Installing Enterprise Edition in a virtual machine Out of curiosity, just wondering if this is possible:


I will download a 180-day trial of Enterprise edition of an Microsoft product (ex: SQL Server 2017).
Install it in a virtual machine.
Once the trial has expired, I will reinstall the virtual machine then re-install the SQL Server in it to have another 180-day trial.


Not sure on the background of Developer Edition and its differences against Enterprise Edition. Just hoped that I could explore all the features of SQL Server 2017 even just for home use only.

I just want to have an environment for self studying with full features of the product as much as possible.
Is it possible? Yes.

Is it legal to use in production? No.

What should I do instead?


If it's for production, and your databases are 10GB or less, check out Express Edition. It's free, and has core and memory limitations, but the price is right.
If it's for production, and you absolutely need to run your own VM, you'll need to buy a production license (like Standard or Enterprise.)
If it's for production, and you don't need to run your own VM, you can rent VMs from Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, or Microsoft Azure with the SQL Server licensing included. That way you can pay by the hour and change your licensing based on your needs for that particular day.
If it's for development, consider SQL Server Developer Edition. It's free, and it's available as a download, or as a Docker container.


That'll hopefully help keep the licensing mafia off your back. My friends tell me I shouldn't talk about them anymore, though, because they're probably listening right now. (You might ask, am I referring to the licensing mafia listening, or my friends? Both. They're gunning for me.)