# Creating, dropping, and backing up databases

You create new databases and access existing ones by specifying attributes to the Derby connection URL.

If you use an in-memory database, you can use a connection URL attribute to drop it. For a file system database, however, there is no drop attribute. To drop a database on the file system, delete the database directory with operating system commands. The database must not be booted when you remove a database. You can get a list of booted databases with getPropertyInfo.

To back up a database, you can use the online backup utility. For information on this utility, see the Java DB Server and Administration Guide.

You can also use roll-forward recovery to recover a damaged database. Derby accomplishes roll-forward recovery by using a full backup copy of the database, archived logs, and active logs from the most recent time before a failure. For more information on roll-forward recovery see the Java DB Server and Administration Guide.

Parent topic: A Derby database
Related concepts
Single database shutdown
Storage and recovery
Log on separate device
Database pages
Database-wide properties
Derby database limitations
Offering connection choices to the user
Derby and Security
Related reference
Database connection examples