How to install SQL Server on MacOS

 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

3. 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:*

      docker pull microsoft/mssql-server-linux

      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.

      docker ps

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

      CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                          COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                    NAMES
      740fcb5193c6        microsoft/mssql-server-linux   "/bin/sh -c /opt/m..."   33 seconds ago      Up 31 seconds       0.0.0.0:1433->1433/tcp   Homer
      

      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:

• 1) 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).

       

2)  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.

       

3 ) 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.