I could not make SQL Server work in Windows 11 Preview inside Parallels on Macbook Pro M1, are they even supported?

Question

So I am pretty fluent with SQL Server and have installed it on many machines and it works, but lately I have been trying to install SQL Server in Parallels on my new 2021 Macbook Pro 16" model and it would not work for one reason or another.

• The installation gives some kind of error but then it completes
• SQL Server will never start
• Re-installed, still same problem
• Had to manually add start parameters, played with permission, wont work/wont start
• Tried SQL Server 2019 Developer version, 2017 Express Version, 2017 Developer version and and 2016 with SP2 but all had one issue or another
• If I run SQL from command prompt, I get my SQL Server may be corrupt, re-install

I have spend 3 days on ths now and I would really like to make it work in Parallels, since the new Macbook Pro is really capable and runs everything like a breeze, but SQL Server is not working. Note that other features like SSIS Reprots, Browser etc does gets installed and works fine but not the SQL Server. I am thinking may be it is not well tested under this environment.

What is your recommendation? Is this even supported on M1 Macbook Pros?

*Note that the Win11 Preview that I have downloaded from Microsoft site is ARM based not x86 which is the right version for my Macbook Pro M1.

Answer 1

See this thread on the same subject:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/541099/sql-server-2019-windows-11.html

Answer 2

Thanks @Tom Phillips for providing the link. I went through it, it seems SQL Server will not install properly on Windows 11, because of disk/hardware issues. That links suggests, SQL needs to be installed on a second drive on Window11 THEN it will work. Since I am using Parallels and the environment is purely virtual (I am not using bootcamp), I think that could be root cause in my case.

Give that, I'd say "SQL Server will not work in Windows 11 inside Parallels in particular because of hardware issues". I will downgrade to Windows 10 and update here if possible. Thanks

Answer 3

Hi @HKhan ,

There is no official support for SQL Server 2019 on Win 11. Refer to MS document SQL Server 2019: Hardware and software requirements - Operating system support.
This however doesn't necessarily mean that it won't work, but it has not been tested/verified by Microsoft so any issue may occur.

In common support for new OS comes with a new service pack for SQL Server, so you can wait (or use windows 10).

Or you can analysis your SQL server setup log to find if any useful error message could help you to resolve the issue.

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Answer 4

Hi @CathyJi-MSFT ,

I did try SQL Server 2017 Dev version did not work, also tried SQL Server 2016 Express, did not work. So the issue seems to be Windows 11 and I being on the virtual environment. It should not happen though, I know microsoft does most of the testing in virtual environment, not sure why this issue would exist. It is still not resolved. Moreover I could not find Windows 10 Preview version that I could install and then install SQL Server to resolve my issue.

Answer 5

We have done SQL Server 2019 installations for many customers globally. However, we are faced with this huge problem as follows:

We are unable to install SQL Server 2019 (Express or Standard) in the following scenario:

• MacBook Pro 16” / 1TB SSD / Apple M1 Max Chip / 64GB RAM / 2021 Model
• Total Number of Cores = 10 (8 performance and 2 efficiency)
• System Firmware Version = 7429.61.2
• OS Loader Version = 7429.61.2
• macOS Monterey 12.1 (updated as of 10 January 2022)
• Parallels Ver 17
• Windows 11 Pro (downloaded the ARM based not x86, which is the right version for my Macbook Pro M1)

In the above environment, my observations so far after reading many threads:

1. If the Primary Hard Drive does not exceed 980GB, SQL Server 2019 installs properly (this option is not available to me)
2. If you have a Second “Physical” Hard Drive, SQL Server 2019 installs properly on the second drive (this option is not available to me)
3. If you partition the Primary 1TB SSD, the problem persists because the partition is still recognised internally as “One Single Hard Drive”
4. SQL Server 2019 can be installed successfully on Windows 10 but I am unable to install Windows 10 in the above environment due to the M1 Chip (ARM based, not x86)
5. Even if I sign up for “Windows Insider Program”, Windows 10 ISO File is not available for the above environment
6. The Gurus say: Windows 11 verifies (this is not done by Windows 10) and returns the “Sector Size” and if it is higher than 4K (4096 Bytes), SQL Server installation fails
7. It seems that this issue is not isolated to the Mac 2021 as even someone using a Samsung Laptop with 1TB SSD is facing the same issue
8. Microsoft Website clearly says that SQL Server 2019 is compatible with Windows 11 (RTM) – so we should safely rule out the issues of Windows 11 pre-release version incompatibility
9. The net result is that I have no option but to somehow get SQL Server 2019 to be successfully installed on Windows 11 in the above environment

I followed the following steps as recommended by the Gurus (to Fix “Sector Size)

1. Change Registry (run as Administrator) as follows:
   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device
   • New
   • Multi-String value
   • ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes
   • 4095
2. Run the following on CMD Prompt (run as Administrator)
   "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" /v "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes" /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "* 4095" /f
3. Verify as follows on CMD Prompt (run as Administrator):
   REG QUERY "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" /v "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes"
4. Run the following on PowerShell (run as Administrator)
   New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" -Name "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes" -PropertyType MultiString -Force -Value "* 4095"
5. Verify the following on PowerShell (run as Administrator)
   Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stornvme\Parameters\Device" -Name "ForcedPhysicalSectorSizeInBytes"
6. Restart Windows 11 and Install SQL Server 2019

My Results after doing the above

SQL Server Standard 2019 Installation Results:

Installation Failed for

1. Data Quality Services
2. Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search
3. Python
4. R
5. Machine Learning Services and Language Extensions
6. Database Engine Services
7. SQL Server Replication

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HELP REQUIRED!
I really need your help in getting a resolution for the above. It is really strange that both SQL Server 2019 and Windows 11 are Microsoft products and they seem to have such a huge glitch.

Thank you in advance, everyone!
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