07/13/2026
by Marlon Ribunal
0 comments

Install SQL Server 2025 Container on macOS Using OrbStack

My old Dell XPS that I used for personal stuff started to degrade; well, it’s old, and it has already served past its useful life. So, a few months ago I bought a 14-inch Macbook Pro M5 Pro with 24GB of memory and the standard for M5 Pro 15-core CPU. It’s not my ideal config and I would have opted for the M5 Max. This machine is quite decent for what I need and I am not complaining.

Switching from Windows to Mac has been a challenge, to say the least. This is my first time using macOS as my primary operating system. Suffice it to say, it hasn’t been easy. There’s that.

And, SSMS is not supported in this platform, and Microsoft said that SSMS in Mac is “out of scope” and it will never ever be supported. Period. So, if I were to use this Macbook as my primary learning sandbox, I have no choice but to make it work. My macOS version as of this writing is Tahoe 26.5.1.

For my Mac SQL Server sandbox, I used OrbStack instead of Docker Desktop. I used Docker in my old sandbox on my Dell XPS. Why OrbStack? Simply because it’s the more efficient option on a Mac. First, it’s a native macOS app. The biggest factor is how these two allocate memory. OrbStack’s memory management is dynamic, meaning it doesn’t hold onto memory that it isn’t using. Although Docker has introduced improvements to memory management, such as Resource Saver and other optimizations, OrbStack is still better in that regard. Compared to Docker, OrbStack has low power usage, low memory usage, and a bunch of other advantages.

The usual Docker commands work as-is in OrbStack, so there’s no need to learn new commands or build new scripts if you already have them. Of course, caveats would include Docker Extensions and other features native to Docker.

Install OrbStack

The easiest way to install OrbStack on a Mac is via the package manager Home Brew. My preferred terminal is iTerm2.

Zsh
brew install --cask orbstack

And that’s pretty much it. Next is the container. Run OrbStack if it isn’t already running.

IMPORTANT: Enable Rosetta / Update Rosetta 2

Zsh
orb config set rosetta true

My SQL Server 2025 container keeps getting stuck at the initialization process. Enabling Rosetta fixed the issue.

Pull and Run the Container

As I said, you don’t have to use any new commands to pull the image and run the SQL Server 2025 container. Commands such as docker pull/run and docker compose should run fine out of the box in OrbStack.

Zsh
docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2025-latest

Then simply run the container. Just a note, if you are using the default command interpreter Z Shell (szh) in iTerm2, get rid of the double quotes and run the following instead:

Zsh
docker run -e ACCEPT_EULA=Y -e MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD='password_here' -p 1433:1433 --name sql2025 --hostname sql2025 -d mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2025-latest

You might get a warning that says “The requested image’s platform (linux/amd64) does not match the detected host platform (linux/arm64/v8) and no specific platform was requested <container_id>.“

This simply is saying you’re on the ARM64 architecture of the Apple Silicon and the Linux SQL Server container provided by Microsoft is on the AMD64 architecture (no native ARM64 image).

The container should be fine even with that warning. But if you’re bothered by it, just rebuild the container with explicit Linux/amd64. Just stop and delete the existing container and add the --platform flag in the Docker command.

Zsh
docker stop sql2025
Zsh
docker rm sql2025
Zsh
docker run --platform linux/amd64 -e ACCEPT_EULA=Y -e MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD='password_here' -p 1433:1433 --name sql2025 --hostname sql2025 -d mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2025-latest



The warning should now be gone.

VS Code with mssql Extenstion

Install VC Code on your Mac via Home Brew if you haven’t done so.

Zsh
brew install --cask visual-studio-code




Then, Open your VS Code and install the SQL Server (mssql) extension. The extension version as of this writing is v1.43.0.

Create new connection:

Then, that’s it!

Press ⇧ + ⌘ + P, and select MS SQL: Open New Query and Connect.

In the editor, check the master_files just to see if the database is queryable 🙂

SQL
select * from sys.master_files ;

Troubleshooting Stuck SQL Server 2025 Container

Just a quick check to see if you can connect to the SQL Server from your Mac

Zsh
nc -vz localhost 1433

If port exposure looked fine, but still failing connection from VS Code, then something else might be causing the error. I was getting the following error from VS Code.

A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the pre-login handshake. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 35 – An internal exception was caught)

I checked my container stats, and one thing I noticed immediately is that the CPU is hitting the max of 100% usage.

Zsh
docker stats sql2025


Upon futher digging, I found that emulation path getting stuck during SQL Server initialization. Check if enabling Rosetta on fixes the issue.

We’ll restore a SQL Server 2025 database in the next post.

Reflection on the life of a DBA

07/06/2026
by Marlon Ribunal
3 Comments

Reflections on the Life of a DBA

Nota Bene: Not written by AI. I have written this from the heart…for those who are willing to listen. – Marlon

I was in Sequoia National Forest with my family over the holiday weekend (our Independence Day here in the US). Hiking in national forests within driving distance of home has been one of our ways of unplugging whenever we get a chance. I had some time to reflect on my career.

I saw how the forest adapts to changes. I saw small trees budding from seeds scattered all over the ground. These will soon become part of the whole forest ecosystem. But forest fire brings the painful changes.

Charred snags and charred tree wounds bear witness to the pain brought about by the blaze. What is most interesting to me is that no matter how many times the flame engulfs the forest , it always finds the reason to sprout a new life. There is this process called Phoenix Regeneration where the fallen or burned trees go through a transformation.

Sometimes you wonder how human life intertwines with nature. There is that life-death cycle…the comfort, the pain…they both are part of that cycle.

Like the forest, human is more than capable of surviving any bad events. That incredible resilience is part of our human nature. Just like the trees, it is within our nature to effect a Phoenix Regeneration (although that is metaphorical when it comes to us humans).

Same goes to our career. It goes through that similar cycle. The ups and downs. Jobs come and go. The pain and the comfort is part of that cycle.

And this is what brought me here to these reflections.

The DBA life is fraught with pain. Those battles that we endure are mostly invisible to many. Those countless sleepness nights are a testament to our dedication. Whether that is a server that went down because of a bad patch or a server that refused to get back online after a configuration change, we are always there to save the day (or night). And it doesn’t matter if we’re in the middle of a special celebration of a loved one, or a well-deserved rest day. We rise to the occassion.

And I couldn’t forget that cold January evening. I was at a black-tie party. My phone was exploding with Splunk On-Call alerts and Teams messages. An important SQL Server went down. I never leave the house without my work laptop. I can probably forget my wallet at home, but never my laptop.

Pulling my laptop onto the dining table would have been awkward or outright disrespectful at best. The only place for me then was that busy kitchen, teeming with relentless chaos. Imagine that guy in black suit with his laptop. I found a corner where I dealt with the issue with poise but with a sense of urgency. The mission was clear. I was to deliver without reservation or excuses.

The pain is part of it. The weekends. The holidays. Or, worse, the Birthdays. You sacrifice them all for the love of fixing things that are broken. And this was something I chose. Nothing was forced on me. I chose this not only as a job, but more so as a calling. No one forced me to be here. I fulfill this duty with the understanding that it is a noble mission.

The cycle of pain and comfort is deeply ingrained in the life of a DBA. You are called to it. You choose that life, and it chooses you. Comfort comes in the form of appreciation. A simple “Marlon, thanks. That helped.” goes a long way.

I find joy in helping people understand why things happen and how to address them, so the next time they can do it themselves. I am one who never gatekeeps what they know. I owe what I know to those whom I follow. I have no right to withhold or not share the knowledge that I have learned from other people. “Thank you, Marlon, for sharing that with me” is more important to me than “Thanks, Marlon, for fixing that for me“.

Blood. Sweat. And Tears. Not a complaint. Not an excuse. But an act of pure love. And I never regretted a single thing.

Would I do it again? I will do it again. And over again. And again. Yes, I will do it over and over again.

Here I am charred, wounded. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Over. Again. Despite the pain. Not a doubt.

It’s all worth it. And I find comfort in the fact that deep in my heart I know…

I GAVE IT MY ALL.

3 responses to “Reflections on the Life of a DBA”

  1. Scott Moon Avatar
    Scott Moon

    I am 57 and started my DBA journey in 1999 ant the age of 30. Married for 7 years with a 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter. I missed out on so much thinking that the company and the databases needed me more than my family or life did. I missed out on my son’s first homerun and was late to school functions. I slept in late on Saturday’s and missed my daughter’s soccer goals. All because I was too tired from working late.

    In 2008 my wife gave me a choice to make. Family or the job and I thank God everyday I made the right choice. Three years later the company felt that a son of a friend of the owner would make a better DBA and after 12 years of many hours, undying loyalty, 2% raises, and being told of how much of a family we were I was let go mid week with only unpaid PTO.

    The company I landed at allowed me to watch my son play high school football all four years, home and away, and any practices I wanted to. Never missed a soccer game and coached many years. Didn’t sleep in on Saturday unless I stayed up late on Friday date night. Took vacations out of state and for weeks. I even take work vacations where I work during the day and explore at night/weekends.

    Would I do it again and give it my all? NOPE! Not a chance in hell. I would not work myself so hard that I would feel compelled to leave a black tie party to work on a stupid SQL server, you don’t have someone to take care of it? That sounds like bad planning or maybe a trust issue?

    Don’t let it be said at your funeral that you were such a hard and dedicated worker, irreplaceable. Let it be said you are a friend that will never be replaced and will always be missed and that tears and laughter when memories are shed when your family remembers the times you all shared.

    This job is nothing. Someone will take our place when we are done. Family and friendships are the only things that matter. Memories not MAXDOP. Listen to an old man who thought being a DBA was the best thing ever who almost lost everything to gain nothing.

    Reply
  2. Margaret Norkett Avatar
    Margaret Norkett

    Thank you Marlon for being one of the ones I’ve learned from through the years. I’ve probably passed along some of your wisdom to others, but forgot to mention from whom I got said wisdom and for that, I apologize. SQL Server community as a whole has been more than generous with time, knowledge and support of newcomers and is the biggest reason I stayed when I stumbled in as one of those “accidental DBAs” so very many years ago now.

    Reply
  3. Andrea Gnemmi Avatar
    Andrea Gnemmi

    Totally agree with what you wrote, as a fellow DBA I can relate to all you feelings, and yes I would do it again too!
    Thanks for this beautiful blog post!

    Reply

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10/27/2025
by Marlon Ribunal
1 Comment

How to Set Up SQL Server 2025, Ollama and NGINX in Docker Without the Headaches

I like to subject myself to agony from time to time. So, I tried to build my SQL Server 2025 test environment in Docker from scratch. I thought I was getting behind with the good stuff about the native AI integration into the Microsoft database platform – vector search and the concept of embedding in particular. Spinning a SQL Server container in Docker is easy peasy.

But setting up SQL Server to connect to the Large Language Model over a Secure Proxy is not for the faint of heart. Just the angst of getting the spaces aligned in the YAML file can toss you into existential crisis. After almost a couple of hours of pulling my hair trying to fix one error after another, I gave up.

If you are like me who’s itching to try the SQL Server 2025 features and its promises of good fortune and brighter tomorrow, especially the vector search and embedding stuff, there’s a repo out there that you can clone to your personal laptop to easily and quickly set up SQL 2025, LLM (Ollama), and Secure Proxy (NGINX), which is required by SQL Server – all in one setup via Docker Compose. Well, needless to say, the only thing that you need is the Docker Desktop  app installed in your personal laptop (and Git).

And aren’t we so lucky to have the people who dedicate their precious time to making our life easier?

Enter Ollama SQL FastStart.

Ollama SQL FastStart streamlines the deployment of SQL Server 2025 with integrated AI capabilities through a comprehensive Docker-based solution. This project delivers a production-ready environment combining SQL Server 2025, Ollama’s large language model services, and NGINX with full SSL support—all preconfigured to work together seamlessly

This is huge in my humble opinion! This is helping to bring the boon of the first AI-ready enterprise database platform to the hand of the masses. Microsoft you failed at this noble commission! To be fair, Microsoft has a getting-started blog on this subject here. But that’s the long way. Ollama SQL FastStart is the short cut.

Thanks Anthony Nocentino for this Getting Started with Vector Search in SQL Server 2025 Using Ollama kit. This will save the world a lot of headaches. And might just avert a worldwide catastrophe caused by existential crises.

Anthony’s Ollama SQL FastStart kit just works out of the box. It really makes it easy and quick to spin the whole environment not in minutes but seconds! I’m exaggerating there a bit of course, but a couple of Bash commands is all you need to set the whole thing up. You’ll be up and running those vector searches in no time!

Install Git & Clone the Repo

If you haven’t done so, download and install Git. And the Docker Desktop app if that’s not installed yet also.

I have a folder in my local called C:\Docker. This is where I usually save all my Docker related stuff. You may want to create a folder anywhere that is convenient for you. Open Git Bash in your folder.

Then clone the Ollama SQL FastStart project from GitHub.

git Clone https://github.com/nocentino/ollama-sql-faststart.git

Change dir to ollama-sql-faststart:

cd ollama-sql-faststart

Then build and start the services:

docker compose up --detach

Give it a couple of minutes to let it do its magic.

If you’ve setup your Docker correctly, you should now see the ollama-sql-faststart Docker compose stack, like so:

You may want to slide that Only show running containers option to have a cleaner look in the compose stack.

Install and Open SSMS 22

This is probably the best time to test SQL Server Management Studio v22 (Preview as of this writing) if you haven’t done so. Download it here.

Install SSMS v22 locally to your laptop.

Login to the SQL Server instance in Docker:

Server Name: host.docker.internal,1433

The password detail is found in Anthony’s blog linked above. And of course, you may change this after you complete your setup.

Open the SQL script called configure_model.sql from C:\<your dir here>\ollama-sql-faststart\scripts\configure_model.sql. Then execute it

And everything else that you need to get started is in the configure_model.sql script found in C:\<your dir here>\ollama-sql-faststart\scripts\configure_model.sql.

And that’s it! It works like magic!

And of course, aside from the vector search, SQL Server 2025 has a lot to offer. Find them here.