Downloading and installing MySQL Connector/J

Owned by Pritam Kumar
Last updated: Jun 30, 2023
3 min read

You must download and install the MySQL Connector/J drivers in a specific location.

Copying the MySQL JDBC driver in case of a new installation

Copy the MySQL JDBC driver to the RMsis home directory.

  1. Download the latest version of MySQL Connector/J driver from the following URL: MySQL Connector/J 8.0 driver (It is suitable for use with MySQL Server versions 8.0 and 5.7)

  2. Untar/Unzip the downloaded file and find the mysql-connector-j-8.x.x.jar file.

  3. Copy the MySQL Connector/J driver(Jar file) to the following directory:

    <Jira-home-directory>/rmsis/libs

Note for copying the MySQL JDBC driver while upgrading from RMsis v2.x to v3.x

If you are upgrading RMsis from RMsis v2.x to v3.x, you may get the error “Database connection failed.“ after copying the database driver.

DB Connection Error

Explanation

  • This issue occurs due to caching of data regarding database drivers which was used with RMsis v2.x.

    • Please note that the database drivers were changed in RMsis v3.x

    • Earlier MariaDB driver was bundled with RMsis, now MySQL drivers are required.

MySQL Connector/J v5.x is not supported. It will fail to connect with RMsis and show the error “Database connection failed.“ If you are using MySQL 5.x, you must use MySQL Connector/J v8.x with it.

According to Changes in the Connector/J API "The name of the class that implements java.sql.Driver in MySQL Connector/J has changed from com.mysql.jdbc.Driver to com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver. The old class name has been deprecated."

Resolution

Please follow the steps mentioned below to fix this issue:

  • Please take a backup of your RMsis database which can be restored later.

  • Shutdown Jira+RMsis server.

    • This is necessary to remove the cached data regarding database drivers.

  • Delete the jdbc.properties file from <jira_home>/rmsis/conf directory.

  • Download the MySQL Connector/J driver (v8.x only) and place the Jar file in <Jira-home-directory>/rmsis/libs directory.

    • Create the libs directory if it does not exist.

  • Start Jira+RMsis server.

  • Switch to the RMsis Configuration [RMsis Menu > RMsis Configuration] page and click on the Re-Configure RMsis button.

    • This will re-initialize the installation/upgrade process.

    • Your existing data will remain preserved, it will only update RMsis configuration details.

  • When prompted for the database details, insert the details of your existing database.

  • Complete the upgrade process.

You may get an error "RMsis uses its own independent database. You can not use JIRA database here." while using MySQL Connector/J driver v8.x
To avoid this issue, please ensure that separate users are created for accessing Jira database and RMsis database.