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Clarify sqlcmd EOF troubleshooting and prefer bundled client in quickstart docs - #48

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Eric Julien (ericjulien) with Copilot wants to merge 3 commits into
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copilot/fix-sqlcmd-eof-error
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Clarify sqlcmd EOF troubleshooting and prefer bundled client in quickstart docs#48
Eric Julien (ericjulien) with Copilot wants to merge 3 commits into
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copilot/fix-sqlcmd-eof-error

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Copilot AI commented Jun 30, 2026

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Users were hitting immediate EOF errors when running sqlcmd against a newly started container from Windows PowerShell. The docs did not clearly separate startup timing issues from host-shell quoting issues, and the quickest path still pointed at host sqlcmd.

  • Quickstart path

    • Switch the homepage quickstart and getting-started flow to the bundled in-container sqlcmd first.
    • Add -b -l 2 to the initial query examples so early startup failures fail fast instead of looking ambiguous.
  • Host sqlcmd guidance

    • Keep host sqlcmd as a secondary option after the bundled client succeeds.
    • Document the two common causes of immediate EOF in this scenario:
      • the engine is still initializing
      • PowerShell changed the -P argument while pasting, especially smart quotes or a leading space in the password
  • Troubleshooting coverage

    • Add a dedicated EOF from host sqlcmd section to the container troubleshooting reference.
    • Explicitly tell users to verify with docker exec ... sqlcmd first, then retry the host client with the same short timeout.
docker exec sqldb /opt/mssql-tools18/bin/sqlcmd \
  -S localhost -U sa -P "YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" -C -b -l 2 \
  -Q "SELECT @@VERSION;"

sqlcmd -S localhost,1433 -U sa -P "YourStr0ng_Passw0rd" -C -b -l 2 \
  -Q "SELECT @@VERSION;"

Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Fix EOF message error in sqlcmd Clarify sqlcmd EOF troubleshooting and prefer bundled client in quickstart docs Jun 30, 2026
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[Bug]: sqlcmd runs into a EOF message error

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