Purpose

The purpose of this article is to teach you the process of assigning the sa Password on a newly installed SQL Server using Enterprise Manager.

Assigning sa password

System administrator (sa) is a special login provided for backward compatibility. By default, it is assigned to the sysadmin fixed server role and cannot be changed. Use 'sa' only when there is no other way to log in to an instance of Microsoft SQL Server. When you install Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Setup does not assign a password to the 'sa' login. Assign a password to 'sa' after a server is installed. An 'sa' password is assigned if the server security is set for Mixed Mode. If the server is set for Windows Authentication Mode, an 'sa' password is not necessary, because 'sa' is a SQL Server login.

The following steps describe you the process of  assigning the sa Password on a newly installed SQL Server using Enterprise Manager.

1. Click Start, go to Programs, then go to Microsoft SQL Server and then click Enterprise Manager.

2. Expand Security, click Logins.

3. Now under Name list, right click sa and then click Properties.

4. Type password in Password field and click OK.

4. Type the password again in the Confirm new password field, and click OK.