Unable to Configure DBeaver Connection on Windows Server with no Internet Access

[Linda-A-LF]

Description

I am doing the initial configuration of the DBeaver Community Edition software on a Windows 2019 server that has no internet connection. When I attempt to add my first MySQL connection, I receive the message that I have to download drivers. Did I mention that the server has no internet connection? I was disappointed that the installation software did not install all of the required files.

I went to the MySQL Community Downloads URL, and there was no option for a Windows java connector.

How do I get DBeaver configured, if it has no internet connection and requires additional files? In this specific case, how do I obtain/install the missing driver files? I am targeting MySQL installations on Ubuntu v22.04 and v24.04, but the DBeaver software is not installed locally, but on a Windows server.

Are there special instructions for DBeaver for installations where no internet connections exist?

I finally got to this website, but it is not clear that the mysql-connector-j.9.7.0.zip file indicated should be run on a Windows platform.

DBeaver Version

Community Edition v26.1.0

Operating System

Windows 2019

Database and driver

This is the problem. After the initial installation, there are no drivers listed on the [Connection Settings - Driver properties] tab, and DBeaver wants to access the internet to download the driver fles.

This Windows server has no internet connection to download the MySQL driver fles.

Steps to reproduce

1. Perform the DBeaver installation (it was successful).
2. Try to create the initial new MySQL connection.

• Enter the information on the [Main] tab for the Connection Settings
• Click on [Driver Settings] for the Driver name : MySQL
• On [Edit Driver 'MySQL' update the [Default Port] and [Default User] settings, then OK

3. Return to the [Main] tab and select [Finish]
4. The DBeaver product attempts to download the drivers. This fails as the server is not connected to the internet.

Additional context

How do I load these DBeaver MySQL drivers outside of the product, so that it will work on my Windows server connecting to the remote MySQL environments on a different platform?

[ShadelessFox]

Hi,

Are there special instructions for DBeaver for installations where no internet connections exist?

The community edition of DBeaver doesn't come with prepackaged drivers. It downloads all required driver files from the internet. Commercial editions include a set of bundled drivers and don't require downloading anything in most cases.

What you can do is connect to the internet, let DBeaver download the driver, and then distribute the locally cached files to any machine.

Driver files are stored under %appdata%/DBeaverData/drivers/maven/maven-central/ on Windows.

I finally got to this website, but it is not clear that the mysql-connector-j.9.7.0.zip file indicated should be run on a Windows platform.

Choose the "Platform independent" option.

[Linda-A-LF]

Thanks [ShadelessFox]. I appreciate the assistance.

I have the DBeaver CE installed locally on my workstation, so I found the folder you referenced.

What I don't understand, is where these 2 folders should be copied to on the target server, or is there some sort of installation process that needs to be run to install these drivers?

[flambchap]

Just to add to what @ShadelessFox has said: it is even against the license policy of MySQL's JDBC driver to include it with our application.

What I don't understand, is where these 2 folders should be copied to on the target server, or is there some sort of installation process that needs to be run to install these drivers?

Copying these directories and their contents is enough.

[Linda-A-LF]

Thanks @flambchap, and I appreciate the additional insight on the licensing.

However, I am still looking to know the location on the Windows server where these folders should be copied to.

[ShadelessFox]

However, I am still looking to know the location on the Windows server where these folders should be copied to.

It should be the same folder as on your host machine or on any other machine you use to download the drivers. The only part of the path that changes is the username, which can be mitigated by simply using the %appdata% placeholder as I've shown before.

You can copy the whole drivers directory (%appdata%/DBeaverData/drivers); in your case, it should contain only MySQL driver files.

[Linda-A-LF]

I appreciate the response @ShadelessFox .

There are differences between my laptop (used only by me) and the server (used by multiple other individuals). I am not understanding why I would place the drivers in a folder that is specific to my user account on the target server. Using the %appdata% local variable is unique to each logged in user, not generic for ALL users.

I would think it might perhaps be more appropriate to copy some part of the DBeaver installation drivers path from my laptop installation to the target server [C:\Wndows\Drivers] location. I don't know how to confirm this target server location.

I am looking to have the DBeaver software be available to more than a single user when installed on the server.

[ShadelessFox]

I see what you mean. In that case, here you can specify a custom path to where drivers should be loaded from:

In my case, the specified path corresponds to %appdata%/DBeaverData/drivers: inside, it has maven/maven-central folder structure.

To set that preference programmatically, you'll have to have access to DBeaver's workspace that is again stored within the DBeaverData directory. Go to %appdata%/DBeaverData/workspace6/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.core.runtime/.settings and open org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.prefs using any text editor. There, add a new line like in the example below:

                 v this slash before : is important!
ui.drivers.home=C\:\\Users\\ShadelessFox\\Desktop\\drivers

I'm not sure what your setup looks like, but the workspace should be unique for each user, as DBeaver doesn't support opening the same workspace twice, as it might corrupt the data and render it unusable. BUT it's possible to change its location using a command-line argument. Please see https://github.com/dbeaver/dbeaver/wiki/Workspace-Location#custom-location

But perhaps you just need DBeaver Team Edition?

[Linda-A-LF]

Well, @ShadelessFox , you are providing me with all sorts of information that wasn't disclosed during my meetings with the DBeaver sales team.

1. I didn't realize that there was an internet requirement for the Community Edition software.

2. I didn't realize that DBeaver CE doesn't support multiple users - such as the installation on a server. Your comment about corrupting the data convinces me that getting this installed on a server for a common product interface indicates that a bad selection was made.

I appreciate your assistance, but I don't think we will be proceeding with the server installation of DBeaver CE, and will remove it from the target server after all.

Should budget become available for the DBeaver Team edition, we may reconsider.