Installation

System requirements

• Operating system: Windows 10, 11 and Windows Server (64-bit). Windows 10, Windows 11 and the current Windows Server releases are supported; 32-bit Windows is not.
• Java: no separate installation required. A private JRE 21 ships inside the application directory and is used only by SQL DATA LENS, so there is no system-wide Java to install or patch, no conflict with a different Java version another application needs, and no Oracle Java licensing question to answer.
• Disk space: about ~130 MB for the download, a little more once unpacked — the bundled runtime and the JDBC drivers make up most of it.
• Rights: a normal user account is enough for both distributions.
• Database side: nothing. No agent, no server-side classes and no configuration change on the IRIS or Caché instance. The InterSystems JDBC drivers are already in the box.

macOS and Linux builds are on the roadmap and are not available today.

Portable ZIP or installer?

Both packages contain the same application and the same features. Pick by how the machine is managed, not by what you want the software to do.

Portable ZIP

Everything is inside one ZIP archive. Unpack it with the ZIP extraction built into Windows Explorer, or with any archiver you already use, into a directory of your choice. Nothing is written to the registry, no Start-menu entry is created and no service is installed.

Windows installer

The installer download is a ZIP containing the signed setup program. Unpack it, run the setup and it guides you through the installation, creates the Start-menu entries and registers a signed uninstaller — so removing the application later does not raise an "unknown publisher" warning. The setup runs with the lowest privileges and does not ask for elevation.

File names for this release

Downloads are named after the build number and the build date, so a file on a software share always identifies itself. The current release is version 4.02 (build 4002, build date 20260904, published 4 September 2026).

The naming pattern is:

SQLDataLens_<build>_<builddate>.zip       portable ZIP
SQLDataLensSetup_<build>_<builddate>.zip  installer

Which for the current release means:

SQLDataLens_4002_20260904.zip
SQLDataLensSetup_4002_20260904.zip

<build> is the four-digit build number (4002 for version 4.02) and <builddate> is the build date as yyyymmdd. Both are visible in the application under Help → About, which is the quickest way to check which build a machine is actually running.

Download the current release →

Starting the application

Start SQL DATA LENS by running:

sqldl.exe

That is the entry point in both distributions — in the directory you unzipped, or behind the Start-menu shortcut the installer created. The executable is signed, so it can be verified and added to an application allow-list.

On first start there is no licence to enter and no account to create. Without a key the application runs as the Free Edition or as the 30-day Pro trial; a key entered under Help → Manage licence unlocks the Pro features in the same installation. See licence activation for the details.

Per-user installation and administrator rights

Neither distribution needs an administrator. The installer installs for the current user and writes inside that user's profile; the portable ZIP writes only into the directory you unpacked it into. Nothing is installed as a service, nothing hooks into system start-up, and nothing is deployed to the database server.

That is deliberate: in most of the environments this tool is used in, getting a change request approved for a desktop installation takes longer than evaluating the tool. If your policy blocks installers outright, use the portable ZIP from a directory in your profile or from a share.

Where settings and connections are stored

Configuration is per user, not per machine: connections, connection groups, window layout, editor options, saved SQL scripts and your Query Cloud definitions live in a configuration folder inside your Windows user profile, separate from the application directory. Connection passwords are stored there encrypted — see security and privacy for what is stored and what leaves the machine.

Two practical consequences. First, two users on the same machine keep separate connection lists. Second, replacing the application directory — which is what an update or a move to another folder does — leaves your connections and scripts untouched. If you are moving to a new computer, copy that configuration folder across and the estate is there as you left it. The exact folder is shown in the application under Help → About.

Updates

The application has a built-in updater that applies delta updates: it fetches only the changed parts of a build rather than the full ~130 MB download, so a routine update is a small patch. New releases are announced in what's new.

The update check itself is a version query and can be switched off in the settings if updates are controlled centrally in your organisation. In that case, roll out the new build the way you roll out everything else: replace the application directory for the portable distribution, or run the new installer. Your per-user configuration is not part of either package, so it survives.

Removing SQL DATA LENS

• Portable ZIP: delete the directory. That is the whole procedure.
• Installer: uninstall through Settings → Apps in Windows, or the uninstaller entry in the Start menu. The uninstaller is signed.
• Configuration and connections are kept on purpose, so that reinstalling does not lose your servers and scripts. Delete the per-user configuration folder as well if you want the machine returned to a clean state.
• Licences: if the machine is being decommissioned or handed to someone else, deactivate the licence first — that releases the activation so it can be used on the replacement machine. See deactivating a licence.
• On the database server: nothing to clean up. There was never anything installed there.

Troubleshooting

• The setup ends with a non-zero exit code. That happens mostly in unattended rollouts, where the message box is never seen. Every code the setup program can return is listed on installer and setup exit codes, with what to do about each one.
• Activation reports that the WMI repository is broken. The activation reads a hardware fingerprint through Windows Management Instrumentation, and on some machines WMI itself is damaged — usually after a failed driver installation or a "cleaner" utility. The fix is described step by step in WMI repository on this computer is broken.
• Activation cannot reach the licence server. If your network requires an authenticating proxy, enter the proxy details in the licence dialogue before activating, or use browser-based offline activation. Both routes are described on the licence activation page.
• A connection fails but the application starts fine. That is a connection problem rather than an installation problem: check the port, the namespace and the driver version — the driver should be the same release as the database server or newer. See the Server Navigator.
• Anything else. Write to support@sqldatalens.com with your build number, your Windows version and the exact message text. What to include in a report →