macOS – How to Read MS SQL Backup File on Mac

catalinamacos

I am an IT guy in an all Mac school and our SIS has provided a backup of our data but it is a MS SQL backup file. All I want to do is read it. Are there any good apps for reading MS SQL backup files on mac? Thanks!

You can see that I selected the correct answer below, but for the future reader, it was this step by step article that walked me through it and made the whole things easy:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/linux/tutorial-restore-backup-in-sql-server-container?view=sql-server-ver15

Best Answer

If you have or install Docker on your Mac, you can install Microsoft SQL Server in Docker from:

https://hub.docker.com/_/microsoft-mssql-server

When you have the server running locally, you can install the free Azure Data Studio for macOS from here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/azure-data-studio/download-azure-data-studio?view=sql-server-ver15

That is a graphical tool that will let you for example restore the backup file you have received. You can then export the data in the format you need to continue working with it with other tools.

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