In this post, you use Docker to pull and run the SQL Server 2017 container image in Ubuntu 18.04 LXD containers. This post contains a fix for ZFS on Linux with SQL Server 2017.

Launch the Ubuntu 18.04 container from your Ubuntu LXD host:

lxc launch --profile default ubuntu:18.04 CTNAME --target host-1

Allow Security Nesting (Container in Container) and allow the aufs module inside the container:

lxc config set CTNAME security.privileged true
lxc config set CTNAME security.nesting true
lxc config set CTNAME linux.kernel_modules "aufs"

Open your container:

lxc exec CTNAME bash

Update your container and install Docker:

apt-get update apt-get upgrade -y
apt-get install docker.io -y

Enable Docker on boot:

systemctl enable docker

Change the storage driver to aufs:

nano /etc/docker/daemon.json

And paste the following config:

{
  "storage-driver": "aufs"
}

Restart Docker to apply the changes:

systemctl restart docker

The LXD Container and Docker are ready to use.

Since the release of ZFS 0.8 the fix below is no longer necessary. ZFS 0.8 supports O_DIRECT.
The fix is needed for Ubuntu 18.04. Skip Option 1 if you use ZFS version 0.8 or later on your LXD host. Issue: Github

The setup log (/var/opt/mssql/log) after the first start:

2019-05-10 09:53:25.06 Server      Error: 17113, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2019-05-10 09:53:25.08 Server      Error 87(The parameter is incorrect.) occurred while opening file 'C:\var\opt\mssql\data\master.mdf' to obtain configuration information at startup. An invalid startup option might have caused the error. Verify your startup options, and correct or remove them if necessary.

ZFS version check:

cat /sys/module/zfs/version

Option 1 (With ZFS Fix):

Install unzip:

apt-get install unzip

Download the and unzip master.zip:

cd /root
wget https://github.com/t-oster/mssql-docker-zfs/archive/master.zip
unzip master.zip

Dockerfile must be lowercase:

mv /root/mssql-docker-zfs-master/Dockerfile /root/mssql-docker-zfs-master/dockerzfsmssql

Build the image:

docker build -t dockerzfsmssql /root/mssql-docker-zfs-master/

Start the SQL Server 2017 Docker container:

sudo docker run -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y' -e 'SA_PASSWORD=<YourStrong!Passw0rd>' -p 1433:1433 --name sql1 -d dockerzfsmssql

Check the running container:

[email protected]:~/mssql-docker-zfs-master# docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND                  CREATED             STATUS              PORTS                              NAMES
d7d2ff0caab0        dockerzfsmssql      "/opt/mssql/bin/sqls…"   58 seconds ago      Up 50 seconds       1433/tcp, 0.0.0.0:1433->1433/tcp   sql1

Option 2 (Without ZFS Fix):

Download SQL Server 2017:

sudo docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2017-latest

Run the container image with Docker:

sudo docker run -e 'ACCEPT_EULA=Y' -e 'SA_PASSWORD=<YourStrong!Passw0rd>' \
   -p 1433:1433 --name sql1 \
   -d mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2017-latest

Check the remote database connection on port 1433.
You can use Navicat for SQL Server: https://www.navicat.com/en/products/navicat-for-sqlserver

You should now have a fully working Microsoft SQL 2017 Docker Container with ZFS in an Ubuntu 18.04 LXD Container!

Sources:
https://github.com/t-oster/mssql-docker-zfs
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/linux/quickstart-install-connect-docker?view=sql-server-2017