Implementation Plan: External Database Integration

This plan outlines the design and implementation steps for connecting local LDM instances to external database engines.

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1. CLI Integration

Update ldm_core/cli.py to accept external as a valid choice under the --db parameter:

parser.add_argument(
    "--db",
    choices=["postgresql", "mysql", "hypersonic", "external"],
    default="postgresql",
    help="Database engine to use",
)

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2. Interactive DB Prompt Wizard

If --db external is selected, LDM launches an interactive prompt wizard inside ldm_core/handlers/composer.py or the initialization command:

Prompts

1. Database Type: Select from PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server.
2. JDBC Host: (e.g. 192.168.1.50 or db.internal.network).
3. JDBC Port: Defaults based on type (e.g., 5432, 3306, 1521, 1433).
4. Database Name: (e.g., lportal or custom).
5. Database Username.
6. Database Password.

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3. Database Property Generation

LDM maps the inputs to standard Liferay JDBC properties and appends them to the generated portal-ext.properties:

PostgreSQL Example

jdbc.default.driverClassName=org.postgresql.Driver
jdbc.default.url=jdbc:postgresql://${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}
jdbc.default.username=${DB_USER}
jdbc.default.password=${DB_PASSWORD}

MySQL Example

jdbc.default.driverClassName=com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
jdbc.default.url=jdbc:mysql://${DB_HOST}:${DB_PORT}/${DB_NAME}?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&useFastDateParsing=false
jdbc.default.username=${DB_USER}
jdbc.default.password=${DB_PASSWORD}

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4. Compose Orchestration

During Docker Compose generation in ComposerService:

• If --db external is set, LDM excludes the database container service block (e.g., db container is omitted completely from the generated docker-compose.yml).
• Liferay is configured to start up independently and connect directly to the external host network interface.
• (Ensure that the liferay service network is configured to bridge correctly or that --network host compatibility is supported if running against localhost databases on some OS platforms).

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Last Updated: 2026-08-05 | Last Reviewed: 2026-07-02