Driver Management

Table of contents

• Preconfigured drivers location
• Maven drivers location
• Update a driver
• Configure drivers with drivers.xml
  • How driver entries are structured
  • Add a custom driver
  • Add a driver parameter
  • Add a library to an existing driver
  • Reference a pre-installed jar

dbvr connects to databases using JDBC drivers. Some drivers are preconfigured and shipped with the application, while others are downloaded automatically from Maven Central when first used. If you need a specific driver version or want to use a custom one, you can update it manually.

Tip: Run dbvr driver list to see which drivers are already downloaded.

Preconfigured drivers location

Preconfigured drivers are bundled with dbvr and stored in the installation directory:

OS	Default drivers directory
macOS	/Applications/dbvr.app/Contents/Eclipse/drivers
Windows	C:\Program Files\dbvr\drivers
Linux (package install)	/usr/share/dbvr/drivers
Linux (archive install)	~/dbvr/drivers

Tip: On Linux, the archive path depends on where you extracted dbvr. Replace ~/dbvr with your actual installation directory.

Maven drivers location

Some drivers aren’t bundled with dbvr. They are downloaded automatically from Maven Central when you connect to the database for the first time.

Note: By default, dbvr resolves the RELEASE version of the driver artifact.

Maven drivers are stored in the DBeaverData directory, which is located next to the workspace:

• On Windows, open Explorer and enter the path %APPDATA%\DBeaverData\drivers\maven\maven-central\.
• On Linux, execute cd $XDG_DATA_HOME/DBeaverData/drivers/maven/maven-central/.
• On MacOS, navigate to ~/Library/DBeaverData/drivers/maven/maven-central/ in Finder. To view hidden folders, press Cmd+Shift+..

Update a driver

1. Download the required JDBC .jar.

2. Open the appropriate driver directory:

   • for preconfigured drivers - see Preconfigured drivers location.
   • for Maven drivers - see Maven drivers location.

3. Replace the file with the new version.

Configure drivers with drivers.xml

dbvr has no graphical Driver Manager, so driver settings live in a configuration file called drivers.xml. Edit this file directly when you need to:

• add a custom driver for a database that isn't preconfigured.
• set a driver parameter.
• add a library to an existing driver.

The file sits in the workspace, under the .metadata/.config directory:

DBeaverData/workspace6/.metadata/.config/drivers.xml

How driver entries are structured

Each driver sits inside a <provider> element. The <driver> element holds the connection details, and one or more <library> elements point to the files the driver needs.

Example:

<provider id="db2_zos">
    <driver id="db2_zos" category="Db2" categories="sql,legacy,mainframe" name="Db2 for z/OS" class="com.ibm.db2.jcc.DB2Driver" url="jdbc:db2://{host}[:{port}]/{database}" port="50000" description="IBM Db2 driver for z/OS" custom="false">
        <library type="license" path="drivers/db2/LICENSE.txt" custom="false"/>
        <library type="jar" path="drivers/db2" custom="false"/>
    </driver>
</provider>

The attributes you'll use most often:

Attribute	Element	Description
id	<driver>	Unique identifier for the driver
name	<driver>	Name shown when you run dbvr driver list
class	<driver>	Fully qualified JDBC driver class
url	<driver>	URL template used to build the connection string
port	<driver>	Default port
custom	<driver>	true for a driver you added yourself, false for a bundled one
type	<library>	File type, either jar or zip
path	<library>	Local path to the file, or a Maven coordinate like maven:/group:artifact:RELEASE
version	<library>	Version currently downloaded and in use

Add a custom driver

Add your driver under the existing generic provider, with a <driver> marked custom="true", then point it at the driver .jar with a <library> element. The library path can be a local file or a Maven coordinate.

<provider id="generic">
    <driver id="my_custom_db" categories="sql" name="My custom database" class="com.example.jdbc.Driver" url="jdbc:example://{host}:{port}/{database}" port="9000" description="Custom JDBC driver" custom="true">
        <library type="jar" path="maven:/com.example:example-jdbc:RELEASE" custom="true"/>
    </driver>
</provider>

Warning: Add custom drivers under the generic provider. dbvr only loads drivers for providers already registered in the application, so a driver placed under a new provider id is ignored.

Tip: Set url to a template that uses variables like {host}, {port}, and {database}. dbvr fills these in from your connection settings.

Confirm the driver loaded by running dbvr driver list. It appears under generic (Generic):

generic (Generic)
    ...
    my_custom_db (My custom database)
    ...

Add a driver parameter

Add a <parameter> element inside the <driver> you want to change. Each parameter takes a name and a value.

<driver id="my_custom_db" ... custom="true">
    <parameter name="read-only-data" value="false"/>
    <library type="jar" path="maven:/com.example:example-jdbc:RELEASE" custom="true"/>
</driver>

Add a library to an existing driver

Add another <library> element inside the <driver>. Use this when the driver needs an extra dependency that isn't bundled.

<library type="jar" path="maven:/org.apache.httpcomponents.client5:httpclient5:RELEASE" custom="false" version="5.4.4"/>

Note: When you point a library at a Maven coordinate ending in RELEASE, dbvr downloads the latest published version the next time it uses the driver.

Reference a pre-installed jar

Instead of a Maven coordinate, you can point a <library> at a .jar already on disk. Set custom="true" and use an absolute path:

<library type="jar" path="/Users/me/jdbc-drivers/my-driver.jar" custom="true"/>

For relative paths, use these variables:

Variable	Resolves to
${drivers_home}	dbvr drivers directory (DBeaverData/drivers)
${dbeaver_home}	dbvr installation folder
${home}	User home folder
${workspace}	dbvr workspace path

<library type="jar" path="${workspace}/drivers/my-driver.jar" custom="true"/>