Microsoft announces the suspension of the SQL Server on Windows Containers Beta project

In 2017, Microsoft launched the SQL Server on Windows Containers Beta program to enable developers to connect SQL Server instances from inside or outside the same container. Benefits include ease of setting up for development and testing purposes, maximizing the density of instances, and isolating and governing applications in a multi-user environment. Today, however, Microsoft announced that it was suspending the program.

In a short blog post published on July 6, 2021, Microsoft emphasized the suspension of the SQL Server on Windows Containers Beta program due to ecosystem challenges and "frequency of use." Microsoft says the program hasn't had enough users since it went live. However, the blog post was more cautious, saying there were no plans to revive the plan for the foreseeable future, but that if that changed, it would be announced publicly again.

In the blog post, Microsoft also recommended that users migrate to SQL Server using Linux containers, which is now supported in production environments. It's worth noting that SQL Server on Windows Containers never managed to get rid of its Beta label, so it's not intended for production anyway. That said, the announcement will still anger developers who spend time building applications that take advantage of this feature, or those who use it in production environments.

Looking ahead, Microsoft has said that SQL Server Express and The For Windows Containers Docker repository will soon be removed. The labels in these repositories will also be removed and the Docker image will not be downloadable.