Database Setup

During the init phase of Gerrit you will need to specify which database to use.

H2

If you choose H2, Gerrit will automatically set up the embedded H2 database as backend so no set up or configuration is necessary.

Using the embedded H2 database is the easiest way to get a Gerrit site up and running, making it ideal for proof of concepts or small team servers. On the flip side, H2 is not the recommended option for large corporate installations. This is because there is no easy way to interact with the database while Gerrit is offline, it’s not easy to backup the data, and it’s not possible to set up H2 in a load balanced/hotswap configuration.

If this option interests you, you might want to consider the quick guide.

PostgreSQL

This option is more complicated than the H2 option but is recommended for larger installations. It’s the database backend with the largest userbase in the Gerrit community.

Create a user for the web application within Postgres, assign it a password, create a database to store the metadata, and grant the user full rights on the newly created database:

  $ createuser --username=postgres -RDIElPS gerrit2
  $ createdb --username=postgres -E UTF-8 -O gerrit2 reviewdb

Visit PostgreSQL’s documentation for further information regarding using PostgreSQL.

MySQL

This option is also more complicated than the H2 option. Just as with PostgreSQL it’s also recommended for larger installations.

Create a user for the web application within the database, assign it a password, create a database, and give the newly created user full rights on it:

  mysql

  CREATE USER 'gerrit2'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
  CREATE DATABASE reviewdb;
  ALTER DATABASE reviewdb charset=latin1;
  GRANT ALL ON reviewdb.* TO 'gerrit2'@'localhost';
  FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Visit MySQL’s documentation for further information regarding using MySQL.

Oracle

PostgreSQL or H2 is the recommended database for Gerrit Code Review. Oracle is supported for environments where running on an existing Oracle installation simplifies administrative overheads, such as database backups.

Create a user for the web application within sqlplus, assign it a password, and grant the user full rights on the newly created database:

  SQL> create user gerrit2 identified by secret_password default tablespace users;
  SQL> grant connect, resources to gerrit2;

JDBC driver ojdbc6.jar must be obtained from your Oracle distribution. Gerrit initialization process tries to copy it from a known location:

/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/xe/jdbc/lib/ojdbc6.jar

If this file can not be located at this place, then the alternative location can be provided.

Instance name is the Oracle SID. Sample database section in $site_path/etc/gerrit.config:

[database]
        type = oracle
        instance = xe
        hostname = localhost
        username = gerrit2
        port = 1521

Sample database section in $site_path/etc/secure.config:

[database]
        password = secret_pasword

Part of Gerrit Code Review