xp_cmdshell on SQL Server Linux Public Preview

Question

I am using the Public Preview of SQL Server 2016 on Linux. I am trying to run xp_cmdshell and get the following error. I suspect it has to do with permissions but have no idea how to fix this. I have spent many hours searching for some answers but there seems to be little support for SQL Server on Linux. I am running this using an administrator account. SQL Server is installed on Ubuntu 16.4 (as recommended). I connect to it with Microsoft SQL Management Studio running on Windows 10.

SQL code:

EXEC xp_cmdshell @SQLtext, no_output

Error message:

Msg 15121, Level 16, State 21, Procedure xp_cmdshell, Line 1 [Batch Start Line 159] An error occurred during the execution of xp_cmdshell. A call to 'CreateProcess' failed with error code: '2'.

Answer 1

According to Microsoft's Release Notes for SQL Server 2017 General Availability, the following are currently not available on Linux:

Database engine

• Transactional replication
• Merge replication
• Stretch DB
• Polybase
• Distributed query with 3rd-party connections
• System extended stored procedures (XP_CMDSHELL, etc.)
• Filetable
• CLR assemblies with the EXTERNAL_ACCESS or UNSAFE permission set
  Buffer Pool Extension

SQL Server Agent

• Subsystems: CmdExec, PowerShell, Queue Reader, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS
• Alerts
• Log Reader Agent
• Change Data Capture
• Managed Backup

High Availability

• Database mirroring

Security

• Extensible Key Management
• AD Authentication for Linked Servers
• AD Authenticatin for Availibility Groups (AGs)

Services

• SQL Server Browser
• SQL Server R services
• StreamInsight
• Analysis Services
• Reporting Services
• Data Quality Services
• Master Data Services

Microsoft also has a list of Release notes and a list of unsupported features here.