Build a Hello World App with CockroachDB and JDBC

This tutorial shows you how build a simple Hello World Java application with CockroachDB and the JDBC driver.

Step 1. Start CockroachDB

Choose whether to run a temporary local cluster or a free CockroachDB cluster on CockroachCloud Free (beta). The instructions below will adjust accordingly.

Create a free cluster

If you haven't already, sign up for a CockroachCloud account.
Log in to your CockroachCloud account.
On the Clusters page, click Create Cluster.
On the Create your cluster page, select CockroachCloud Free.

Note:

This cluster will be free forever.
(Optional) Select a cloud provider (GCP or AWS) in the Additional configuration section.
(Optional) Select a region in the Additional configuration section. For optimal performance, select the cloud provider region closest to the region in which you are running your application.
Click Create your free cluster.

Your cluster will be created in approximately 20-30 seconds.

Set up your cluster connection

Once your cluster is created, the Connect to cluster-name dialog displays. Use the information provided in the dialog to set up your cluster connection for the SQL user that was created by default:

In your terminal, run the second command from the dialog to create a new certs directory on your local machine and download the CA certificate to that directory:
```
curl --create-dirs -o ~/.postgresql/root.crt -O https://cockroachlabs.cloud/clusters/<cluster-id>/cert
```
Your cert file will be downloaded to ~/.postgres/root.crt.
```
curl --create-dirs -o ~/.postgresql/root.crt -O https://cockroachlabs.cloud/clusters/<cluster-id>/cert
```
Your cert file will be downloaded to ~/.postgres/root.crt.
```
mkdir -p $env:appdata\.postgresql\; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://cockroachlabs.cloud/clusters/<cluster-id>/cert -OutFile $env:appdata\.postgresql\root.crt
```
Your cert file will be downloaded to %APPDATA%/.postgres/root.crt.

Copy the connection string provided, which will be used in the next steps (and to connect to your cluster in the future).

Warning:

This connection string contains your password, which will be provided only once. If you forget your password, you can reset it by going to the SQL Users page.

cockroach sql --url 'postgresql://<user>@<free-tier-host>.<region>.cockroachlabs.cloud:26257/defaultdb?sslmode=verify-full&sslrootcert='$HOME'/.postgresql/root.crt&options=--cluster=<cluster-name>-<tenant-id>'

cockroach sql --url 'postgresql://<user>@<free-tier-host>.<region>.cockroachlabs.cloud:26257/defaultdb?sslmode=verify-full&sslrootcert='$HOME'/.postgresql/root.crt&options=--cluster=<cluster-name>-<tenant-id>'

cockroach sql --url "postgresql://<user>@<free-tier-host>.<region>.cockroachlabs.cloud:26257/defaultdb?sslmode=verify-full&sslrootcert=$env:appdata/.postgresql/root.crt&options=--cluster=<cluster-name>-<tenant-id>"

If you haven't already, download the CockroachDB binary.
Run the cockroach demo command:
```
$ cockroach demo \
--no-example-database
```
This starts a temporary, in-memory cluster and opens an interactive SQL shell to the cluster. Any changes to the database will not persist after the cluster is stopped.

Note:

If cockroach demo fails due to SSL authentication, make sure you have cleared any previously downloaded CA certificates from the directory ~/.postgresql.

Take note of the (sql) connection string in the SQL shell welcome text:

# Connection parameters:
#   (webui)    http://127.0.0.1:8080/demologin?password=demo76950&username=demo
#   (sql)      postgres://demo:demo76950@127.0.0.1:26257?sslmode=require
#   (sql/unix) postgres://demo:demo76950@?host=%2Fvar%2Ffolders%2Fc8%2Fb_q93vjj0ybfz0fz0z8vy9zc0000gp%2FT%2Fdemo070856957&port=26257

Step 2. Get the code

Clone the code's GitHub repo:

$ git clone https://github.com/cockroachlabs/hello-world-java-jdbc/

Check out the cockroachcloud branch:

git checkout cockroachcloud

The app/src/main/java/example/app/App.java file contains all of the code for the sample Hello World app:

package example.app;

import org.postgresql.ds.PGSimpleDataSource;

public class App {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try {
            PGSimpleDataSource ds = new PGSimpleDataSource();
            ds.setServerNames(new String[]{"localhost"});
            ds.setPortNumbers(new int[]{26257});
            ds.setDatabaseName("defaultdb");
            ds.setUser("root");
            ds.setSsl(false);
            ds.setSslMode("disable");
            ds.setApplicationName("App");
            System.out.println("Hey! You connected to your CockroachDB cluster.");
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

The main method of this program does the following:

Attempts to connect to a running cluster, given some connection information.
Prints a message to the terminal about the connection status.

Step 3. Run the code

Update the connection parameters

In a text editor modify app/src/main/java/example/app/App.java with the settings to connect to the cluster:

ds.setServerNames(new String[]{"{globalhost}"});
ds.setDatabaseName("{cluster_name}.defaultdb");
ds.setUser("{username}");
ds.setPassword("{password}");
ds.setSslRootCert(System.getenv("{path to the CA certificate}"));

Where:

{username} and {password} specify the SQL username and password that you created earlier.
{globalhost} is the name of the CockroachCloud Free (beta) host (e.g., free-tier.gcp-us-central1.cockroachlabs.cloud).
{path to the CA certificate} is the path to the cc-ca.crt file that you downloaded from the CockroachCloud Console.
{cluster_name} is the name of your cluster.

Note:

If you are using the connection string that you copied from the Connection info modal, your username, password, hostname, and cluster name will be pre-populated.

Tip:

For guidance on connection pooling, with an example using JDBC and HikariCP, see Connection Pooling.

Compile and run the code:

./gradlew run

The app will prompt you for the password to the demo cluster:

> Task :app:run
Enter the demo password:
<=========----> 75% EXECUTING [22s]

Enter the password.

The output should look like this:

Hey! You successfully connected to your CockroachDB cluster.

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