---
title: Configure persistent memory (PMEM) for SQL Server on Linux
description: This article provides a walk-through for configuring PMEM on Linux.
ms.custom: seo-lt-2019
author: briancarrig 
ms.author: brcarrig
ms.reviewer: vanto
ms.date: 11/04/2019
ms.topic: conceptual
ms.prod: sql
ms.technology: linux
monikerRange: ">= sql-server-linux-ver15  || >= sql-server-ver15 || = sqlallproducts-allversions"
---
# How to configure persistent memory (PMEM) for SQL Server on Linux

[!INCLUDE[appliesto-ss-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md-linuxonly](../includes/appliesto-ss-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md-linuxonly.md)]

This article describes how to configure the persistent memory (PMEM) for SQL Server on Linux. PMEM support on Linux was introduced in SQL Server 2019.

## Overview

SQL Server 2016 introduced support for Non-Volatile DIMMs, and an optimization called [Tail of the Log Caching on NVDIMM]( https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/bobsql/2016/11/08/how-it-works-it-just-runs-faster-non-volatile-memory-sql-server-tail-of-log-caching-on-nvdimm/). These optimizations reduced the number of operations needed to harden a log buffer to persistent storage. This leverages Windows Server direct access to a persistent memory device in DAX mode.

SQL Server 2019 extends the support for persistent memory (PMEM) devices to Linux, providing full enlightenment of data and transaction log files placed on PMEM. Enlightenment refers to the method of access to the storage device using efficient user-space `memcpy()` operations. Rather than going through the file system and storage stack, SQL Server leverages  DAX support on Linux to directly place data into devices, which reduces latency.

## Enable enlightenment of database files
To enable enlightenment of database files in SQL Server on Linux, follow the following steps:

1. Configure the devices.

  In Linux, use the `ndctl` utility.

  - Install `ndctl` to configure PMEM device. You can find it [here](https://docs.pmem.io/getting-started-guide/installing-ndctl).
  - Use [ndctl] to create a namespace.

  ```bash 
  ndctl create-namespace -f -e namespace0.0 --mode=fsdax* --map=mem
  ```

  >[!NOTE]
  >If you are using `ndctl` version lower than 59, use `--mode=memory`.

  Use `ndctl` to verify the namespace. Sample output follows:

```bash
ndctl list
[
  {
    "dev":"namespace0.0",
    "mode":"memory",
    "size":1099511627776,
    "blockdev":"pmem0",
    "numa_node":0
  }
]
```

  - Create and mount PMEM device

    For example, with XFS

    ```bash
    mkfs.xfs -f /dev/pmem0
    mount -o dax,noatime /dev/pmem0 /mnt/dax
    xfs_io -c "extsize 2m" /mnt/dax
    ```

    For example, with EXT4

    ```bash
    mkfs.ext4 -b 4096 -E stride=512 -F /dev/pmem0
    mount -o dax,noatime /dev/pmem0 /mnt/dax
    ```

  Once the device has been configured with ndctl, formatted and mounted, you can place database files in it. You can also create a new database 

1. Since PMEM devices are O_DIRECT safe, enable trace flag 3979 to disable the forced flush mechanism. This trace flag is a startup trace flag, and as such needs to be enabled using the mssql-conf utility. Please note that this is a server-wide configuration change, and you should not use this trace flag if you have any O_DIRECT non-compliant devices that need the forced flush mechanism to ensure data integrity. For more information see https://support.microsoft.com/help/4131496/enable-forced-flush-mechanism-in-sql-server-2017-on-linux

1. Restart SQL Server.

## Next steps

For more information about SQL Server on Linux, see [SQL Server on Linux](sql-server-linux-overview.md).