A.2. Set up a Relational Database

If you already have a database setup, know its JDBC URL and have a JDBC driver for it, then skip onto the next section, JPA Objects 1.0 Users Guide.

Otherwise though we need to install a database server. There are a number of very good open source relational database around; the one I've chosen to use here is PostgreSQL. It's cross platform, easy to setup, has Java JDBC drivers, and comes with a nice GUI administration tool so that we can see what's going on.

So, go to the PostgreSQL website and download the pre0buit binary install (I selected PostgreSQL 8.3.7) for your operating system. Do the install, remembering the password for the postgres superuser.

We could leave it at that, but it's bad practice to use superuser accounts and built-in databases. So, let's also create our own login and database:

Double check that everything is setup correctly by logging out and reconnecting as the new "claims" login.

We're now ready to run the Maven archetype.