How To Configure MySQL DataSource In Tomcat 6

Posted on December 7, 2010

By mkyong

Here’s a guide to show you how to configure MySQL datasource in Tomcat 6.

1. Get MySQL JDBC Driver

Get JDBC driver here – http://www.mysql.com/products/connector/ , for example, mysql-connector-java-5.1.9.jar, and copy it to $TOMCAT\lib folder.

2. Create META-INF/context.xml

Add a file META-INF/context.xml into the root of your web application folder, which defines database connection detail :

File : META-INF/context.xml

<Context>
 
  <Resource name="jdbc/mkyongdb" auth="Container" type="javax.sql.DataSource"
               maxActive="50" maxIdle="30" maxWait="10000"
               username="mysqluser" password="mysqlpassword" 
               driverClassName="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
               url="jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mkyongdb"/>
 
</Context>

3. web.xml configuration

In web.xml, defines your MySQL datasource again :

  <resource-ref>
 <description>MySQL Datasource example</description>
 <res-ref-name>jdbc/mkyongdb</res-ref-name>
 <res-type>javax.sql.DataSource</res-type>
 <res-auth>Container</res-auth>
  </resource-ref>

See a full web.xml example below :

File : web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
 xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" 
 xmlns:web="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd" 
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee 
 http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd" 
 id="WebApp_ID" version="2.5">
 
  <display-name>MySQL DataSource Example</display-name>
 
  <resource-ref>
 <description>MySQL Datasource example</description>
 <res-ref-name>jdbc/mkyongdb</res-ref-name>
 <res-type>javax.sql.DataSource</res-type>
 <res-auth>Container</res-auth>
  </resource-ref>
 
</web-app>

4. Run It

Resource injection (@Resource) is the easiest way to get the datasource from Tomcat, see below :

import javax.annotation.Resource;
public class CustomerBean{
 
 @Resource(name="jdbc/mkyongdb")
 private DataSource ds;
 
 public List<Customer> getCustomerList() throws SQLException{
 
   //get database connection
   Connection con = ds.getConnection();
   //...

Alternatively, you can also get the datasource via context lookup service :

import javax.naming.Context;
import javax.naming.InitialContext;
public class CustomerBean{
 
 private DataSource ds;
 
 public CustomerBean(){
   try {
  Context ctx = new InitialContext();
  ds = (DataSource)ctx.lookup("java:comp/env/jdbc/mkyongdb");
   } catch (NamingException e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
   }
 }
 
 public List<Customer> getCustomerList() throws SQLException{
 
   //get database connection
   Connection con = ds.getConnection();
   //...