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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Encrypt=true requests encrypted communication between a PHP application and SQL Server. It does not, by itself, establish that the server is who it claims to be: that is controlled separately by TrustServerCertificate. For production, use a certificate the client can validate and keep TrustServerCertificate=false.
What Encrypt does—and what it does not do
Microsoft’s PHP drivers define Encrypt=true (or 1) as encrypted communication and Encrypt=false (or 0) as unencrypted communication. Encryption protects data in transit between the application and database.
Certificate validation is a separate setting. With TrustServerCertificate=false, the driver validates the server certificate; with true, it accepts a self-signed certificate without that validation. Encryption with validation is the safer production configuration. Microsoft’s PHP connection-options reference documents the options and their defaults.
How Encrypt and TrustServerCertificate work together
| Encrypt | TrustServerCertificate | Effect |
|---|---|---|
true |
false (default) |
Requests encrypted communication and validates the server certificate. |
true |
true |
Requests encrypted communication but bypasses certificate validation. |
false |
false |
Requests unencrypted communication; certificate validation is not the safeguard for this connection. |
Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance warns that TrustServerCertificate=true disables server certificate validation and says not to carry that setting into production, staging, or shared environments. Use a trusted certificate rather than treating this option as a permanent certificate-error fix. See Microsoft’s connection troubleshooting guidance.
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Set the options in SQLSRV or PDO_SQLSRV
The SQLSRV procedural API and PDO_SQLSRV use the same connection-option semantics, but express connection settings differently.
SQLSRV procedural API
Pass the options as an array to sqlsrv_connect:
$serverName = "db.example.com";
$connectionOptions = [
"Database" => "appdb",
"Encrypt" => true,
"TrustServerCertificate" => false
];
$conn = sqlsrv_connect($serverName, $connectionOptions);PDO_SQLSRV
Include the options in the PDO connection string:
$pdo = new PDO(
"sqlsrv:Server=db.example.com;Database=appdb;Encrypt=true;TrustServerCertificate=false",
$username,
$password
);These examples explicitly request encryption and certificate validation. Supply a server name that matches the certificate identity and ensure the certificate chain is trusted by the PHP host.
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Does Microsoft Entra authentication change the default?
Yes. When an Authentication keyword is present, Microsoft documents that Encrypt defaults to true. The server certificate is still validated unless TrustServerCertificate=true. This applies to documented Microsoft Entra managed identity, service-principal, and password authentication flows. Because defaults can depend on the complete connection configuration, review the entire connection string rather than assuming a setting from one keyword alone. Microsoft lists the authentication and encryption option behavior.
Fix certificate errors without disabling validation
A TLS connection failure commonly points to a certificate chain the client does not trust or a mismatch between the hostname used to connect and the certificate’s name. Check both before changing driver options.
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- Install or configure the certificate chain so the machine running PHP trusts the issuing certificate authority.
- Keep
TrustServerCertificate=falseand retry the connection. If it still fails, use the driver’s error details to identify whether the remaining issue is the chain, name, or TLS setup.
Setting TrustServerCertificate=true may hide a validation error, but it removes the check that detects an unverified server identity. Do not use it to get a shared or production deployment working.
Check PHP and driver compatibility before deployment
Driver support depends on the PHP version and driver release. At the time represented by Microsoft’s download page, Microsoft Drivers 5.13.3 for PHP for SQL Server was listed as the latest general-availability release. The drivers support SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, SQL database in Fabric, and Azure SQL Managed Instance; confirm your specific PHP and driver pairing in Microsoft’s support matrix before deploying.
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- Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server downloads
- PHP driver support matrix and system requirements
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