Mssql-docker: Are there plans on keeping mssql-server-windows-express image up-to-date?

[ccrowhurstram]

mssql-server-windows-express image on docker hub is not being kept up to date.

Are there plans on updating this image on a regular cadence whenever:

• the base image updates
• SQL Server "service packs" are published

If not can you please update the Readme here and on docker hub to indicate that this image is not maintained.

Thanks
Christian

[ctgarvey]

I can only get the docker file to half-work in -it mode with windows server core , tagged as: 1709. The container will not even start with windows tagged as: latest (1803 ) running on windows 10 host . The curious thing is that all the powershell scripting from both the docker file and also the start.ps1 work fine in a standard windows server core 1803 VM (windows server standard 10.0.17134 - not a container).
It looks like the SQL server image is not maintained and/or is out of sync with windows server core.

[christianacca]

I created my own image for windows server core 1803. This works on my win 10 Pro 1803 desktop machine.

You might want to give this image a try: https://hub.docker.com/r/christianacca/mssql-server-windows-express/

You could even have a go at building the image locally yourself: https://github.com/christianacca/dockerfiles/blob/master/mssql-server-windows-express/build.ps1

[vin-yu]

Hi @ctgarvey @christianacca, we are working on a plan to keep these images up-to-date where we push a new image whenever there are new CUs like we do with the sql server on Linux image, but it wont be in the short term.

That said, in the short term, we'll push out an updated image based on 1803 in the coming weeks - thanks for the image here in the meantime 👍 thank you!

[Koubek]

@vin-yu From the legal perspective, are we allowed to publish our versions of the SQL images publicly??? Where can we see any details saying what we can and can't do? Of course, we are using the standard MS products inside but I am not sure whether we can publish them via docker images.

[christianacca]

Thanks @vin-yu for the confirmation

[ctgarvey]

Hi @christianacca , i was able to build SQL server express on windows server core 1803 container with your modified dockerfile and start.ps1, thanks so much! What was the main modification you made? Was it the following switch ? /SQLCOLLATION=$env:SQL_COLLATION

My host is win 10 enterprise 1803

[christianacca]

Great to hear the build works on more than one machine ;-)

The differences are summarized here: https://github.com/christianacca/dockerfiles/tree/master/mssql-server-windows-express#differences-to-offical-image.

That said, I was able to take the existing dockerfile, add the 1803 tag to the base image (see here) to get a working image for 1803.

The changes summarized above were just "nice to have" enhancements.

[christianacca]

@vin-yu, are you guys likely to be announcing anything about maintaining these windows images? If not can you update the readme to state these images are not maintained, ideally with a mention of future plans.

[comnam90]

What's happening with this @vin-yu?
It's hard to start driving SQL Container adoption when MS can't be bothered to maintain their own images :(

[Koubek]

Hi @vin-yu, @comnam90, I believe the best way is to maintain your "own" solution. It's not so hard. We do it today internally. I use a fork of the official repo and do enhancements there. Then I have automated builds and internal registry to store our images.

I believe, after so many months of waiting for some feedback, we can't count with any official support. It's really sad to see such a huge difference in approach here with MSSQL repository and for example, Dynamics 365 Business Central (previously Dynamics NAV) where you can find changes coming practically every single day:
https://github.com/microsoft/nav-docker
https://github.com/microsoft/navcontainerhelper

[davidda]

Is it true that there are no images for SQL Server 2017+ Standard/Enterprise on Windows, just on Linux? Is Windows not a supported OS when it comes to SQL Server and containers?

[twright-msft]

@davidda - Correct, at the moment only SQL Server on Linux containers are supported in production. SQL Server on Windows container images have been provided for SQL Server 2017 Express/Developer editions for dev/test purposes only and are not supported.

[amitmsft]

If you are interested in evaluating SQL Server on Windows Containers, then please sign up for the Early Adopter Preview here: https://aka.ms/sqleap

[Inspyro]

@twright-msft Does this mean if we create our own docker image based on a windows base image (e.g. ltsc2019) we need to use at least Sql Server 2019 for production? Or is Sql Server 2017 still production ready in docker for windows?