Relational databases
Relational database (RDBMS) support is a core capability of the Orchestration Cluster in Camunda 8 Self-Managed.
RDBMS is a standard secondary storage option for Orchestration Cluster installations, alongside Elasticsearch and OpenSearch.
With RDBMS secondary storage, the RDBMS exporter writes orchestration data to your relational database, and the Orchestration Cluster API queries it. Operate, Tasklist, and Admin use that API rather than querying the database directly.
In this context:
- Primary storage is the broker-managed store for workflow execution state management.
- Secondary storage is an external store used for indexing, querying, analytics, and retention.
For a deeper conceptual comparison, see understanding primary vs secondary storage.
End-to-end setup guide
Configure relational databases for the Orchestration Cluster and Web Modeler with unified provisioning, authentication, and driver management strategies.
Configuration overview
Learn how to configure Camunda to use a relational database as secondary storage, including exporter setup, schema management, privileges, and connection settings.
Version support policy
Defines Camunda’s official RDBMS support policy, including supported databases, LTS-based version rules, managed PostgreSQL guidance, JDBC driver expectations, and component compatibility.
Benchmark results
Benchmark results and methodology summary for using PostgreSQL as Orchestration Cluster secondary storage compared with Elasticsearch/OpenSearch.