JBoss utilizes the Hypersonic database as its default database. While this is good for development and prototyping, you or your company will probably require another database to be used for production. This chapter covers configuring JBoss Enterprise Platform to use alternative databases. We cover the procedures for all officially supported databases on the JBoss Enterprise Platform. For a complete list of certified databases, refer to http://www.jboss.com/products/platforms/application/supportedconfigurations/.

Please note that in this chapter, we explain how to use alternative databases to support all services in JBoss Enterprise Platform. This includes all the system level services such as EJB and JMS. For individual applications (e.g., WAR or EAR) deployed in JBoss Enterprise Platform, you can still use any backend database by setting up the appropriate data source connection.

Installing the external database is out of the scope of this document. Use the tools provided by your database vendor to set up an empty database. You will need the database name, connection URL, username, and password, in order to create the datasource the Platform will use to connect to the database.