[FIXED] Create PostgreSQL database on the fly using Hibernate even if the DB doesn't exist

Issue

Using H2,

Environment.HBM2DDL_AUTO, "create"

creates the database if it does not exist yet.

However, in Postgres, the non existing DB is not created and thus an exception which says something like "DB does not exist" is thrown. Is there a way to configure Postgres to create a non existing database on demand?

The following configuration files can be used to reproduce the problem:

Works fine using H2:

package test.postgressql;

import java.util.Properties;

import javax.sql.DataSource;

import org.hibernate.cfg.Environment;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.PropertySource;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.config.EnableJpaRepositories;
import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource;
import org.springframework.orm.hibernate4.HibernateExceptionTranslator;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.JpaTransactionManager;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.JpaVendorAdapter;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.Database;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.HibernateJpaVendorAdapter;
import org.springframework.transaction.PlatformTransactionManager;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.EnableTransactionManagement;

@Configuration
@PropertySource("file:C:/springconfig/qpmlib.properties")
@ComponentScan(basePackages = {"test.postgressql"})
@EnableJpaRepositories(basePackages = { "test.postgressql" })
@EnableTransactionManagement
public abstract class H2DBConfig {

    @Autowired
    org.springframework.core.env.Environment env;

    public static final String DB_NAME = getNewDBName();

    @Bean
    public DataSource dataSource() {
        DriverManagerDataSource dmds = new DriverManagerDataSource();
        dmds.setDriverClassName("org.h2.Driver");
        dmds.setUrl("jdbc:h2:tcp://localhost/~/" + DB_NAME );
        dmds.setUsername(env.getProperty("h2user"));
        dmds.setPassword(env.getProperty("h2pw"));
        return dmds;
    }

    private static String getNewDBName() {
        return "H2DBTest";
    }

    @Bean
    public LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean entityManagerFactory() {
        LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean factory = new LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean();
        factory.setDataSource(dataSource());
        factory.setPersistenceUnitName(DB_NAME);
        factory.setPackagesToScan("test.postgressql");
        factory.setJpaVendorAdapter(jpaAdapter());
        factory.setJpaProperties(jpaProperties());
        factory.afterPropertiesSet();
        return factory;
    }

    @Bean
    public PlatformTransactionManager transactionManager() {
        JpaTransactionManager txm = new JpaTransactionManager(
                entityManagerFactory().getObject());
        return txm;
    }

    @Bean
    public JpaVendorAdapter jpaAdapter() {
        HibernateJpaVendorAdapter adapter = new HibernateJpaVendorAdapter();
        adapter.setDatabase(Database.H2);
        adapter.setGenerateDdl(true);
        adapter.setShowSql(true);
        return adapter;
    }

    @Bean
    public HibernateExceptionTranslator exceptionTranslator() {
        return new HibernateExceptionTranslator();
    }

    public Properties jpaProperties() {
        Properties properties = new Properties();
        properties.put(Environment.SHOW_SQL, "true");
        properties.put(Environment.HBM2DDL_AUTO, "create");
        properties.put(Environment.DIALECT,"org.hibernate.dialect.H2Dialect");
        return properties;
    }

}

Fails using Postgres

package test.postgressql;

import java.util.Properties;

import javax.sql.DataSource;

import org.hibernate.cfg.Environment;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.PropertySource;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.config.EnableJpaRepositories;
import org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.DriverManagerDataSource;
import org.springframework.orm.hibernate4.HibernateExceptionTranslator;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.JpaTransactionManager;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.JpaVendorAdapter;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.Database;
import org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.HibernateJpaVendorAdapter;
import org.springframework.transaction.PlatformTransactionManager;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.EnableTransactionManagement;

@Configuration
@PropertySource("file:C:/springconfig/qpmlib.properties")
@ComponentScan(basePackages = {"test.postgressql"})
@EnableJpaRepositories(basePackages = { "test.postgressql" })
@EnableTransactionManagement
public abstract class PGDBConfig {

    @Autowired
    org.springframework.core.env.Environment env;

    public static final String DB_NAME = getNewDBName();

    @Bean
    public DataSource dataSource() {
        DriverManagerDataSource dmds = new DriverManagerDataSource();
        dmds.setDriverClassName("org.postgresql.Driver");
        dmds.setUrl("jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/" + DB_NAME);
        dmds.setUsername(env.getProperty("postgresuser"));
        dmds.setPassword(env.getProperty("postgrespw"));
        return dmds;
    }

    private static String getNewDBName() {
        return "PostgresDBTest";
    }

    @Bean
    public LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean entityManagerFactory() {
        LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean factory = new LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean();
        factory.setDataSource(dataSource());
        factory.setPersistenceUnitName(DB_NAME);
        factory.setPackagesToScan("test.postgressql");
        factory.setJpaVendorAdapter(jpaAdapter());
        factory.setJpaProperties(jpaProperties());
        factory.afterPropertiesSet();
        return factory;
    }

    @Bean
    public PlatformTransactionManager transactionManager() {
        JpaTransactionManager txm = new JpaTransactionManager(
                entityManagerFactory().getObject());
        return txm;
    }

    @Bean
    public JpaVendorAdapter jpaAdapter() {
        HibernateJpaVendorAdapter adapter = new HibernateJpaVendorAdapter();
        adapter.setDatabase(Database.POSTGRESQL);
        adapter.setGenerateDdl(true);
        adapter.setShowSql(true);
        return adapter;
    }

    @Bean
    public HibernateExceptionTranslator exceptionTranslator() {
        return new HibernateExceptionTranslator();
    }

    public Properties jpaProperties() {
        Properties properties = new Properties();
        properties.put(Environment.SHOW_SQL, "true");
        properties.put(Environment.HBM2DDL_AUTO, "create");
        properties.put(Environment.DIALECT,"org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQL9Dialect");
        return properties;
    }
}

Solution

The hbmddl tool can only create tables for an existing schema, and it can't create a schema for you. The database must exist prior to running the tool. That's because a database must be created by an administrator, and it should get an owner assigned.

Because in most applications, the application can only access a database role with restrictive privileges, there's no need for such a feature.

PostgreSQL doesn't support creating the database on-the-fly, from the connection URL. You can add an InitializingBean at application startup connecting to the database server using the administrator account and the default PostgreSQL database and issue a CREATE DATABASE if the application DB doesn't exist.

Or use Testcontainers to bootstrap the DB in Docker, like this.

Answered By - Vlad Mihalcea
Answer Checked By - Robin (JavaFixing Admin)