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SQL Server Express SQL Server Express

Container

Database

Microsoft SQL Server Express for Windows containers

Configuration

Type
Container
Platform
windows
Image
microsoft/mssql-server-windows-express:latest
Ports
1433/tcp
Volumes
C:/temp/
Env vars
ACCEPT_EULA=Ysa_password=''

Template by portainer

Notes

Password needs to include at least 8 characters including uppercase, lowercase letters, base-10 digits and/or non-alphanumeric symbols.

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying SQL Server Express

Installation method

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

  1. Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
  2. Log into your Portainer web UI
  3. Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
  4. Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
  5. Select SQL Server Express, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me demo

More install options in our documentation.

Serve SQL Server Express on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.

Proxying sql-server-express.example.com to http://sql-server-express:1433

Add this to your Caddyfile

sql-server-express.example.com {
	reverse_proxy http://sql-server-express:1433
}

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

  • In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs <container>
  • Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Published on a random port

This template exposes 1433/tcp without setting a host port, so Docker picks a random free one on every deploy.

  • Find it in the Ports column of Portainer's container list, or with docker port <container>

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull microsoft/mssql-server-windows-express:latest

  • "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists. This template uses latest, so try pinning a specific version instead.
  • "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
  • "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

  • Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Required settings are blank

sa_password has no default value, and the app may crash or misbehave if left empty.

  • Fill it in on the deploy screen before hitting deploy.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

A single container

SQL Server Express runs as one container, the simplest kind of app here. Just the one image to pull and nothing else wired up alongside it.

The app image

An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything SQL Server Express needs bundled into one download. This template pulls microsoft/mssql-server-windows-express:latest, which Docker fetches once and then starts your own copy from.

Where the image comes from

Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. SQL Server Express's comes from Docker Hub, published by microsoft.

Version tags

The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. Here it's latest, which always points at the newest build, so a redeploy can bump you to a newer release without you asking. Pin a specific tag if you would rather stay on one version.

Ports

A port is the door the app answers on. Here the app exposes a port but leaves the host side blank, so Docker picks a free one for you. It opens:

  • 1433, published on a random host port

Volumes

A volume is where SQL Server Express keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:

  • C:/temp/ as a volume Docker manages for you

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. SQL Server Express takes 2 of them, and one needs a value before it'll start properly:

  • ACCEPT_EULA, defaults to Y
  • sa_password, needs a value. SA password

Networking

Nothing custom is set, so SQL Server Express sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.

Platform

The platform is windows, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set SQL Server Express up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying SQL Server Express is a click rather than a wall of config.