testcontainers/testcontainers-java · error · SQLException

Error while executing init script

Error message

Error while executing init script: {}

What it means

When the init script is found and read but ScriptUtils.executeDatabaseScript fails with a ScriptException (bad SQL), runInitScriptIfRequired wraps it in this SQLException. The SQL in the init script itself is invalid or cannot be executed against the database.

Solutions

1. Run the script manually against the same DB version to find the failing statement
2. Fix SQL syntax / remove dialect-incompatible statements
3. Check the chained cause (getCause()) for the exact line and statement that failed
4. Split complex scripts; ensure statements are semicolon-terminated and comments are standard

Example fix

// before
-- init.sql
CREATE TABLE users(id INT;
// after
-- init.sql
CREATE TABLE users(id INT PRIMARY KEY);

try {
    runTestWithContainer();
} catch (SQLException e) {
    if (e.getCause() instanceof javax.script.ScriptException) {
        log.error("Init script failed: {}", e.getCause().getMessage(), e.getCause());
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: TC_INITSCRIPT (or withInitScript) SQL contains syntax errors, unsupported statements, script comment/separator mis-parsing, or fails mid-execution against the target database engine.

Common situations: Dialect-specific SQL (e.g. MySQL-specific syntax against Postgres); missing semicolons; stored procedures without proper delimiter handling; schema already exists from a prior run.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script
• Failed to execute SQL script statement at line
• Could not load classpath init script
• Could not load classpath init script

AI-assisted analysis of testcontainers/testcontainers-java@8e549514e3 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/887cdf6ec83ba9bc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/jdbc/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/jdbc/ContainerDatabaseDriver.java:231

                } else {
                    //classpath resource
                    resource = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource(initScriptPath);
                }
                if (resource == null) {
                    LOGGER.warn("Could not load classpath init script: {}", initScriptPath);
                    throw new SQLException(
                        "Could not load classpath init script: " + initScriptPath + ". Resource not found."
                    );
                }

                String sql = IOUtils.toString(resource, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
                ScriptUtils.executeDatabaseScript(databaseDelegate, initScriptPath, sql);
            } catch (IOException e) {
                LOGGER.warn("Could not load classpath init script: {}", initScriptPath);
                throw new SQLException("Could not load classpath init script: " + initScriptPath, e);
            } catch (ScriptException e) {
                LOGGER.error("Error while executing init script: {}", initScriptPath, e);
                throw new SQLException("Error while executing init script: " + initScriptPath, e);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Run an init function (must be a public static method on an accessible class).
     *
     * @param connectionUrl {@link ConnectionUrl} instance representing JDBC Url with r init function declarations.
     * @param connection    JDBC connection to apply init functions to.
     * @throws SQLException on script or DB error
     */
    private void runInitFunctionIfRequired(final ConnectionUrl connectionUrl, Connection connection)
        throws SQLException {
        if (connectionUrl.getInitFunction().isPresent()) {
            String className = connectionUrl.getInitFunction().get().getClassName();
            String methodName = connectionUrl.getInitFunction().get().getMethodName();

            try {

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