Is it possible to install SQL Server on Windows 11 running on Parallels on Mac M2 chip?

Question

I have a brand-new Mac laptop with an Apple M2 chip. I have installed Parallels and installed Windows 11 under parallels.

I have made a few attempts to install SQL Server 2019 Express on this Windows 11 OS, but every attempt have failed. Is it possible to have a copy of SQL Server (of any version) installed on a Windows 11 OS which is running on top of Apple M2 chip?

Answer 1

It is possible to install and run SQL Server Express 2019 and 2022 on the Apple M1 chip, but it is not officially supported. Fortunately, the root cause of the issue is not in the SQL Server itself, but in the installation. I've created a script which will install SQL Server Express on Windows 11 in a Parallels VM on Apple M1. You can find it here MSSQLEXPRESS-M1-Install.

Answer 2

You can install SQL server on Mac M1 Pro or UTM-Windows 11 virtual machine on Mac M1 Pro by following steps

1. Download zip file containing install2022Developer.bat and install2022Developer.ps1 files from this link in your system https://github.com/jimm98y/MSSQLEXPRESS-M1-Install

2. Run the install2022Developer.bat using Terminal - CMD or Powershell

how to run bat files refer this link https://www.wikihow.com/Run-a-Batch-File-from-the-Command-Line-on-Windows

3. Download and install Microsoft SQL Server management studio (SSMS) and install manually, if it is not installed directly via step-2 using following link

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms?view=sql-server-ver16

4. You can also install SSDT tools accordingly if required

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssdt/download-sql-server-data-tools-ssdt?view=sql-server-ver16