Installing the Netflix Sample Database in SQL Server

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The Netflix sample database is a sample database that can be used for learning and practicing SQL. It uses data from the Netflix Engagement Report and the Netflix Global Top 10 weekly list.

This guide covers the installation process and gets you running queries quickly. For more background on what this database is and why it’s useful for learning, see my introduction to the Netflix sample database.

1. Download the Script

The first step is to grab the SQL Server installation script from the GitHub repository:

https://github.com/lerocha/netflixdb/releases

For SQL Server, the file will probably be called something like netflixdb-sqlserver.zip. Unzip this file to get the .sql file (which will probably be called netflixdb-sqlserver.sql).

The scripts are updated regularly with the latest data, so you can repeat the process later, if you need more up-to-date data.

2. Create Your Database

Open your favorite database client (such as SSMS or VS Code) and connect to your SQL Server instance. Create a new database for the Netflix data:

CREATE DATABASE NetflixDB;
GO

USE NetflixDB;
GO

Feel free to use a different name if you prefer. Just make sure you’re working in that database for the next step. Our USE NetflixDB command already switched us over to it, so as long as you don’t switch to another DB, you’ll be fine).

3. Run the Installation Script

This is the easy part. With your NetflixDB database selected:

  1. Open the script in your database client (File > Open)
  2. Check that the database dropdown shows NetflixDB (confirming that you’re in the right DB)
  3. Hit Execute or press F5 (or other button/key, depending on your database client)

The script handles everything, including creating tables, setting up relationships, and loading all the data.

Here’s what the top of the script looks like:

Screenshot of the Netflix sample database script for SQL Server

It contained 16,745 lines when I ran it for this article, so it could take a little while to populate all the tables (it took 38 seconds on my system).

4. Check That It Worked

Once the script finishes, verify the installation:

-- See what tables were created
SELECT TABLE_NAME 
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
ORDER BY TABLE_NAME;

You should see several tables. Here are the tables returned when I ran this (using my command line tool):

TABLE_NAME  
------------
movie       
season      
tv_show     
view_summary

Now check that they have data:

-- Get row counts for all tables
SELECT 
    t.NAME AS TableName,
    p.rows AS RowCount
FROM 
    sys.tables t
    INNER JOIN sys.partitions p ON t.object_id = p.object_id
WHERE 
    t.is_ms_shipped = 0
    AND p.index_id IN (0,1)
ORDER BY 
    t.NAME;

Here’s what the query returned on my machine:

TableName     NumberOfRows
------------  ------------
movie         11922       
season        8555        
tv_show       4699        
view_summary  37225

Try a Query

Run a quick query to see the data:

SELECT TOP 10 title, runtime
FROM movie
ORDER BY modified_date DESC;

Result:

title                        runtime
---------------------------  -------
Despicable Me 3              90     
The Boss Baby                98     
Irish Wish                   94     
Minions                      91     
Atlas                        120    
Mother of the Bride          90     
The Super Mario Bros. Movie  92     
Under Paris                  104    
Society of the Snow          146    
Lift                         107

Explore the Schema

You can try running queries like this one:

-- View all columns for a specific table
SELECT 
    COLUMN_NAME,
    DATA_TYPE,
    CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH,
    IS_NULLABLE
FROM 
    INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE 
    TABLE_NAME = 'movie'
ORDER BY 
    ORDINAL_POSITION;

This returns all columns for a specific table (the movie table in this case):

COLUMN_NAME         DATA_TYPE       CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH  IS_NULLABLE
------------------  --------------  ------------------------  -----------
id                  bigint          null                      NO         
created_date        datetimeoffset  null                      NO         
modified_date       datetimeoffset  null                      NO         
available_globally  bit             null                      YES        
locale              varchar         10                        YES        
original_title      nvarchar        255                       YES        
release_date        date            null                      YES        
runtime             bigint          null                      YES        
title               nvarchar        255                       NO

Sample Queries

Here are a couple of queries to get you started exploring the Netflix data:

Search for content by title:

-- Find TV shows containing "love"
SELECT *
FROM tv_show
WHERE Title LIKE '%love%';

Filter by release year:

-- Find everything from 2023
SELECT *
FROM movie
WHERE YEAR(ReleaseDate) = 2023
ORDER BY ReleaseDate DESC;

Don’t forget that the data is updated regularly on the Github repo, so feel free to re-run the above steps whenever you need the latest data.