I’m currently working on a C++ project using the Drogon web framework, aiming to connect to a PostgreSQL database hosted on Neon. However, I’m encountering a persistent issue where the database client fails to initialize, and I’m unable to determine the root cause.

When attempting to initialize my database client, getDbClient() returns nullptr, indicating an unsuccessful connection attempt. This is confirmed by the error message: “Database client is not initialized”.

Here’s the relevant portion of my config.json for setting up the database client (password omitted for security):

"dbClients": [
  {
    "rdbms": "postgresql",
    "host": "ep-proud-hall-a29l37uu.eu-central-1.aws.neon.tech",
    "port": 5432,
    "dbname": "patrol_system",
    "user": "users_owner",
    "passwd": "[Password Omitted for Security]",
    "sslmode": "require",
    "filename": "",
    "isFast": false,
    "timeout": 5,
    "client_encoding": "UTF8"
  }
]

Function to Initialize Database Table

void AuthController::initUsersTable() {
    auto client = drogon::app().getDbClient();
    if (!client) {
        LOG_ERROR << "Database client is not initialized";
        return;
    }
    std::string createTableSql = R"(
        CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
            id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
            username VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
            password_hash VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL
        );
    )";
    client->execSqlAsync(
            createTableSql,
            [](const drogon::orm::Result& result) {
                LOG_INFO << "Table 'users' checked/created successfully.";
            },
            [](const drogon::orm::DrogonDbException& e) {
                LOG_ERROR << "Error checking/creating table 'users': " << e.base().what();
            }
    );
}

Here is how I invoke the initialization in my main function:

int main()
{
  LOG_DEBUG << "Server is running"
            << "n";

  drogon::app().loadConfigFile("../config.json");

  AuthController::initUsersTable();

  drogon::app().run();

  return 0;
}

What I’ve Tried

• Ensuring the SSL mode is explicitly set to “require” in the configuration.
• Rechecking all configurations for any typos or incorrect settings.
• Looking into drogon documentation https://drogonframework.github.io/drogon-docs/#/

Has anyone encountered a similar issue, or does anyone have insights on what might be causing this and how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance for your help!