Database Configuration

Database Access

Senders and listeners that access a database use the datasourceName attribute to reference a database by name. The standard pattern is:

datasourceName="jdbc/${instance.name.lc}"

The property instance.name.lc is automatically derived from instance.name by converting to lowercase. If instance.name is MyApp, then instance.name.lc is myapp, and the datasource resolves to jdbc/myapp.

Configuring Databases via resources.yml

Database connections are defined in resources.yml. When using the standard Frank!Framework Docker image, the expected path is /opt/frank/resources/resources.yml.

jdbc:
  - name: "myapp"
    type: "org.postgresql.xa.PGXADataSource"
    url: "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp"
    username: "myapp_user"
    password: "myapp_pass"
    properties:
      defaultAutoCommit: "false"

Required Fields

Field	Description
name	The part after jdbc/ in the datasource name. For jdbc/myapp, use myapp.
type	Java class of the datasource or driver (see Driver Configuration).
url	JDBC connection URL (see URL Formats).

Authentication

Credentials are provided via username/password fields, or via authalias for secret management. If both are present, authalias takes precedence.

jdbc:
  - name: "myapp"
    type: "org.postgresql.xa.PGXADataSource"
    url: "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp"
    authalias: "${db.authalias}"

Environment properties and application properties can be referenced in resources.yml using ${property.name} syntax, with defaults via ${property.name:-default}.

The properties Field

Vendor-specific connection properties are configured under the properties field:

jdbc:
  - name: "ibis4test-mssql"
    type: "com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerXADataSource"
    url: "jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;database=testiaf"
    username: "testiaf_user"
    password: "testiaf_user00"
    properties:
      sendStringParametersAsUnicode: "false"
      sendTimeAsDatetime: "true"
      selectMethod: "direct"

Multiple Databases

To use multiple databases, define additional entries in resources.yml with distinct names and reference them in configurations via datasourceName:

datasourceName="jdbc/alternative"

jdbc:
  - name: "myapp"
    type: "org.postgresql.xa.PGXADataSource"
    url: "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp"
    username: "user1"
    password: "pass1"
  - name: "alternative"
    type: "org.postgresql.xa.PGXADataSource"
    url: "jdbc:postgresql://otherhost:5432/otherdb"
    username: "user2"
    password: "pass2"

Default Database

The Frank!Framework uses a default database for internal data (e.g., error store). The default database name is controlled by:

jdbc.datasource.default=jdbc/${instance.name.lc}

Set this property to a different value to change the default database. On Apache Tomcat, the framework expects this database to exist.

Database Initialization with Liquibase

Enabling Migration

Database initialization requires:

jdbc.migrator.active=true

When set as an environment property or classpath property, the Frank!Framework creates both system tables (error store, etc.) and application tables. When set only within a configuration, only application tables defined in that configuration's DatabaseChangelog.xml are created — system tables are not.

DatabaseChangelog.xml

Include a DatabaseChangelog.xml in your Frank configuration to define tables and initial data. Change sets can be written in SQL or database-agnostic XML. See Liquibase documentation for syntax.

Change sets are wrapped in <changeSet> elements:

<databaseChangeLog xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog">
    <changeSet id="1" author="dev">
        <!-- table definitions, inserts, etc. -->
    </changeSet>
</databaseChangeLog>

Multi-Instance Behavior

Liquibase tracks which change sets have been applied in database tables. When multiple Frank!Framework instances share a database, each instance only applies change sets not yet processed. Never modify existing change sets — always append new ones.

Target Database

By default, Liquibase operates on the default database. Override with:

jdbc.migrator.dataSource=jdbc/alternative

Database Driver Configuration

Database vendor libraries must be placed in /opt/frank/drivers. This can be done in a Containerfile or by mounting the directory as a volume.

Datasource Type vs Driver Type

The type field in resources.yml specifies a Java class. Two categories exist:

• DataSource (recommended): Configures a connection directly with full control over settings.
• Driver (discouraged): A wrapper that attempts to initialize a DataSource with potentially biased defaults. Drivers do not provide additional functionality and typically wrap a non-XA DataSource.

Always prefer configuring a DataSource directly.

DataSource Classes

info

These classes are only examples and may differ depending on driver vendor and version.

Brand	Non-XA DataSource	XA DataSource
PostgreSQL	org.postgresql.ds.PGSimpleDataSource	org.postgresql.xa.PGXADataSource
MariaDB	org.mariadb.jdbc.MariaDbDataSource	org.mariadb.jdbc.MariaDbDataSource
MySQL	com.mysql.cj.jdbc.MysqlDataSource	com.mysql.cj.jdbc.MysqlXADataSource
MS SQL	com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDataSource	com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerXADataSource
Oracle	oracle.jdbc.pool.OracleDataSource	oracle.jdbc.xa.client.OracleXADataSource
H2	org.h2.jdbcx.JdbcDataSource	org.h2.jdbcx.JdbcDataSource

XA DataSources require a transaction manager (e.g., Narayana) to coordinate XA transactions across multiple systems (databases, queues).

Driver Classes (Discouraged)

Brand	Driver Class
PostgreSQL	org.postgresql.Driver
MariaDB	org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver
MySQL	com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
MS SQL	com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver
Oracle	oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver
H2	org.h2.Driver

URL Formats

Brand	URL Template
PostgreSQL	jdbc:postgresql://<host>:5432/<database>
MariaDB	jdbc:mariadb://<host>:3306/<database>
MySQL	jdbc:mysql://<host>:3306/<database>
MS SQL	jdbc:sqlserver://<host>:1433;database=<database>
Oracle	jdbc:oracle:thin:@<host>:1521:<database>
H2 (in-memory)	jdbc:h2:mem:<database>
H2 (file)	jdbc:h2:<directory>/<database>

Port numbers shown are defaults and may be omitted. A non-default port requires the database to be configured to listen on that port.

Driver Downloads

Brand	Download
PostgreSQL	Maven Central
MariaDB	Maven Repository
MySQL	Maven Repository
MS SQL	Maven Repository (JRE 11 versions work with JRE 21)
Oracle	Maven Repository
H2	Maven Repository

Vendor-Specific Notes

PostgreSQL

For XA transactions, set max_prepared_transactions in the database:

ALTER SYSTEM SET max_prepared_transactions = 100;

Without this, XA transactions may roll back unexpectedly with error: prepared transactions are disabled.

H2

Recommended properties configuration:

jdbc:
  - name: "myapp"
    type: "org.h2.jdbcx.JdbcDataSource"
    url: "jdbc:h2:mem:myapp"
    username: "sa"
    password: ""
    properties:
      DB_CLOSE_DELAY: "-1"
      DB_CLOSE_ON_EXIT: "FALSE"
      AUTO_RECONNECT: "TRUE"
      MODE: "Post"

To reset an H2 database initialized by Liquibase, execute DROP ALL OBJECTS in the JDBC Execute Query screen.