits:

• Applications performing large async reads (ExecuteReaderAsync with big result sets, streaming scenarios, or bulk data retrieval).

Impact:

• Packet multiplexing ships behind two opt-in feature switches:

AppContext.SetSwitch("Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.UseCompatibilityAsyncBehaviour", false);
AppContext.SetSwitch("Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.UseCompatibilityProcessSni", false);

• Setting both switches to false enables the new async processing path. By default, the driver uses the existing (compatible) behavior.

Enhanced Routing Support

What Changed:

• Added support for enhanced routing, a TDS feature that allows the server to redirect connections to a specific server and database during login. (#3641, #3969, #3970, #3973)

Who Benefits:

• Users connecting to Azure SQL Hyperscale environments that use named read replicas and gateway-based load balancing.

Impact:

• Enhanced routing is negotiated automatically during login when the server supports it. No application code changes are required.

Support for .NET 10

What Changed:

• Updated pipelines and test suites to compile the driver using the .NET 10 SDK. (#3686)

Who Benefits:

• Developers targeting .NET 10 on day one.

Impact:

• SqlClient 7.0 compiles and tests against .NET 10, ensuring compatibility.

Strongly-Typed Diagnostic Events on .NET Framework

What Changed:

• Enabled SqlClientDiagnosticListener for SqlCommand on .NET Framework, closing a long-standing observability gap where diagnostic events were previously only emitted on .NET Core. (#3658)

• Brought the 15 strongly-typed diagnostic event classes in the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Diagnostics namespace — originally introduced for .NET Core in 6.0 — to .NET Framework as part of the codebase merge. Both platforms now use the same strongly-typed event model. The types cover command, connection, and transaction lifecycle events:

  • SqlClientCommandBefore, SqlClientCommandAfter, SqlClientCommandError
  • SqlClientConnectionOpenBefore, SqlClientConnectionOpenAfter, SqlClientConnectionOpenError
  • SqlClientConnectionCloseBefore, SqlClientConnectionCloseAfter, SqlClientConnectionCloseError
  • SqlClientTransactionCommitBefore, SqlClientTransactionCommitAfter, SqlClientTransactionCommitError
  • SqlClientTransactionRollbackBefore, SqlClientTransactionRollbackAfter, SqlClientTransactionRollbackError

  (#3493)

Who Benefits:

• .NET Framework users subscribing to SqlClientDiagnosticListener events for observability, distributed tracing, or custom telemetry. These users now have parity with .NET Core, gaining IntelliSense, compile-time safety, and eliminating the need to access diagnostic payloads via reflection or dictionary lookups.

Impact:

• On .NET Framework, SqlCommand now emits the same diagnostic events that were previously only available on .NET Core. Subscribers to DiagnosticListener events (e.g., Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.WriteCommandBefore) receive the strongly-typed objects:

listener.Subscribe(new Observer<KeyValuePair<string, object?>>(kvp =>
{
    if (kvp.Value is SqlClientCommandBefore before)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Executing: {before.Command.CommandText}");
    }
}));

• The types implement IReadOnlyList<KeyValuePair<string, object>> for backward compatibility with code that iterates properties generically.

Other Additions

• Added SqlConfigurableRetryFactory.BaselineTransientErrors static property exposing the default transient error codes list as a ReadOnlyCollection<int>, making it easier to extend the default list with application-specific error codes. (#3903)
• Added app context switch Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.EnableMultiSubnetFailoverByDefault to set MultiSubnetFailover=true globally without modifying connection strings. (#3841)
• Added app context switch Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.IgnoreServerProvidedFailoverPartner to let the client ignore server-provided failover partner info in Basic Availability Groups. (#3625)
• Enabled User Agent Feature Extension (opt-in via Switch.Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.EnableUserAgent). (#3606)

Changed

Deprecation of SqlAuthenticationMethod.ActiveDirectoryPassword

What Changed:

• SqlAuthenticationMethod.ActiveDirectoryPassword (the ROPC flow) is now marked [Obsolete] and will generate compiler warnings. This aligns with Microsoft's move toward mandatory multifactor authentication. (#3671)

Who Benefits:

• Teams moving toward stronger, passwordless or MFA-compliant authentication.

Impact:

• If you use Authentication=Active Directory Password, migrate to a supported alternative:

Scenario	Recommended Authentication
Interactive / desktop apps	Active Directory Interactive
Service-to-service	Active Directory Service Principal
Azure-hosted workloads	Active Directory Managed Identity
Developer / CI environments	Active Directory Default

• See Connect to Azure SQL with Microsoft Entra authentication for more information.

Breaking Changes

• Reverted public visibility of internal interop enums (IoControlCodeAccess and IoControlTransferType) that were accidentally made public during the project merge. (#3900)

Other Changes

• Removed Constrained Execution Region error handling blocks and associated SqlConnection cleanup. (#3535)
• Performance improvements across SqlStatistics timing, Always Encrypted scenarios, and connection opening: (#3609, #3612, #3732, #3660, #3791, #3772, #3554)
• Allow SqlBulkCopy to operate on hidden columns. (#3590)
• Updated UserAgent feature to use a pipe-delimited format, replacing the previous JSON format. (#3826)
• Minor improvements to Managed SNI tracing to capture continuation events and errors. (#3859)

Fixed

• Fixed a connection performance regression where SPN generation was triggered for non-integrated authentication modes (e.g., SQL authentication) on the native SNI path. (#3929)
• Fixed ExecuteScalar to propagate errors when the server sends data followed by an error token. (#3912)
• Fixed NullReferenceException in SqlDataAdapter when processing batch scenarios. (#3857)
• Fixed reading of multiple app context switches from a single AppContextSwitchOverrides configuration field. (#3960)
• Fixed an edge case in TdsParserStateObject.TryReadPlpBytes where zero-length reads returned null instead of an empty array. (#3872)
• Fixed issue where extra connection deactivation was occurring. (#3758)
• Fixed debug assertion in connection pool (no impact to production code). (#3587)
• Prevented uninitialized performance counters escaping CreatePerformanceCounters. (#3623)
• Fixed SetProvider to return immediately if user-defined authentication provider found. (#3620)
• Fixed connection pool concurrency issue. (#3632)

Contributors

We thank the following public contributors. Their efforts toward this project are very much appreciated.

• edwardneal
• ErikEJ
• frankbuckley
• MatthiasHuygelen
• ShreyaLaxminarayan
• tetolv
• twsouthwick
• Wraith2

Target Platform Support

• .NET Framework 4.6.2+ (Windows x86, Windows x64, Windows ARM64)
• .NET 8.0+ (Windows x86, Windows x64, Windows ARM, Windows ARM64, Linux, macOS)

Dependencies

.NET 9.0

• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 9.0.13
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 9.0.13
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 8.16.0
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 8.16.0
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server 1.0.0
• System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 9.0.13
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 9.0.13

.NET 8.0

• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 8.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 8.16.0
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 8.16.0
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server 1.0.0
• System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 8.0.1
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 8.0.1

.NET Standard 2.0

• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 8.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.runtime 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 8.16.0
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 8.16.0
• Microsoft.SqlServer.Server 1.0.0
• System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager 8.0.1
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 8.0.1
• System.Text.Json 10.0.3
• System.Threading.Channels 10.0.3

.NET Framework 4.6.2+

• Microsoft.Bcl.Cryptography 8.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Abstractions 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Internal.Logging 1.0.0
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI 6.0.2
• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory 8.0.1
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens 8.16.0
• Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect 8.16.0
• System.Buffers 4.6.1
• System.Diagnostics.DiagnosticSource 10.0.3
• System.Memory 4.6.3
• System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation 4.3.0
• System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 8.0.1
• System.Text.Json 10.0.3
• System.Threading.Channels 10.0.3
• System.ValueTuple 4.6.2