SQL Server 2019 Developer is a full-featured free edition, licensed for use as a development and test database in a non-production environment. Download now Express. Download Mac software in the Developer Tools category. Native macOS Gmail client that uses Google's API in order to provide you with the Gmail features you know and love, all in an efficient Swift-based app.
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).
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 prependsudo
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
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 Server Developer Download
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 and supported features of SQL Server 2019 on Linux.
Another limitation is that SQL Server Management Studio is not available on Mac or Linux. SSMS a full-blown GUI management for SQL Server, and it provides many more features than Azure Data Studio and DBeaver (at least at the time of writing). You can still use SSMS on a Windows machine to connect to SQL Server on a Linux or Mac machine, but you just can’t install it locally on the Linux or Mac machine.
If you need any of the features not supported in SQL Server for Linux, you’ll need SQL Server for Windows. However, you can still run SQL Server for Windows on your Mac by using virtualization software. Here’s how to install SQL Server for Windows on a Mac using VirtualBox.
Updated: January 1, 2021 Home » The Web » Web Tools, Services, and Resources
Sometimes you need to perform large query but the server has some limitation on processing power, this is where these free SQL editors come in handy. It allows you to perform the necessary query and changes locally on your computer and then upload the final file.
Alternative 2020 Article ➤ 6 Tools To Successfully Repair And Recover Corrupt SQL Database
Alternatively, these XAMPP like PHP development environment software also allows you to modify and edit SQL, only with extra steps when it comes to syncing it. RazorSQL is a popular SQL editor, however, it is not free. Below is the complete list of open source free SQL editor.
↓ 01 – Beekeeper Studio | Windows | Linux | macOS
Beekeeper Studio is an open source SQL Editor and database manager, you can use Beekeeper Studio to query and manage your relational databases, like MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, and SQL Server. Their mission is to improve technology accessibility by providing a free and open SQL editor and database manager that is full-featured and easy to use.
- Connect with Confidence – Alongside normal connections you can encrypt your connection with SSL, or tunnel through SSH. Save a connection password and Beekeeper Studio will make sure to encrypt it to keep it safe.
- SQL Auto Completion – Our built-in editor provides syntax highlighting and auto-complete suggestions for your tables so you can work quickly and easily.
- View Table Data – Tables get their own tabs too! Use our table view to sort and filter results by column.
↓ 02 – HeidiSQL | Windows
HeidiSQL is free software, and has the aim to be easy to learn. “Heidi” lets you see and edit data and structures from computers running one of the database systems MariaDB, MySQL, Microsoft SQL or PostgreSQL. Invented in 2002 by Ansgar, with a development peak between 2009 and 2013, HeidiSQL belongs to the most popular tools for MariaDB and MySQL worldwide.
- Connect to servers via commandline
- Connect via SSH tunnel, or pass SSL settings
- Export table rows as CSV, HTML, XML, SQL, LaTeX, Wiki Markup and PHP Array
- Browse and edit table-data using a comfortable grid
- Bulk edit tables (move to db, change engine, collation etc.)
- Batch-insert ascii or binary files into tables
- Write queries with customizable syntax-highlighting and code-completion
- Pretty reformat disordered SQL
- Monitor and kill client-processes
- Find specific text in all tables of all databases of one server
- Optimize and repair tables in a batch manner
↓ 03 – SQuirreL SQL | Windows | macOS | Linux
SQuirreL SQL Client is a graphical Java program that will allow you to view the structure of a JDBC compliant database, browse the data in tables, issue SQL commands etc. In theory SQuirreL should work with any DBMS that has a JDBC 2.0 driver. However not all drivers/DBMS’s are fully complient with the JDBC 2.0 specification. People have reported SQuirreL working with the following.
- Axion Java RDBMS.
- Daffodil (One$DB)
- Apache Derby (formerly Cloudscape) see Using SQuirreL SQL with Derby written by Susan Cline.
- Fujitsu Siemens SESAM/SQL-Server with the SESAM/SQL JDBC driver.
- Firebird with the JayBird JCA/JDBC Driver.
- FrontBase
- HSQL.
- Hypersonic SQL.
- H2
- IBM DB2 for Linux, OS/400 and Windows.
- Informix.
- CA Ingres 2.6 SP2 with EDBC driver v1.8 (probably works with Caribou Lake driver too).
- InstantDB.
- Interbase with the Interclient JDBC driver.
- Mckoi SQL.
- Microsoft Access with the JDBC/ODBC bridge.
- Microsoft SQL Server with the Microsoft, WebLogic and jTDS JDBC drivers.
- Mimer SQL
- MySQL with the MM MySQL JDBC driver.
- Netezza Data Warehouse with 4.0.4P2 Driver
- Oracle 8i, 9i and 10g with the Oracle thin and OCI drivers.
- Pointbase.
- PostgreSQL 7.1.3 and higher.
- Progress OpenEdge 10.1x.
- SAPDB.
- Sybase with the JConnect JDBC driver. There are currently some issues with Sybase JConnect 5.5 and SQuirreL 1.1 although JConnect 4.5 seems to work.
- Teradata Warehouse
- ThinkSQL RDBMS.
- Vertica Analytic Database
↓ 04 – MySQL Workbench | Windows | macOS | Linux
MySQL Workbench is a unified visual tool for database architects, developers, and DBAs. MySQL Workbench provides data modeling, SQL development, and comprehensive administration tools for server configuration, user administration, backup, and much more. MySQL Workbench is available on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
MySQL Workbench now provides a complete, easy to use solution for migrating Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Sybase ASE, PostreSQL, and other RDBMS tables, objects and data to MySQL. Developers and DBAs can quickly and easily convert existing applications to run on MySQL both on Windows and other platforms. Migration also supports migrating from earlier versions of MySQL to the latest releases.
↓ 05 – Execute Query | Windows | Linux
Execute Query is an operating system independent database utility written entirely in Java. Using the flexibility provided by Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), Execute Query provides a simple way to interact with almost any database from simple queries to table creation and import/export of an entire schema’s data.
Download Oracle Sql Developer For Mac Os X Platform
Pl Sql Developer Mac
The Query Editor allows for the execution of any SQL statement(s) that the database and driver may accept from creating tables to basic SELECT statements and table updates. The results of any executed statement is displayed in the results pane including database specific messages and error codes.
- Generate ERD: Allows for the creation of a database ERD either from scratch or from an existing schema. The diagram may be manipulated and saved in multiple image formats.
- Compare Data Types: Compares data types across different database connections providing useful mapping when porting a schema across different database types.
- Create Table: Allows for the creation of database tables via a graphical interface.
- Create Index: Allows for the creation of an index on a table via a graphical interface.
- Generate Scripts: This feature allows you to generate complete CREATE TABLE scripts for the connected schema including all table constraints.
- Import/Export Data: Allows for the import and export of data to and from delimited files.
- Import/Export XML Data: Allows for the import and export of data from one or multiple tables to and from XML files. The table and column names provide the XML tags.
↓ 06 – Oracle SQL Developer | Windows | macOS | Linux
Oracle SQL Developer is a free, integrated development environment that simplifies the development and management of Oracle Database in both traditional and Cloud deployments. SQL Developer offers complete end-to-end development of your PL/SQL applications, a worksheet for running queries and scripts, a DBA console for managing the database, a reports interface, a complete data modeling solution, and a migration platform for moving your 3rd party databases to Oracle.
Download Sql On Mac
↓ 07 – dbForge Studio Express | Windows
dbForge Studio for MySQL is a universal GUI for managing, developing and administrating MySQL and MariaDB databases. The tool allows you to create and execute queries, develop and debug routines, and automate database object management in the convenient environment.
- SQL editor with syntax highlighting, bookmarks, and text search
- Visual Query Builder with support of SELECT statement
- Execution of scripts, selected SQL fragments, and statements
- Executed Queries History
- Context-sensitive code completion
- Quick information about schema objects
- Parameter information for stored routines