These are the quick, basic steps to get a SQL Server instance running in Docker on your local machine for development purposes.

Install WSL

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wsl --install

Install Docker for Windows, just use the UI.

Create a .wslconfig file at ~\, populate it with some basics:

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[wsl2]
memory=16GB
processors=4

this will put constraints on your SQL container so that it doesn’t take over your system.

Then, run something like this after replacing the parameters

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docker run -d -p 1433:1433 --name mssql -e ACCEPT_EULA=Y -e SA_PASSWORD={your pass here} -e MSSQL_PID=Developer -v {path to folder on host to store persistence here}:/var/opt/mssql/data --restart always mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest