# HowTo run a ProcessEngine/DB inside and application that has already has a DB

**URL:** <https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739>\
**Category:** Flowable Engine\
**Created:** [September 16, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739 "2022-09-16T15:30:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![slo3r1c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@slo3r1c](https://forum.flowable.org/u/slo3r1c)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739/1 "2022-09-16T15:30:03Z")

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I’m having trouble getting a stand alone ProcessEngine to work (using the Java API) in my application that already has a primary database. I want the Flowable DB to be separate. If I use the flowable-spring-boot-starter, it seems to be clashing with the main spring boot application.

Any advice is appreciated.

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**Author:** ![WelschChristopher](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forum.flowable.org/welschchristopher/32/2822_2.png) [@WelschChristopher](https://forum.flowable.org/u/WelschChristopher)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 6:23am UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739/2 "2022-09-19T06:23:46Z")

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Hey, what DB settings are you running with? Please check your application properties. flowable uses the default spring settings spring.datasource.url, spring.datasource.username and spring.datasource.password to establish the database connections. After establishing the connection, flowable will create all tables needed.  
[Configuration · Flowable Open Source Documentation](https://www.flowable.com/open-source/docs/bpmn/ch03-Configuration) also check that link.

Greetings

Christopher

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**Author:** ![slo3r1c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@slo3r1c](https://forum.flowable.org/u/slo3r1c)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739/3 "2022-09-19T15:23:22Z")

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Thanks for your reply. My application properties have the settings for the “main” database. I want to configure a separate db for Flowable and then be able to deploy my processes (bpmn20.xml files) using the Java API. I can create custom properties for the db and use them to create beans for a data source and process engine, but I have not found out how to deploy the processes. The Spring implementation automagically does this from the resources/processes directory but I need to do it from code.

This seems like a bit of a hack, so I’m wondering if there is a best-practice for Flowable to seamlessly coexist with another DB while still using Spring to auto-configure.  
Thanks.

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**Author:** ![WelschChristopher](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/forum.flowable.org/welschchristopher/32/2822_2.png) [@WelschChristopher](https://forum.flowable.org/u/WelschChristopher)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2022, 11:42am UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/howto-run-a-processengine-db-inside-and-application-that-has-already-has-a-db/9739/4 "2022-09-21T11:42:23Z")

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Hey,  
check out that link:[Deployment · Flowable Open Source Documentation](https://www.flowable.com/open-source/docs/bpmn/ch06-Deployment)  
If you need to do it via code, you can use the respositoryService to deploy your bmn20.xml files.

Greetings

Christopher