Connect to SQL Server database from a docker container

Question

I have docker for windows installed on my machine. There is a console application targeting .net core 1.0.0 that tries to access a SQL Server database running on a different VM.

Answer 1

Assumptions

• Microsoft SQL Server 2016
• Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• Windows Containers
• ASP.NET Core application

Add a SQL user to your SQL database.

• In MS SQL expand the database
• Right click on 'Security / Logins'
• Select 'New Login'
• Create a user name and password.
• Assign a 'Server Role(s)'...I used sysadmin since I'm just testing
• Under 'User Mapping' I added my new user to my database and used 'dbo' for schema.

Change SQL Authentication to allow SQL Server Authentication Mode

Right click on your database, select 'Properties / Security / Server Authentication / SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode' radio button. Restart the MS SQL service.

Update your appsettings.json with your new user name and password

Example

"ConnectionStrings": {
        "DefaultConnection": "Server=YourServerName;Database=YourDatabaseName;MultipleActiveResultSets=true;User Id=UserNameYouJustAdded;Password=PassordYouJustCreated"
},

Make sure you remove Trusted_Connection=True.

Create a Docker file

My example Docker file

FROM microsoft/dotnet:nanoserver
ARG source=.
WORKDIR /app 
EXPOSE 5000 
EXPOSE 1433 
ENV ASPNETCORE_URLS http://+:5000 
COPY $source .

Publish Application

Running from the same location as the Docker file in an elevated PowerShell

dotnet publish

docker build bin\Debug\netcoreapp1.0\publish -t aspidserver

docker run -it  aspidserver cmd

I wanted to run the container and see the output as it was running in PowerShell.

Once the container was up and running in the container at the command prompt I kicked off my application.

dotnet nameOfApplication.dll

If everything went to plan one should be up and running.