If you have a mixed environment of Windows and Linux, you would be happy to know that Microsoft has now released SQL Server 2017 to work on Linux Operating systems, in addition to Windows. All the editions and features are available on both the platforms. It gives system integrators more flexibility to integrate SQL Server products. In case if you are interested in implementing SQL on Linux, you would need to know the Linux System Requirements first.
This blog post is precisely about that. In this post, we would be checking into the SQL Server 2017 on Linux System Requirements. So, let’s go ahead and check them out in more detail. But, before we get into the details, here are some value-adds for running SQL on Linux!
- Windows-based SQL Server management tools— like SSMS, SSDT, and Profiler—work when connected to SQL Server on Linux
- All existing drivers and frameworks are supported on Linux
- Third-party tools continue to work over connection endpoints
- Native command-line tools are supported: sqlcmd, bcp
- Visual Studio Code mssql extension is supported
- New command line tool: mssql-cli
- New cross-platform management tool: SQL Operations Studio (SOS)
Related Reading: SQL Server 2017 Editions
SQL Server 2017 on Linux System Requirements
Since there are a wide variety of Linux distros available on the market, it is difficult to point out the exact system requirements. Microsoft has provided guidance on which ones to use, and we are going to list only those.
Here is the list of Linux Operating systems that are currently supported.
- RedHat Enterprise Linux (7.3 & 7.4)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (v12-SP2)
- Ubuntu (16.04 & 16.10)
- Docker Engine (1.8 or higher)
Currently, SQL Server 2017 only supports XFS and ext4 file systems. Microsoft might release support for more file systems in the future.
On a high-level, here are the minimum Linux System Requirements as shown below:
| Feature-Type | Minimum Linux System Requirements |
|---|---|
| Memory | 3.25 GB |
| File System | XFS or EXT4 (other file systems, such as BTRFS, are unsupported) |
| Disk space | Minimum of 6 GB |
| Processor speed | Clockspeed of 2 GHz or more |
| Processor Cores | 2 cores (Virtual or Physical) |
| Processor type | 64 bit x64-compatible CPU only |
For NFS (Network File Share), you will need to use 4.2 or higher. Just the /var/opt/mssql can be mounted on the NFS mount-point. NFS clients need to use the ‘no-lock‘ option to install on NFS shares.
Operational features
- Support for Redhat RHEL, Ubuntu, SLES, Docker
- Package-based installs
- Support for OpenShift, Docker Swarm
- Failover clustering via Pacemaker
- Backup & Restore
- SSMS on Windows connected to Linux – Cross Platform
- Command-line tools: sqlcmd, bcp
- Transparent Data Encryption (TDS)
- Backup Encryption
- SCOM Management Pack
- Dynamic management views (DMVs)
- Table partitioning
- SQL Server Agent for Jobs
- Full-Text Search
- Integration Services
- Active Directory integrated authentication
- TLS for encrypted connections
Programming features
- All major language driver compatibility
- In-Memory OLTP
- Columnstore indexes (CCI & NCCIs)
- Query Store
- Data Compression (Page & Row Levels)
- Always Encrypted
- Row-Level Security & Dynamic data masking
- Auditing
- Service Broker
SQL Server on Linux – Limitations on Features not currently supported
- Transactional replication
- Merge replication
- Stretch DB
- PolyBase
- Distributed query with third-party connections
- System extended stored procedures (XP_CMDSHELL, etc.)
- Filetable, FILESTREAM
- CLR assemblies with the EXTERNAL_ACCESS or UNSAFE permission set
- Buffer Pool Extension
- Database Mirroring
- Extensible Key Management
- Subsystems: CmdExec, PowerShell, Queue Reader, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS
- Alerts
- Log Reader Agent
- Change Data Capture
- Managed Backup
- SQL Server Browser
- SQL Server R Services
- StreamInsight
- Analysis Services
- Reporting Services
- Data Quality Services
- Master Data Services
Conclusion
The Linux System Requirements discussed here are subject to change by Microsoft. To know in detail, please refer to the official documentation available on the Microsoft public site. See below: