1. Introduction to SQL Server 2017 on Linux
Andrzej Kukuła
Introduction to SQL Server 2017 on Linux

2. Sponsors

3. About me
20+ years of professional experience in IT Consultant, Trainer Architect of HA/DR Solutions, BI Solutions, Data Platform Solutions, Cloud Solutions Polish Data Community (former PLSSUG) – PASS Chapter Leader Conference and user group

4. Agenda
Multi-platform SQL Server Linux offerings Licensing Supported platforms Client tools Features System architecture Installation from package – demos Docker – demos Random notes

5. Platform is your preference
SQL Server 2017 is available for Windows, Linux and Docker GA was announced at Ignite conference on You can download it right now

6. Multi-platform SQL Server
SQL Server is just a part of Data Platform offering It’s about giving business a choice OS platform Data diversity Development environment Cloud/on prem/hybrid
{ }
T-SQL
Java
C/C++
C#/VB.NET
PHP
Node.js
Python
Ruby

7. Linux offerings
NEW
SQL Server on Linux HDInsight on Linux Machine Learning Server on Linux Linux in Azure SQL Server drivers and connectivity Visual Studio Code + extension for SQL Server .NET Core 2.0 PowerShell v6 (beta)
Python, Ruby, …

8. Same license, new choice
A license can be used on Windows or Linux
Same editions on Linux:
Express (free)
Standard
Web
Enterprise
Developer *
Evaluation *
* Free to download and use (non-production)

9. Supported platforms
RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.3 SUSE Enterprise Linux (SLES) v12 SP2 Ubuntu 16.04, (runs on other Linux distributions) Docker: Windows & Linux containers Windows Server / Windows 10 Linux: Selected filesystems
Linux
Containers
Windows
Windows Server

10. SQL Tools for SQL Server on Linux

11. What’s working in SQL Server 2017 on Linux?
Everything!
Relational engine
Agent
HA/DR (including FCI and Availability Groups)
Windows authentication
Full-Text Search daemon
Integration Services (+dtexec utility)
Just a few exceptions (planned to be addressed in the future)
Log reader agent (CDC, Replication - expected very soon)
Analysis Services, Reporting Services, DQS, MDS
Machine Learning Services
Stretch DB, Polybase
FileTable

12. SQL Server 2017 Failover Cluster on Linux

13. SQL Platform Abstraction Layer
All resources managed by SQL PAL Benefit for SQL Server on Windows and on Linux Abstraction for high-level dependencies Reduce kernel ABI surface from > 1200 calls to < 50 calls Everything in user mode Improved performance SOS + LibOS = SQLPAL SOS will be removed from SQL Server and merged with SQLPAL Linux Host Extensions convert ABI calls, stack layout, results

14. System Architecture System Resource & Latency Sensitive Code Paths
Everything else
RDBMS IS AS RS
SQL Platform Abstraction Layer
(SQLPAL)
SQL OS API
Win32-like APIs
SQL Platform Abstraction Layer
(SQLPAL)
SQL OS v2
Windows
Host Ext.
Linux Host Extension
Windows
Linux
Host Extension mapping to OS system calls
(IO, Memory, CPU scheduling)

15. Installation demo
Minimum RAM requirement: 3.25 GB ext4 or XFS filesystem (btrfs is not supported ) NFS 4.2 or newer to host files on an NFS server Installation from packages

16. 2 repositories
Servicing change – no more service packs GDR repository – only official release + critical security fixes CU repository – all updates will go here

17. Installation layout Instant File Initialization is always enabled
Binaries - /opt/mssql
Data, transaction logs, error logs, default trace - /var/opt/mssql
Command line tools:
sqlservr – core executable – not used directly
mssql-conf – configure (setup, change collation, sa password, …)
bcp – bulk import/export tool
sqlcmd – command line query execution tool
mssql-scripter – easily create scripts of your databases (installed separately)
dbfs – view DMVs from the file system (installed separately)

18. Instances and Docker
SQL Server instance is a non-trivial thing on Windows Long set up process „Magic” happening to fs, registry and who knows what during installation Often requires reboot of Windows host system Docker containers change that dramatically Instances are easy to set up and remove Few seconds to spin a new SQL Server No reboot necessary in between The process is always reproducible Almost complete independence from host system

19. A few words about Docker
A platform that allows to package and run an app in isolated environment
Single OS, multiple containers
Sort of „leaner” virtualization (one kernel)
Much lower overhead compared to full virtualization
Container has everything needed to run an app
Will run the same way no matter what changes happen at the host level (libraries, packages)
Building blocks
Docker packaging format (docker file)
Docker Hub - distribution platform (container repository)
Docker tools

20. SQL Server Instances and Docker
Helpful in many scenarios
SP & CU installations
Upgrades
Temporary instances
Test SP & CU
Test restores
Test configuration changes
Dev instances
Database unit testing made easier
CI/CD
Let’s see this in action – demo!

21. SQL Server on Linux - monitoring
collectd, InfluxDB, Grafana

22. Migration options
backup/restore BACPAC SQL Server Migration Assistant bcp SSIS

23. Surprises for Windows admins
Some knowledge of Linux platform will be required
File names are case sensitive in Linux
/var/opt/mssql/data/TestDB.MDF != /var/opt/mssql/data/testdb.mdf
Pay attention when doing ALTER DATABASE … MODIFY FILE
Files/directories can be deleted while in use
They’re not protected from deletion in the sense we know from Windows
Only the name is removed, file data (inode) remains available until closed (can be recovered)
You can also rename/move them (within one filesystem) while in use
DON’T WORK AS ROOT – EVER
use su / sudo to do admin stuff
Beware of accidental spaces in rm –rf ./* vs rm –rf . / *
Normal (non-admin) user cannot damage the system

24. File and directory permissions basics
rwx rwx rwx rwx r-x --x rwx --x rwx
First part: user owner, second part: the group owner, third part: every other user
Files:
Read – read data from a file, Write – write data to a file
Execute – execute a file (native executables, scripts in various languages)
Directories:
Read – list contents of directory
Write – make changes to directory (create and delete files and directories within it)
Execute – traverse directory (ability to „cd” to it, or specify it as part of longer path)
--x will work properly in many cases
r-- will not do what you want
DO NOT EVER USE 777 (rwx rwx rwx) !!!
Try to have as little bits set as possible
SQL Server has good defaults – and it doesn’t run as root

25. What’s new in SQL Server 2017 in general?
Machine Learning Services – support for Python and R languages Automatic database tuning – regressing plan choice correction Adaptive query processing (batch mode adaptive joins, memory grant feedback, interleaved execution for MS TVF) Graph database capabilities New T-SQL functions: CONCAT_WS, TRIM, TRANSLATE, STRING_AGG(…) WITHIN GROUP (…) PREDICT function Direct import of CSV data Clusterless availability groups SELECT INTO a specific filegroup Resumable online index rebuild Online non-clustered columnstore index rebuild

26. Hidden gem
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_os_enumerate_filesystem('C:\', '*’) Easily replace xp_cmdshell in many cases!

27. Q & A
Thank you!
@AndrzejKukula

29. Sponsors