Home icon

Automate downgrading SQL Server to Developer edition on Amazon EC2

Microsoft Workloads on AWS Blog



This article provides a solution to automate the process of downgrading Microsoft SQL Server from Enterprise or Standard edition to the free Developer edition on Amazon EC2 instances, in order to save costs for non-production environments.

Specifically, the article covers:

  • Introduction to SQL Server Developer edition and its benefits for non-production workloads
  • Overview of the solution architecture using AWS CloudFormation and Systems Manager Automation
  • Prerequisites for running the solution
  • Step-by-step walkthrough to deploy and run the automation, including storing SQL Server credentials in Secrets Manager, creating the automation document, and executing the automation
  • How to verify the successful downgrade and retrieve local administrator credentials
  • Cleanup instructions to delete the created resources
  • Conclusion summarizing the benefits of the solution


Go to article

The AWS News Feed is currently looking for gold sponsors. If you want to support the AWS community and reach a large audience of AWS professionals, consider sponsoring the AWS News Feed.

Related articles

Jun 5
2024
How to automate an in-place upgrade of SQL Server on Amazon EC2
May 12
2026
Automate Microsoft SQL Server Developer Deployments on Amazon RDS
Dec 15
2025
Create a SQL Server Developer Edition instance on Amazon RDS for SQL Server
Nov 5
2025
Microsoft SQL Server Developer Edition now available through AWS Launch Wizard

The AWS News Feed is currently looking for silver sponsors. If you want to support the AWS community and reach a large audience of AWS professionals, consider sponsoring the AWS News Feed.