With SQL Server 2017, you can run SQL Server on Linux, and can even host your own docker container without using Windows at all (I am doing this on my Macs right now - and I wrote about it here). VS Code, Visual Studio, and Operations Studio now run natively on the Mac.

• Download an evaluation version of dbForge Studio for SQL Server and try it out for free during 30 days.
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• Nov 06, 2019.
• SQL Server Management Studio by Microsoft Corporation is a program that was designed for configuring, managing and administrating SQL Server databases. Since SQL Server Management Studio for Mac cannot be found, you may give these applications a try instead.

Install SQL Server directly to your Mac — no virtual machine required!

Microsoft has made SQL Server available for macOS and Linux systems. This is made possible by running SQL Server from a Docker container. Therefore, there's no need to install a virtual machine with Windows (which was the only way to run SQL Server on a Mac prior to SQL Server 2017).

Install and Configure Docker

This is a prerequisite for installing SQL Server on your Mac. Because the Mac runs SQL Server inside a Docker container, the first thing we need to do is download and install Docker (unless it's already installed). Once installed, we'll increase its memory allocation to a more suitable level for running SQL Server.

1. Download Docker from the download page, extract it, and drag it into your Application folder.
2. Launch Docker, and go to Preferences > Advanced and increase its memory allocation to 4GB

If I've confused you, don't worry. I've written a tutorial with screenshots: Install Docker on a Mac and Configure for SQL Server.

OK, we're now ready to install SQL Server on your Mac.

Now the Actual SQL Server Installation

Now that we've installed Docker and increased its memory allocation, we can go ahead and install SQL Server. The Mac uses the Linux image (the SQL Server for Linux Docker image).

1. Pull the SQL Server Image

   Open a Terminal window and run the following command:*

   This pulls the latest SQL Server for Linux Docker image to your computer.

   * The exact command will depend on which release you download. Also, since I wrote this article, Docker has moved the repository for SQL Server. You might need to use docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2017-latest-ubuntu to download SQL Server 2017.

   Also, SQL Server 2019 Preview has been available since late 2018. As of late 2019 you can download it at docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-CTP3.2-ubuntu.

   For the latest image, see the official Microsoft repository on the Docker website.

2. Launch the SQL Server Image

   Run the following command to launch an instance of the Docker image you just downloaded:

   docker run -d --name Homer -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y' -e 'SA_PASSWORD=myPassw0rd' -p 1433:1433 microsoft/mssql-server-linux

   Replace the container name and password with your own. Also be sure to make a strong password, or you may get an error (see below).

   Also, if you downloaded a different container image, replace microsoft/mssql-server-linux with your container image.

   Here's an explanation of the above parameters:

   -d

   This is an optional parameter that launches the Docker container in daemon mode. This means that it runs in the background and doesn't need its own Terminal window open. You can omit this parameter to have the container run in its own Terminal window.

   --name Homer

   This optional parameter provides a name for the container. This can be handy when stopping and starting the container from the Terminal.

   -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y'

   The Y shows that you agree with the EULA (End User Licence Agreement). This is required in order to install SQL Server.

   -e 'SA_PASSWORD=myPassw0rd'

   Required parameter that sets the sa database password.

   -p 1433:1433

   This maps the local port 1433 to port 1433 on the container. This is the default TCP port that SQL Server uses to listen for connections.

   microsoft/mssql-server-linux

   This tells Docker which image to use. If you downloaded a different one, use that instead.

   Password Strength

   If you get the following error at this step, try again, but with a stronger password.

   Microsoft(R) SQL Server(R) setup failed with error code 1. Please check the setup log in /var/opt/mssql/log for more information.

3. Check the Docker container (optional)

   Type the following command to check that the Docker container is running.

   If it's up and running, it should return something like this:

   Show All Containers

   The above command only shows those containers that are currently running. To show all containers (whether they're running or not), append the -a flag to the command (you can also use -all):

   docker ps -a OR docker ps -all

Check your Installation & Manage SQL Server

Now that you've installed SQL Server on your Mac, you'll probably want to check that you can access it and query it, etc. Then you'll probably want to start creating databases and doing other DB-related tasks. You'll need some sort of management tool for this.

Here are three options:

• sql-cli

  sql-cli is a cross platform command line tool for SQL Server. This means you can create databases and query them right from your Mac's Terminal window.

  Installation is as easy as running a single command (assuming you already have NodeJs installed).

• Azure Data Studio

  Azure Data Studio (formerly called SQL Operations Studio) is a free GUI tool from Microsoft. It's a bit more user friendly for those who aren't comfortable with the command line interface.

  Installation is as easy as downloading it and dragging it to your Applications folder.

• DBeaver

  Another GUI option is DBeaver. DBeaver is a free open source database tool that works with many different database management systems (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Sybase, MS Access, Teradata, Firebird, Derby, etc).

  You have a few options for installing DBeaver. The easiest way is to download the 'installer option', and then run the installation wizard.

I previously explained how to install SQL Server on a Mac via a Docker container. When I wrote that, SQL Server 2017 was the latest version of SQL Server, and it had just been made available for Linux and Docker (which means that you can also install it on MacOS systems).

In late 2018, Microsoft announced SQL Server 2019 Preview, and subsequently announced general release in late 2019. The installation process for SQL Server 2019 is exactly the same as for SQL Server 2017. The only difference is that you need to use the container image for SQL Server 2019 instead of the 2017 image. Here I show you how to do that.

Also, if you already have SQL Server 2017 installed, and you want to install SQL Server 2019 without removing the 2017 version, you’ll need to allocate a different port number on your host. I show you how to do that too.

Docker

The first step is to install Docker. If you already have Docker installed you can skip this step (and jump straight to SQL Server).

Docker is a platform that enables software to run in its own isolated environment. Therefore, SQL Server 2019 can be run on Docker in its own isolated container.

1. Install Docker

   To download, visit the Docker CE for Mac download page and click Get Docker.

   To install, double-click on the .dmg file and then drag the Docker.app icon to your Application folder.

2. Launch Docker

   Launch Docker the same way you’d launch any other application (eg, via the Applications folder, the Launchpad, etc).

   When you open Docker, you might be prompted for your password so that Docker can install its networking components and links to the Docker apps. Go ahead and provide your password, as Docker needs this to run.

3. Increase the Memory

   By default, Docker will have 2GB of memory allocated to it. I’d suggest increasing it to 4GB if you can.

   To do this:

   1. Select Preferences from the little Docker icon in the top menu
   2. Slide the memory slider up to at least 4GB
   3. Click Apply & Restart

SQL Server

Now that Docker has been installed and configured, we can download and install SQL Server 2019.

1. Download SQL Server 2019

   Open a Terminal window and run the following command.

   This downloads the latest SQL Server for Linux Docker image to your computer.

   You can also check for the various container image options on the Docker website if you wish.

   Note that, at the time I wrote this article, I used the following image:

   Therefore, all examples below reflect that version.

2. Launch the Docker Image

   Run the following command to launch an instance of the Docker image you just downloaded:

   Just change Bart to a name of your choosing, and reallyStrongPwd#123 to a password of your choosing.

   If you get a “port already allocated” error, see below.

   Here’s an explanation of the parameters:

   -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y'

   The Y shows that you agree with the EULA (End User Licence Agreement). This is required.

   -e 'SA_PASSWORD=reallyStrongPwd#123'

   Required parameter that sets the sa database password.

   -p 1433:1433

   This maps the local port 1433 to port 1433 on the container. The first value is the TCP port on the host environment. The second value is the TCP port in the container.

   --name Bart

   Another optional parameter. This parameter allows you to name the container. This can be handy when stopping and starting your container from the Terminal. You might prefer to give it a more descriptive name like sql_server_2019 or similar.

   -d

   This optional parameter launches the Docker container in daemon mode. This means that it runs in the background and doesn’t need its own Terminal window open. You can omit this parameter to have the container run in its own Terminal window.

   mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-CTP3.2-ubuntu

   This tells Docker which image to use.

   Password Strength

   You need to use a strong password. Microsoft says this about the password:

   The password should follow the SQL Server default password policy, otherwise the container can not setup SQL server and will stop working. By default, the password must be at least 8 characters long and contain characters from three of the following four sets: Uppercase letters, Lowercase letters, Base 10 digits, and Symbols.

   Error – “Port already allocated”?

   If you get an error that says something about “port is already allocated”, then perhaps you already have SQL Server installed on another container that uses that port. In this case, you’ll need to map to a different port on the host.

   Therefore, you could change the above command to something like this:

   In this case I simply changed -p 1433:1433 to -p 1400:1433. Everything else remains the same.

   You may now get an error saying that you need to remove the existing container first. To do that, run the following (but swap Bart with the name of your own container):

   Once removed, you can try running the previous command again.

   Note that if you change the port like I’ve done here, you will probably need to include the port number when connecting to SQL Server from any database tools from your desktop. For example, when connecting via the Azure Data Studio (mentioned below), you can connect by using Localhost,1400 instead of just Localhost. Same with mssql-cli, which is a command line SQL tool.

Check Everything

Now that we’ve done that, we should be good to go. Let’s go through and run a few checks.

1. Check the Docker container (optional)

   You can type the following command to check that the Docker container is running.

   In my case I get this:

   This tells me that I have two docker containers up and running: one called Bart and the other called Homer.

2. Connect to SQL Server

   Here we use the SQL Server command line tool called “sqlcmd” inside the container to connect to SQL Server.

   Enter your password if prompted.

   Now that you’re inside the container, connect locally with sqlcmd:

   This should bring you to the sqlcmd prompt 1>.

3. Run a Quick Test

   Run a quick test to check that SQL Server is up and running. For example, check the SQL Server version by entering this:

   This will bring you to a command prompt 2> on the next line. To execute the query, enter:

   Result:

   If you see a message like this, congratulations — SQL Server is now up and running on your Mac!

   If you prefer to use a GUI to manage SQL Server, read on.

Azure Data Studio

Azure Data Studio is a free GUI management tool that you can use to manage SQL Server on your Mac. You can use it to create and manage databases, write queries, backup and restore databases, and more.

Azure Data Studio is available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Here are some articles/tutorials I’ve written for Azure Data Studio:

Another Free SQL Server GUI – DBeaver

Sql Server On Mac

Another SQL Server GUI tool that you can use on your Mac (and Windows/Linux/Solaris) is DBeaver.

DBeaver is a free, open source database management tool that can be used on most database management systems (such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Sybase, Microsoft Access, Teradata, Firebird, Derby, and more).

Mac Os Sql Server

I wrote a little introduction to DBeaver, or you can go straight to the DBeaver download page and try it out with your new SQL Server installation.