Install and Run SQL Server Docker Container on Mac

Like most people, I use Mac , Windows as well Linux OS for development and testing purposes. Primarily I use Mac for Development purpose. I have few projects which uses SQL Server as Data Storage Layer. Setting up Docker Container on Mac and Opening up the ports was pretty easy and doesn’t take more than 10 Minutes.

Steps followed :

• Install Docker
• Pull SQL Server Docker Image
• Run SQL Server Docker Image
• Install mssql Client
• Install Kitematic
• Open the Ports to connect to SQL Server from the network
• Setup port forwarding to enable access outside the network

Install Docker :

Get Docker dmg image and install. Just follow the prompts and its very straight forward. 
https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/install/#download-docker-for-mac https://download.docker.com/mac/stable/Docker.dmg

Once you have installed docker , you can verify the installation and version.

                bash-3.2$ docker -v
        Docker version 17.09.0-ce, build afdb6d4 

Pull SQL Server Docker Image ( DEV Version )

                docker pull microsoft/mssql-server-linux:2017-latest 

Create SQL Server Container from the Image and Expose it on port 1433 ( Default Port )

                docker run -d --name macsqlserver -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y' -e 'SA_PASSWORD=Passw1rd' -e 'MSSQL_PID=Developer' -p 1433:1433 microsoft/mssql-server-linux:2017-latest 

-d: this launches the container in daemon mode, so it runs in the background

--name name_your_container (macsqlserver): give your Docker container a friendly name, which is useful for stopping and starting containers from the Terminal.

-e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y: this sets an environment variable in the container named ACCEPT_EULAto the value Y. This is required to run SQL Server for Linux.

-e 'SA_PASSWORD=Passw1rd': this sets an environment variable for the sa database password. Set this to your own strong password. Also required.

-e 'MSSQL_PID=Developer': this sets an environment variable to instruct SQL Server to run as the Developer Edition.

-p 1433:1433: this maps the local port 1433 to the container’s port 1433. SQL Server, by default, listens for connections on TCP port 1433.

microsoft/mssql-server-linux: this final parameter tells Docker which image to use

Install SQL Client for MAC

If you don’t have npm installed in Mac, install homebrew and node.

                ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
        brew install node
        node -v
        npm -v 

                $ npm install -g sql-cli
         
        /usr/local/bin/mssql -> /usr/local/lib/node_modules/sql-cli/bin/mssql
        /usr/local/lib
        └── [email protected]
         
        $ npm i -g npm 

Connect to SQL Server Instance

                $ mssql -u sa -p Passw1rd
        Connecting to localhost...done
         
        sql-cli version 0.6.2
        Enter ".help" for usage hints.
        mssql> select * from sys.dm_exec_connections 

Get External Tools to Manage Docker

Kitematic

https://kitematic.com/

Open Up the Firewall to connect to SQL Server from outside the Host

Ensure your firewall is configured to allow the connections to the SQL Server. I turned of “Block all incoming connections” and enabled “Automatically allow downloaded signed software to receive incoming connections”. Without proper firewall configurations, you won’t be able to connect to the SQL Server outside the host.

        telnet 69.11.122.159 1433 

        $ docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                                      COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                    NAMES
9ea3a24563f9        microsoft/mssql-server-linux:2017-latest   "/bin/sh -c /opt/m..."   About an hour ago   Up About an hour    0.0.0.0:1433->1433/tcp   macsqlserver
$ docker logs macsqlserver
2017-10-08 23:06:52.29 Server      Setup step is copying system data file 
'C:\templatedata\master.mdf' to '/var/opt/mssql/data/master.mdf'.
2017-10-08 23:06:52.36 Server      Setup step is copying system data file 
'C:\templatedata\mastlog.ldf' to '/var/opt/mssql/data/mastlog.ldf'.
2017-10-08 23:06:52.36 Server      Setup step is copying system data file 
'C:\templatedata\model.mdf' to '/var/opt/mssql/data/model.mdf'.
2017-10-08 23:06:52.38 Server      Setup step is copying system data file 
'C:\templatedata\modellog.ldf' to '/var/opt/mssql/data/modellog.ldf'.