Command Line

Command line parameters can be passed directly to the Team Edition executable. The way to do this depends on your operating system:

Windows

You can use the dbeaver-cli.exe [parameters] executable. This executable does not spawn a new window, so you can see the output messages.

Mac

Parameters can be passed to Team Edition in one of two ways:

• Use the open command followed by the -a flag and the name of the application, along with any necessary arguments. Depending on the version of Team Edition, you might need to specify DBeaver.app, DBeaverLite.app, DBeaverEE.app, DBeaverUltimate.app, or DBeaverTeam.app. For example: open -a "DBeaver.app" --args [parameters].

Note: This method does not redirect logging messages, stdout, and stderr to the terminal.

• Pass parameters directly to the Team Edition executable in the terminal using the path where the .app file is located. For example: /Applications/DBeaver.app/Content/MacOS/dbeaver [parameters]. This method redirects logging messages, stdout, and stderr to the terminal.

Linux

Pass parameters directly to the Team Edition executable in the terminal. For example: /usr/bin/dbeaver-ce [parameters]. This method redirects logging messages, stdout, and stderr to the terminal.

For both Windows and Mac, parameters can also be added in the dbeaver.ini configuration file. These should be written at the beginning of the file, with each parameter on its own line.

Tip: Detailed instructions on finding dbeaver.ini are available in our article.

Command line parameters

DBeaver control

Name	Value	Example
-help	Prints help message.
-stop	Quits Team Edition.
-dump	Prints Team Edition thread dump. Learn more about Thread Dump
-f	Opens the file in Team Edition UI, if the command has -con argument, connects it to datasource.	-f c:\some-path\some-file.sql
-con	Opens database connection in Team Edition UI.	See connection parameters table
-closeTabs	Closes all open editor tabs.
-disconnectAll	Closes all open connections.
-reuseWorkspace	Forces reuse of single workspace by multiple Team Edition instances.
-newInstance	Forces new Team Edition instance creation (do not try to reuse already running one).
-bringToFront	Brings the Team Edition window on top of other applications.
-var	Customs variables for runTask. You can change existing variables in the task. You cannot add new task variables with this parameter. You can add several parameters at once to the command line, each starting with -var. Used right before -runTask. Template: -var variableName=variableValue.	-var film=sakila.film -var actor=sakila.actor -runTask "exportFromSakila" PRO versions only.
-vars	Path to a property file with variables.	-vars c:\path\to\file.properties For more information see the main article
-runTask	Executes specified task.	-runTask "@projectName:taskName". PRO versions only. See Task Scheduler.
-license	Path to the license file.	-license "/etc/licenses/dbeaver.txt". PRO versions only.

System parameters

Name	Value	Example
-nl	Locale.	en_US
-data	Workspace path.	c:\ProgramData\MyWorkspace
-nosplash	Omits splash screen.	true
-clean	Clears all Eclipse caches. Use it if Team Edition fails to start after it upgrades.
-vmargs	VM parameters.	See VM arguments table

VM arguments

You can pass any advanced Java parameters supported by your local JVM. Parameters supported by HotSpot JVM (21): https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/21/docs/specs/man/java.html

Parameters supported by all JVMs:

Name	Value	Example
-Xms	Sets initial memory available for Team Edition.	-Xmx1000m
-Xmx	Sets maximum memory available for Team Edition.	-Xmx4000m

Connection parameters

All connection parameters must be supplied as a single command line argument. The parameters are divided by pipe (|). The parameter name and value is divided by =.
For example -con "driver=sqlite|database=C:\db\SQLite\Chinook.db|name=SQLiteChin|openConsole=true|folder=SQLite"

Name	Description	Example
name	Connection name.	Test connection
driver	Driver name or ID.	driver=sqlite, driver=mysql, etc
url	Connection URL. Optional (JDBC URL may be constructed by a driver from other parameters).	url=jdbc:sqlite:C:\db\SQLite\Chinook.db
host	Database host name (optional).	host=localhost
port	Database port number (optional).	port=1534
server	Database server name (optional).	server=myserver
database	Database name or path (optional).	database=db-name
user	User name (optional).	user=root
password	User password (optional).	password=mysecret
auth	Authentication model ID. See Auth models.	auth=postgres_pgpass
authProp.propName	Custom authentication parameters (depends on the driver and auth model).	authProp.oracle.net.wallet_location=C:/temp/ora-wallet
savePassword	Does not ask user for a password on connection.	savePassword=true
showSystemObjects	Shows/Hides system schemas, tables, etc.	showSystemObjects=true
showUtilityObjects	Shows/Hides utility schemas, tables, etc.	showUtilityObjects=true
folder	Puts a new connection in a folder.	folder=FolderName
autoCommit	Sets connection auto commit flag (default value depends on driver).	autoCommit=true
prop.propName	Advanced connection parameters (depend on driver).	prop.connectTimeout=30
id	Connection id.	oracle_thin-16a88e815bd-70598e648cedd28c (useful in conjunction with create=false)
connect	Connects to this database.	connect=false
openConsole	Opens the SQL console for this database (sets connect to true).	openConsole=true
create	Creates new connection.	create=false (true by default). If it is set as false, then an existing connection configuration will be used. The name or id parameter must be specified.
save	Saves new connection.	When create=true, then save=false (default) makes new connection temporary, save=true means that new connection will be saved and accessible between Team Edition launches.

Declare external variables in a file

See the main article