---
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title: Configure SQL Server settings with environment variables | Microsoft Docs
description: This topic describes how to use environment variables to configure specific SQL Server 2017 settings on Linux.
author: rothja
ms.author: jroth
manager: jhubbard
ms.date: 05/22/2017
ms.topic: article
ms.prod: sql-linux
ms.technology: database-engine
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---
# Configure SQL Server settings with environment variables on Linux

You can use several different environment variables to configure SQL Server 2017 CTP 2.1 on Linux. This topic provides a list of the settings that are configurable using environment variables.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> At this time, the environment variables only configure [SQL Server running in Docker](sql-server-linux-setup-docker.md). To configure the SQL Server service outside of a Docker scenario, see [Configure SQL Server on Linux with the mssql-conf tool](sql-server-linux-configure-mssql-conf.md).

## Environment variables

| Environment variable | Description |
|-----|-----|
| **ACCEPT_EULA** | Accept the SQL Server license agreement when set to any value (for example, 'Y'). Used on first install only. |
| **SA_PASSWORD** | Configure the SA user password. Used on first install only. |
| **MSSQL_TCP_PORT** | Configure the TCP port that SQL Server listens on (default 1433). |
| **MSSQL_IP_ADDRESS** | Set the IP address. Currently, the IP address must be IPv4 style (0.0.0.0). |
| **MSSQL_BACKUP_DIR** | Sets the Default backup directory location. |
| **MSSQL_DATA_DIR** | Change the directory where the new SQL Server database data files (.mdf) are created. |
| **MSSQL_LOG_DIR** | Changes the directory where the new SQL Server database log (.ldf) files are created. |
| **MSSQL_DUMP_DIR** | Change the directory where SQL Server will deposit the memory dumps and other troubleshooting files by default. |
| **MSSQL_ENABLE_HADR** | Enable Availability Groups. |

## Example

The following docker run command uses **MSSQL_TCP_PORT** to set the TCP port that SQL Server listens on. In this case, the host port mapping must that this new port into consideration. Instead of mapping port 1433 (default) to a host port, the custom TCP port must be mapped (1234 in this example).

```bash
docker run -e ACCEPT_EULA=Y -e SA_PASSWORD='<YourStrong!Passw0rd>' -e MSSQL_TCP_PORT=1234 -p 1234:1234 -d microsoft/mssql-server-linux
```

## Next steps

For other SQL Server settings not listed here, see [Configure SQL Server on Linux with the mssql-conf tool](sql-server-linux-configure-mssql-conf.md).

For more information on how to install and run SQL Server on Linux, see [Install SQL Server on Linux](sql-server-linux-setup.md).