Java JDBC connection string examples

Java JDBC FAQ: Can you share Java JDBC connection string examples for the most popular relational databases?

Some days we all need something simple, and today I needed the example syntax for a JDBC connection string (the JDBC URL) for MySQL and Postgresql databases. While I was digging through my old examples, I found JDBC connection string examples for other databases, and thought I'd share them all here.

To that end, here are some example Java JDBC connection string examples for various databases, including MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server, and DB2.

JDBC connection string examples

Here’s a table showing the syntax for JDBC URLs and drivers that I've used on recent projects.

(If you'd like to see more detailed JDBC URL and Driver examples for each database, see the sections below.)

Database	URL (JDBC Connection String) JDBC Driver
MySQL	jdbc:mysql://HOST/DATABASE com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
Postgresql	jdbc:postgresql://HOST/DATABASE org.postgresql.Driver
SQL Server	jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://HOST:1433;DatabaseName=DATABASE com.microsoft.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver (see the Comments section below for more information and changes)
DB2	jdbc:as400://HOST/DATABASE; com.ibm.as400.access.AS400JDBCDriver

MySQL JDBC connection string (JDBC URL)

Here's a sample MySQL JDBC connection string and JDBC driver string, taken from a Java properties file:

db_url      = jdbc:mysql://HOST/DATABASE
db_driver   = com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
db_username = USERNAME
db_password = PASSWORD

Here's a similar MySQL JDBC connection string (URL) and driver inside of a little Java source code:

try
{
  Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
  String url = "jdbc:mysql://HOST/DATABASE";
  conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "username", "password");
  doTests();
  conn.close();
}
catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {System.err.println(ex.getMessage());}
catch (IllegalAccessException ex) {System.err.println(ex.getMessage());}
catch (InstantiationException ex) {System.err.println(ex.getMessage());}
catch (SQLException ex)           {System.err.println(ex.getMessage());}

And while I'm in the neighborhood, here's a MySQL JDBC URL for a MySQL server that is listening on a very non-standard port (5150, in honor of Van Halen):

db_url      = jdbc:mysql://HOST:5150/DATABASE
db_driver   = com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
db_username = USERNAME
db_password = PASSWORD

Postgresql JDBC connection string example

Here's a sample Postgresql JDBC connection string and JDBC driver string, taken from a Java properties file:

db_url      = jdbc:postgresql://HOST/DATABASE
db_driver   = org.postgresql.Driver
db_username = USERNAME
db_password = PASSWORD

And here's the same Postgres JDBC driver and URL (connection string) shown in a snippet of Java source code:

Class.forName("org.postgresql.Driver");
String url = "jdbc:postgresql://HOST/DATABASE";
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url,"username", "password");

SQL Server JDBC connection string example

Here's a sample Microsoft SQL Server JDBC connection string and JDBC driver string, taken from a Java properties file:

db_url      = jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://HOST:1433;DatabaseName=DATABASE
db_driver   = com.microsoft.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver
db_username = USERNAME
db_password = PASSWORD

DB2 on an As/400 (iSeries)

And here's a sample JDBC connection string for a DB2 database (and DB2 JDBC driver string), in this case running on an IBM As/400 or iSeries computer. This example was taken from a Spring configuration file (a Spring application context file):

<bean id="as400DataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource">
  <property name="driverClassName" value="com.ibm.as400.access.AS400JDBCDriver" />
  <property name="url" value="jdbc:as400://HOST/DATABASE;" />
  <property name="username" value="USERNAME" />
  <property name="password" value="PASSWORD" />
</bean>

Shown in a Java properties file format, this DB2 JDBC URL looks like this:

db_url      = jdbc:as400://HOST/DATABASE;
db_driver   = com.ibm.as400.access.AS400JDBCDriver
db_username = USERNAME
db_password = PASSWORD