diff --git a/documentation/first-steps/README.md b/documentation/first-steps/README.md
index c21ba041e..c72a8b123 100644
--- a/documentation/first-steps/README.md
+++ b/documentation/first-steps/README.md
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ If you already have an existing Java maven project, the OSHDB-API can be added t
 </dependency>
 ```
 
-Note that the OSHDB requires Java 17, so it could sometimes be necessary to specify this additional restriction in the `pom.xml` as well. Take a look at this [example `pom.xml`](./example-pom.xml) file that shows how all these settings should be put together.
+Note that the OSHDB requires Java 17[^1], so it could sometimes be necessary to specify this additional restriction in the `pom.xml` as well. Take a look at this [example `pom.xml`](./example-pom.xml) file that shows how all these settings should be put together.
 
 If you're starting a new OSHDB project from scratch, it's typically a good idea to create a new maven project using the “create new project” wizard of your IDE of choice. After that you can use the steps described above to add OSHDB as a dependency to the new project.
 
@@ -152,3 +152,5 @@ The result from this query is visualized in the following graph:
 ## 12. Next steps
 
 That's it for our first-steps tutorial. Of course there are many more options and features to explore in the OSHDB. For example how the contribution [view](../manual/views.md) lets you analyze each modification to the OSM objects individually, more advanced [filtering](../manual/filters.md) options, or other concepts like the [`flatMap`](../manual/map-reduce.md#flatmap) function, custom [`aggregateBy`](../manual/aggregation.md) and [`reduce`](../manual/map-reduce.md#reduce) operations, etc.
+
+[^1]: Since Java 17, one of our [backends](../manual/database-backends.md) requires additional setting to the JVM, but that should not be relevant for these first steps.
diff --git a/documentation/first-steps/example-pom.xml b/documentation/first-steps/example-pom.xml
index 8402c4617..25e27d3c2 100644
--- a/documentation/first-steps/example-pom.xml
+++ b/documentation/first-steps/example-pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
   </dependencies>
 
   <properties>
-    <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source>
-    <maven.compiler.target>11</maven.compiler.target>
+    <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
+    <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
   </properties>
+
 </project>
diff --git a/documentation/manual/database-backends.md b/documentation/manual/database-backends.md
index df5936262..1fb15b948 100644
--- a/documentation/manual/database-backends.md
+++ b/documentation/manual/database-backends.md
@@ -32,3 +32,26 @@ In order to use the OSHDB Ignite backend, it is necessary to add the maven modul
   <version>1.1.1</version>
 </dependency>
 ```
+
+Since Java 17, Ignite additionally requires some settings to the JVM which can be added e.g. to the [MAVEN_OPTS](https://maven.apache.org/configure.html):
+
+```sh
+--add-opens=java.base/jdk.internal.misc=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/sun.nio.ch=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.management/com.sun.jmx.mbeanserver=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/sun.reflect.generics.reflectiveObjects=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=jdk.internal.jvmstat/sun.jvmstat.monitor=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=jdk.management/com.sun.management.internal=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.io=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.nio=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.math=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.util.concurrent=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.util.concurrent.locks=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.util.concurrent.atomic=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.sql/java.sql=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.time=ALL-UNNAMED
+--add-opens=java.base/java.text=ALL-UNNAMED
+```
diff --git a/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBApplication.md b/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBApplication.md
index ef5d65af9..906bae023 100644
--- a/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBApplication.md
+++ b/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBApplication.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # OSHDB Application Template
 ## Installation
 
-Replace your OSHDB dependency with the following:
+Set up your Maven project according to the [first steps tutorial](../../first-steps/README.md), but replace your OSHDB dependency with the following:
 
 ```xml
 <dependency>
diff --git a/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBDriver.md b/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBDriver.md
index d2e4290f4..14e01e211 100644
--- a/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBDriver.md
+++ b/documentation/manual/helpers/OSHDBDriver.md
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # OSHDBDriver
 ## Installation
 
-Replace your OSHDB dependency with the following:
+Set up your Maven project according to the [first steps tutorial](../../first-steps/README.md), but replace your OSHDB dependency with the following:
 
 ```xml
 <dependency>