diff --git a/doc/common/samples/nova.conf b/doc/common/samples/nova.conf
index 3d754c86ba..9c10d893fa 100644
--- a/doc/common/samples/nova.conf
+++ b/doc/common/samples/nova.conf
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ compute_scheduler_driver=nova.scheduler.filter_scheduler.FilterScheduler
 # VOLUMES
 # configured in cinder.conf
 
-# DATABASE
-sql_connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova
-
 # COMPUTE
 libvirt_type=qemu
 compute_driver=libvirt.LibvirtDriver
@@ -67,3 +64,7 @@ admin_tenant_name = service
 admin_user = nova
 admin_password = nova
 signing_dirname = /tmp/keystone-signing-nova
+
+# DATABASE
+[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova
diff --git a/doc/common/samples/nova.conf-yum b/doc/common/samples/nova.conf-yum
index 1d12b14b78..495a89cd04 100644
--- a/doc/common/samples/nova.conf-yum
+++ b/doc/common/samples/nova.conf-yum
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ compute_scheduler_driver=nova.scheduler.filter_scheduler.FilterScheduler
 # VOLUMES
 # configured in cinder.conf
 
-# DATABASE
-sql_connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova
-
 # COMPUTE
 libvirt_type=qemu
 compute_driver=libvirt.LibvirtDriver
@@ -68,3 +65,7 @@ admin_tenant_name = service
 admin_user = nova
 admin_password = nova
 signing_dirname = /tmp/keystone-signing-nova
+
+# DATABASE
+[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova
diff --git a/doc/common/section_hyper-v.xml b/doc/common/section_hyper-v.xml
index 50eb85dd7b..82bbf582c3 100644
--- a/doc/common/section_hyper-v.xml
+++ b/doc/common/section_hyper-v.xml
@@ -337,11 +337,12 @@ api_paste_config=c:\openstack\nova\etc\nova\api-paste.ini
 rabbit_host=<replaceable>IP_ADDRESS</replaceable>
 glance_api_servers=<replaceable>IP_ADDRESS</replaceable>:9292
 image_service=nova.image.glance.GlanceImageService
-sql_connection=mysql://nova:passwd@<replaceable>IP_ADDRESS</replaceable>/nova
 instances_shared_storage=false
 limit_cpu_features=true
 compute_driver=nova.virt.hyperv.driver.HyperVDriver
-volume_api_class=nova.volume.cinder.API</programlisting>
+volume_api_class=nova.volume.cinder.API
+[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:passwd@<replaceable>IP_ADDRESS</replaceable>/nova</programlisting>
     <para>The following table contains a reference of all optionsfor hyper-v</para>
     <xi:include href="tables/nova-hyperv.xml"/>
     </section>
diff --git a/doc/config-reference/compute/section_compute-config-overview.xml b/doc/config-reference/compute/section_compute-config-overview.xml
index 0f4579e58a..9cfdb6ade4 100644
--- a/doc/config-reference/compute/section_compute-config-overview.xml
+++ b/doc/config-reference/compute/section_compute-config-overview.xml
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@
             an internal Rackspace test system.</para>
         <programlisting language="ini">verbose
 nodaemon
-sql_connection=mysql://root:&lt;password&gt;@127.0.0.1/nova
 network_manager=nova.network.manager.FlatManager
 image_service=nova.image.glance.GlanceImageService
 flat_network_bridge=xenbr0
@@ -96,7 +95,9 @@ ipv6_backend=account_identifier
 ca_path=./nova/CA
 
 # Add the following to your conf file if you're running on Ubuntu Maverick
-xenapi_remap_vbd_dev=true</programlisting>
+xenapi_remap_vbd_dev=true
+[database]
+connection=mysql://root:&lt;password&gt;@127.0.0.1/nova</programlisting>
         <figure xml:id="Nova_conf_XEN_Flat">
             <title>KVM, Flat, MySQL, and Glance, OpenStack or EC2
                 API</title>
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-neutron.xml b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-neutron.xml
index 98fa8e54fd..be2da76e70 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-neutron.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-neutron.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ verbose = True</programlisting>
                     <listitem>
                         <para>Edit <filename>/etc/neutron/plugins/openvswitch/ovs_neutron_plugin.ini</filename>:
                             <programlisting language="ini">[database]
-sql_connection = mysql://neutron:password@10.10.10.1/neutron
+connection = mysql://neutron:password@10.10.10.1/neutron
 [ovs]
 tenant_network_type = gre
 tunnel_id_ranges = 1:1000
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-nova.xml b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-nova.xml
index b4891ad25d..fb7c391992 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-nova.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_compute-nova.xml
@@ -164,7 +164,8 @@ vncserver_listen=0.0.0.0</programlisting></para>
                                 nova-conductor to manage your database connections, you will need to add
                                 the following lines to your
                                 <filename>nova.conf</filename>:
-                                <programlisting language="ini">sql_connection=mysql://nova:password@10.10.10.10/nova
+                                <programlisting language="ini">[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:password@10.10.10.10/nova
 [conductor]
 use_local=True</programlisting></para></note></listitem>
                             <listitem>
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-neutron.xml b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-neutron.xml
index dbc1a80c48..79322c0664 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-neutron.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-neutron.xml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ admin_password = password</programlisting>
                     <listitem>
                         <para>Edit
                                 <filename>/etc/neutron/plugins/openvswitch/ovs_neutron_plugin.ini</filename>: <programlisting language="ini">[database]
-sql_connection = mysql://neutron:password@localhost/neutron
+connection = mysql://neutron:password@localhost/neutron
 [ovs]
 tenant_network_type = gre
 tunnel_id_ranges = 1:1000
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ local_ip = 10.10.10.10
 firewall_driver = \
   neutron.agent.linux.iptables_firewall.OVSHybridIptablesFirewallDriver</programlisting>
                             <programlisting os="centos;rhel;fedora" language="ini">[database]
-sql_connection = mysql://neutron:password@localhost/neutron
+connection = mysql://neutron:password@localhost/neutron
 [ovs]
 enable_tunneling = False
 [securitygroup]
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-nova.xml b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-nova.xml
index b44eb9b97b..dd069d7e5a 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-nova.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_controller-nova.xml
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ admin_password = password</programlisting>
                                     them as-is.
                                     <programlisting os="ubuntu;debian" language="ini">[DEFAULT]
 
-sql_connection=mysql://nova:password@localhost/nova
 my_ip=10.10.10.10
 rabbit_password=password
 auth_strategy=keystone
@@ -129,10 +128,11 @@ image_service=nova.image.glance.GlanceImageService
 novnc_enable=true
 novncproxy_port=6080
 novncproxy_host=10.0.0.10
-vncserver_listen=0.0.0.0</programlisting>
-                                    <programlisting os="opensuse" language="ini">[DEFAULT]
+vncserver_listen=0.0.0.0
 
-sql_connection=mysql://nova:password@localhost/nova
+[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:password@localhost/nova</programlisting>
+                                    <programlisting os="opensuse" language="ini">[DEFAULT]
 rabbit_password=password
 auth_strategy=keystone
 
@@ -169,7 +169,9 @@ novnc_enable=true
 novncproxy_port=6080
 novncproxy_host=10.0.0.10
 vncserver_listen=0.0.0.0
-				    </programlisting>
+
+[database]
+connection=mysql://nova:password@localhost/nova</programlisting>
                                 </para>
                             </listitem>
                             <listitem>
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_network-services.xml b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_network-services.xml
index 017539f142..17543098cc 100755
--- a/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_network-services.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/basic-install-files/basic-install_network-services.xml
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ admin_password = password</programlisting></para>
                     <para>Edit
                         <filename>/etc/neutron/plugins/openvswitch/ovs_neutron_plugin.ini</filename>,
                     as follows: <programlisting language="ini">[database]
-sql_connection = mysql://neutron:password@10.10.10.10/neutron
+connection = mysql://neutron:password@10.10.10.10/neutron
 [ovs]
 tenant_network_type = gre
 tunnel_id_ranges = 1:1000
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/section_compute-database-postgresql.xml b/doc/install-guide/section_compute-database-postgresql.xml
index 186b7babf6..d4b2a7ad13 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/section_compute-database-postgresql.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/section_compute-database-postgresql.xml
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ postgres> exit</screen></para>
     <para>Configure the <filename>/etc/nova/nova.conf</filename> file,
     to ensure it knows to use the PostgreSQL database:</para>
 
-    <literallayout class="monospaced">sql_connection = postgres://novadbadmin:[<replaceable>[YOUR_NOVADB_PASSWORD]</replaceable>]@127.0.0.1/nova</literallayout>
+    <literallayout class="monospaced">[database]
+connection = postgres://novadbadmin:[<replaceable>[YOUR_NOVADB_PASSWORD]</replaceable>]@127.0.0.1/nova</literallayout>
     <para>The command to populate the database is described later in the
         documentation, in the section entitled <link
         linkend="compute-db-sync">Configuring the Database for Compute</link>.
diff --git a/doc/install-guide/section_compute-minimum-configuration.xml b/doc/install-guide/section_compute-minimum-configuration.xml
index 740b02f5e2..bc4ce30c4c 100644
--- a/doc/install-guide/section_compute-minimum-configuration.xml
+++ b/doc/install-guide/section_compute-minimum-configuration.xml
@@ -60,12 +60,13 @@
                 <filename>nova.conf</filename> file.</para>
     </note>
     <para>Ensure the database connection defines your backend data
-        store by adding a <literal>sql_connection</literal> line to
+        store by adding a <literal>connection</literal> line to the
+        <literal>[database]</literal> section in
             <filename>nova.conf</filename>:
-                <literal>sql_connection=mysql://<replaceable>[user]</replaceable>:<replaceable>[pass]</replaceable>@<replaceable>[primary
+                <literal>connection=mysql://<replaceable>[user]</replaceable>:<replaceable>[pass]</replaceable>@<replaceable>[primary
                 IP]</replaceable>/<replaceable>[db
             name]</replaceable></literal>, such as
-            <literal>sql_connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova</literal>.</para>
+            <literal>connection=mysql://nova:yourpassword@192.168.206.130/nova</literal>.</para>
     <para>Add these settings to
             <filename>/etc/nova/nova.conf</filename> for the network
         configuration assumptions made for this installation scenario.