Here I’ll show you how to get SQL Server up and running on your Mac in less than half an hour. And the best part is, you’ll have SQL Server running locally without needing any virtualization software.

Prior to SQL Server 2017, if you wanted to run SQL Server on your Mac, you first had to create a virtual machine (using VirtualBox, Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, or Bootcamp), then install Windows onto that VM, then finally SQL Server. This is still a valid option depending on your requirements (here’s how to install SQL Server on a Mac with VirtualBox if you’d like to try that method).

If the Self Service application is installed on the Mac computer, it can be used to install SQL Developer. The benefit of installing from Self Service is that SQL Developer is preconfigured to work with the Data Warehouse. If Self Service is not available on the computer, SQL Developer can be manually installed and configured. It usually boils down to SQL Developer not being able to find and use the proper JDK. Either the JDK was removed and replaced with a JRE, or maybe you ended up with Java 9 or 10 on your machine, which won’t work at all with SQL Developer. So the first thing I like to see is if my machine already has Java.

Starting with SQL Server 2017, you can now install SQL Server directly on to a Linux machine. And because macOS is Unix based (and Linux is Unix based), you can run SQL Server for Linux on your Mac. The way to do this is to run SQL Server on Docker.

So let’s go ahead and install Docker. Then we’ll download and install SQL Server.

Install Docker
Download the (free) Docker Community Edition for Mac (unless you’ve already got it installed on your system). This will enable you to run SQL Server from within a Docker container.
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.
What is Docker?
Docker is a platform that enables software to run in its own isolated environment. SQL Server (from 2017) can be run on Docker in its own isolated container. Once Docker is installed, you simply download — or “pull” — the SQL Server on Linux Docker Image to your Mac, then run it as a Docker container. This container is an isolated environment that contains everything SQL Server needs to run.
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.
Increase the Memory (optional)
By default, Docker will have 2GB of memory allocated to it. SQL Server needs at least 2GB. However, it won’t hurt to increase it if you can.
In my case, I increased it to 4GB.
To do this, select Preferences from the little Docker icon in the top menu:
Then finish off by clicking Apply & Restart
Download SQL Server
Now that Docker is installed, we can download and install SQL Server for Linux.
Open a Terminal window and run the following command.
This downloads the latest SQL Server 2019 for Linux Docker image to your computer.
You can also check for the latest container version on the Docker website if you wish.

Launch the Docker Image

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

But of course, use your own name and password. Also, if you downloaded a different Docker image, replace mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-latest with the one you downloaded.

Here’s an explanation of the parameters:

`-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.
`--name sql_server_demo`	Another optional parameter. This parameter allows you to name the container. This can be handy when stopping and starting your 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 have SQL Server for Linux run on your Mac.
`-e 'SA_PASSWORD=reallyStrongPwd123'`	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.
`mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2019-latest`	This tells Docker which image to use. If you downloaded a different one, use it instead.

Password Strength

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

I received this error when using reallyStrongPwd as the password (but of course, it’s not a really strong password!). I was able to overcome this by adding some numbers to the end. However, if it wasn’t just a demo I’d definitely make it stronger than a few dictionary words and numbers.

Check the Docker container (optional)
You can type the following command to check that the Docker container is running.
If it’s up and running, it should return something like this:
Install sql-cli (unless already installed)
Run the following command to install the sql-cli command line tool. This tool allows you to run queries and other commands against your SQL Server instance.
This assumes you have NodeJs installed. If you don’t, download it from Nodejs.org first. Installing NodeJs will automatically install npm which is what we use in this command to install sql-cli.
Permissions Error?
If you get an error, and part of it reads something like Please try running this command again as root/Administrator, try again, but this time prepend sudo to your command:
Connect to SQL Server
Now that sql-cli is installed, we can start working with SQL Server via the Terminal window on our Mac.
Connect to SQL Server using the mssql command, followed by the username and password parameters.
You should see something like this:
This means you’ve successfully connected to your instance of SQL Server.
Run a Quick Test
Run a quick test to check that SQL Server is up and running and you can query it.
For example, you can run the following command to see which version of SQL Server your running:
If it’s running, you should see something like this (but of course, this will depend on which version you’re running):
If you see a message like this, congratulations — SQL Server is now up and running on your Mac!

A SQL Server GUI for your Mac – Azure Data Studio

Sql Server For Mac

Azure Data Studio (formerly SQL Operations 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

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).

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.

Limitations of SQL Server for Linux/Mac

Sql Developer For Mac Not Working Mac

SQL Server for Linux does have some limitations when compared to the Windows editions (although this could change over time). The Linux release doesn’t include many of the extra services that are available in the Windows release, such as Analysis Services, Reporting Services, etc. Here’s a list of what’s available and what’s not on SQL Server 2017 for Linux and here’s Microsoft’s list of Editions

Install Docker

What is Docker?

Launch Docker

Increase the Memory (optional)

Download SQL Server

Launch the Docker Image

Password Strength

Check the Docker container (optional)

Install sql-cli (unless already installed)

Permissions Error?

Connect to SQL Server

Run a Quick Test

A SQL Server GUI for your Mac – Azure Data Studio

Sql Server For Mac

Another Free SQL Server GUI – DBeaver

Limitations of SQL Server for Linux/Mac

Sql Developer For Mac Not Working Mac