diff --git a/pkg/util/xml.go b/pkg/util/xml.go
index aa52ee9..9eb5392 100644
--- a/pkg/util/xml.go
+++ b/pkg/util/xml.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package util
 import (
 	"encoding/xml"
 	"slices"
+	"sort"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -36,6 +37,9 @@ func NewXMLConfiguration() *XMLConfiguration {
 
 func NewXMLConfigurationFromString(xmlData string) (*XMLConfiguration, error) {
 	config := &XMLConfiguration{}
+
+	xmlData = strings.TrimLeft(xmlData, " \t\n\r")
+
 	headerEnd := strings.Index(xmlData, "<configuration>")
 	if headerEnd != -1 {
 		config.Header = xmlData[:headerEnd]
@@ -62,7 +66,7 @@ func (x *XMLConfiguration) GetProperty(name string) (Property, bool) {
 	return Property{}, false
 }
 
-func (x *XMLConfiguration) AddProperty(p Property) {
+func (x *XMLConfiguration) addProperty(p Property) {
 	for i, existingProperty := range x.Configuration.Properties {
 		if existingProperty.Name == p.Name {
 			x.Configuration.Properties[i] = p // update
@@ -72,14 +76,27 @@ func (x *XMLConfiguration) AddProperty(p Property) {
 	x.Configuration.Properties = append(x.Configuration.Properties, p) // add
 }
 
+func (x *XMLConfiguration) sort() {
+	sort.Slice(x.Configuration.Properties, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return x.Configuration.Properties[i].Name < x.Configuration.Properties[j].Name
+	})
+}
+
+func (x *XMLConfiguration) AddProperty(p Property) {
+	x.addProperty(p)
+	x.sort()
+}
+
 func (x *XMLConfiguration) AddPropertyWithString(name, value, description string) {
 	x.AddProperty(Property{Name: name, Value: value, Description: description})
 }
 
 func (x *XMLConfiguration) AddPropertiesWithMap(properties map[string]string) {
 	for name, value := range properties {
-		x.AddProperty(Property{Name: name, Value: value})
+		x.addProperty(Property{Name: name, Value: value})
 	}
+
+	x.sort()
 }
 
 func (x *XMLConfiguration) DeleteProperties(names ...string) {
@@ -102,6 +119,7 @@ func (x *XMLConfiguration) getHeader() string {
 }
 
 func (x *XMLConfiguration) Marshal() (string, error) {
+	x.sort()
 	data, err := xml.MarshalIndent(x.Configuration, "", "    ")
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/pkg/util/xml_test.go b/pkg/util/xml_test.go
index e3fc6eb..ec7a9b5 100644
--- a/pkg/util/xml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/xml_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package util
 
-import "testing"
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
 
 func TestXMLConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 	xmlData := `
@@ -43,8 +45,7 @@ func TestXMLConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 </configuration>
 `
 
-	expectedXMLData := `
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
+	expectedXMLData := `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
 <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="configuration.xsl"?><!--
    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
    contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
@@ -62,6 +63,11 @@ func TestXMLConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
    limitations under the License.
 -->
 <configuration>
+    <property>
+        <name>hive.metastore.db.type</name>
+        <value>DERBY</value>
+        <description>Expects one of [derby, oracle, mysql, mssql, postgres]. Type of database used by the metastore. Information schema &amp; JDBCStorageHandler depend on it.</description>
+    </property>
     <property>
         <name>hive.metastore.warehouse.dir</name>
         <value>/user/hive/warehouse</value>
@@ -76,11 +82,6 @@ func TestXMLConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
           For example, jdbc:postgresql://myhost/db?ssl=true for postgres database.
         </description>
     </property>
-    <property>
-        <name>hive.metastore.db.type</name>
-        <value>DERBY</value>
-        <description>Expects one of [derby, oracle, mysql, mssql, postgres]. Type of database used by the metastore. Information schema &amp; JDBCStorageHandler depend on it.</description>
-    </property>
 </configuration>
 `
 
@@ -269,6 +270,14 @@ func TestXMLConfiguration_AddProperty(t *testing.T) {
 	if p.Value != "value1" {
 		t.Errorf("Property 'property1' has incorrect value. Expected: value1, Got: %s", p.Value)
 	}
+
+	property.Value = "value2"
+	config.AddProperty(property)
+
+	p, ok = config.GetProperty("property1")
+	if !ok {
+		t.Errorf("Expected property 'property1' not found")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestXMLConfiguration_DeleteProperties(t *testing.T) {
@@ -323,3 +332,38 @@ func TestXMLConfiguration_Marshal(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Marshalled XML does not match expected XML. Expected:\n%s\nGot:\n%s", expectedXML, xmlData)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestXMLConfiguration_Marshal_NoHeader(t *testing.T) {
+	xmlData := `
+<configuration>
+    <property>
+        <name>property1</name>
+        <value>value1</value>
+    </property>
+</configuration>
+`
+
+	expectedXML := `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="configuration.xsl"?>
+<configuration>
+    <property>
+        <name>property1</name>
+        <value>value1</value>
+    </property>
+</configuration>
+`
+
+	config, err := NewXMLConfigurationFromString(xmlData)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Failed to create XML configuration from string: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	xmlData, err = config.Marshal()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Failed to marshal XML configuration: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if xmlData != expectedXML {
+		t.Errorf("Marshalled XML does not match expected XML. Expected:\n%s\nGot:\n%s", expectedXML, xmlData)
+	}
+}