Docker¶

Run dotnet-mcp-server and a SQL Server 2022 database together with a single command — no .NET SDK required on the host machine.

Quick Start¶

Step 1: Copy the example files:

cp docker/appsettings.example.json docker/appsettings.json
cp .env.example .env

Step 2: Set a strong SQL Server password in .env:

SQL_SA_PASSWORD=YourStrong!Password123

Step 3: Edit docker/appsettings.json to configure your allowed paths, SQL connections, and HTTP hosts. The SQL connection string should use sqlserver as the hostname (the docker-compose service name):

{
  "Sql": {
    "Connections": {
      "Local": {
        "ConnectionString": "Server=sqlserver;Database=MyDB;User Id=sa;Password=YourStrong!Password123;TrustServerCertificate=True;",
        "Description": "SQL Server in Docker"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Build and start:

docker-compose up --build

Tests run on every build

The multi-stage Dockerfile runs the full test suite during the build. If any test fails, the build is aborted. This ensures the published image is always tested.

What docker-compose Starts¶

Service	Image	Purpose
`mcp-server`	Built from `Dockerfile`	The MCP server binary
`sqlserver`	`mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server:2022-latest`	SQL Server 2022

The mcp-server container waits for sqlserver to pass a health check before starting.

Dockerfile Architecture¶

The Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build:

Stage 1: sdk        → restore + build (full .NET SDK)
Stage 2: test       → run dotnet test (must pass)
Stage 3: publish    → dotnet publish --self-contained
Stage 4: runtime    → Alpine-based runtime image (minimal)

The final image is Alpine-based and contains only the self-contained binary — no .NET runtime or SDK.

Connecting Claude Desktop to the Docker Container¶

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dotnet-mcp-server": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/docker/appsettings.json:/home/app/.config/dotnet-mcp-server/appsettings.json:ro",
        "dotnet-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windows paths

On Windows, use forward slashes or double-escaped backslashes in the volume mount path:

"C:/Users/YourName/project/docker/appsettings.json:/home/app/.config/dotnet-mcp-server/appsettings.json:ro"

Config File Location Inside the Container¶

The container expects the config at:

/home/app/.config/dotnet-mcp-server/appsettings.json

This matches the Linux global tool convention. Mount your docker/appsettings.json to this path.

Logs¶

Logs are written to stderr. View them with:

docker-compose logs -f mcp-server