How to find out whether my MacBook Air supports memory management unit (MMU) virtualization for Docker? I'm planning to install Docker on my MacBook Air (Early 2014): Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM. I need Docker to be able to run SQL Server on my Mac (as I understand this is the only way to run it). However, there are some system requirements that I should meet to be able to run it.

System requirements from Docker website state this:
Mac hardware must be a 2010 or newer model, with Intel’s hardware support for memory management unit (MMU) virtualization; i.e., Extended Page Tables (EPT) and Unrestricted Mode. You can check to see if your machine has this support by running the following command in a terminal: sysctl kern.hv_support

When I run this command, sysctl kern.hv_support, in Terminal, I receive the following output: kern.hv_support: 1

What does it actually mean? Can someone explain? Does it mean that I can run Docker on my Mac?
There is complex way to find out whether your processor meets the requirements:

sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string


With the details (e.g. i5-4260U) go to Intel Product Specifications, search for the proc and check the Specifications > Advanced Technologies:

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) ‡                    Yes
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) ‡   Yes
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT) ‡                Yes


If these three features are supported, Docker will run.

A simpler check is sysctl kern.hv_support. If the command yields 1, the Hypervisor.framework required by Docker is supported on this processor.

The most simple method is to download and try to run Docker. If you get a "Fatal error. Incompatible CPU detected.... " your proc doesn't meet the requirements.



Even restricted to an older processor you will be able to run Windows &amp; Microsoft SQL Server in a type 2 hypervisor like VirtualBox, VMware Fusion or Parallels though. Some $bucks are required though.