This is the most common source of confusion. A download does not equal a license .
For development and testing, you can pull the official SQL Server 2017 Linux container image using: docker pull ://microsoft.com Developer Review: Key Features & Value microsoft sql server 2017 enterprise download
You are trying to upgrade a Developer or Express edition to Enterprise without a clean install. Fix: Perform a backup, uninstall the old instance, and install Enterprise fresh. This is the most common source of confusion
SQL Server 2017 introduced several groundbreaking features that remain relevant: SQL Server 2017 on Windows and Linux - Microsoft uninstall the old instance