This document provides information on configuring an external database.

The embedded HSQL database for evaluation purposes

The Confluence installation includes an embedded HSQLDB database, supplied for the purpose of evaluating Confluence.

If you are using the embedded database, the database files are stored in the \database folder under your Confluence Home directory. See also Important Directories and Files.

Embedded Database is Not Suitable for Production Instances of Confluence

Production instances of Confluence should use an external database. When using the default HSQLDB database, you run the risk of unrecoverable data loss due to not being transaction safe.

  • Corruption is occasionally encountered after sudden power loss and can usually be corrected using this data recovery procedure.
  • HSQLDB is still suitable for evaluation purposes, but the risk can only be eliminated by switching databases. External databases may also provide superior speed and scalability.

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Selecting an external database

Note: Take time to choose your database wisely. The XML backup built into Confluence is not suited for migration or backup of large data sets. If you need to migrate later, you will need to use a third party database migration tool.

Below is more information on selecting and migrating to an external database:

Database setup

Here are the setup instructions for the supported databases:

Optimising database performance

To improve database responsiveness:

Database troubleshooting

For solving database-related problems:

Obtain technical support from Troubleshooting Problems and Requesting Technical Support.

Notes

Issue CONF-12599 requests a more robust strategy for migrating large Confluence sites.

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