Spring Boot with PostgreSQL Using Docker Compose

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Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. With Docker Compose, you can define a multi-container environment that includes your Spring Boot application and a PostgreSQL database. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up a Spring Boot application with PostgreSQL using Docker Compose.

Prerequisites

  • JDK 17 or later
  • Maven or Gradle
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed on your machine
  • IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, etc.)

Step 1: Set Up a Spring Boot Project

Use Spring Initializr to create a new project with the following configuration:

  • Project: Maven Project
  • Language: Java
  • Spring Boot: 3.2.x
  • Dependencies: Spring Web, Spring Data JPA, PostgreSQL Driver

Download and unzip the project, then open it in your IDE.

Example Spring Boot Application

Create a simple Spring Boot application that connects to PostgreSQL and includes a REST controller.

1.1 Application Class

package com.example.demo; import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication; import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication; @SpringBootApplication public class DemoApplication { public static void main(String[] args) { SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args); } } 

1.2 Entity Class

Create a Student entity in the com.example.demo.entity package.

package com.example.demo.entity; import jakarta.persistence.Entity; import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue; import jakarta.persistence.GenerationType; import jakarta.persistence.Id; @Entity public class Student { @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY) private Long id; private String name; private String email; // Getters and setters public Long getId() { return id; } public void setId(Long id) { this.id = id; } public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public String getEmail() { return email; } public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; } } 

1.3 Repository Interface

Create a StudentRepository interface in the com.example.demo.repository package.

package com.example.demo.repository; import com.example.demo.entity.Student; import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository; import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository; @Repository public interface StudentRepository extends JpaRepository<Student, Long> { } 

1.4 Service Class

Create a StudentService class in the com.example.demo.service package.

package com.example.demo.service; import com.example.demo.entity.Student; import com.example.demo.repository.StudentRepository; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired; import org.springframework.stereotype.Service; import java.util.List; @Service public class StudentService { @Autowired private StudentRepository studentRepository; public List<Student> getAllStudents() { return studentRepository.findAll(); } public Student saveStudent(Student student) { return studentRepository.save(student); } } 

1.5 REST Controller

Create a StudentController class in the com.example.demo.controller package.

package com.example.demo.controller; import com.example.demo.entity.Student; import com.example.demo.service.StudentService; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController; import java.util.List; @RestController public class StudentController { @Autowired private StudentService studentService; @GetMapping("/students") public List<Student> getAllStudents() { return studentService.getAllStudents(); } @PostMapping("/students") public Student saveStudent(@RequestBody Student student) { return studentService.saveStudent(student); } } 

1.6 application.properties Configuration

Configure your application to use PostgreSQL. In the src/main/resources directory, create or update the application.properties file.

# src/main/resources/application.properties spring.datasource.url=jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/testdb spring.datasource.username=postgres spring.datasource.password=password spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.postgresql.Driver spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update spring.jpa.show-sql=true spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect 

Step 2: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Docker Compose allows you to define and run multi-container Docker applications. You will create a docker-compose.yml file to define the services for your Spring Boot application and PostgreSQL database.

2.1 Create docker-compose.yml

Create a docker-compose.yml file in the root directory of your project.

version: '3.8' services: postgres: image: postgres:14 environment: POSTGRES_DB: testdb POSTGRES_USER: postgres POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password ports: - "5432:5432" volumes: - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data app: image: demo-app build: context: . dockerfile: Dockerfile ports: - "8080:8080" environment: SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL: jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/testdb SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME: postgres SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD: password depends_on: - postgres volumes: postgres_data: 

Explanation:

  • postgres: Defines the PostgreSQL database service.
    • image: Specifies the Docker image to use.
    • environment: Sets the environment variables for the database.
    • ports: Maps the container port to the host port.
    • volumes: Persists the PostgreSQL data.
  • app: Defines the Spring Boot application service.
    • image: Specifies the Docker image to use.
    • build: Builds the Docker image using the specified Dockerfile.
    • ports: Maps the container port to the host port.
    • environment: Sets the environment variables for the Spring Boot application.
    • depends_on: Ensures the PostgreSQL service is started before the Spring Boot application.

2.2 Create a Dockerfile

Create a Dockerfile in the root directory of your project.

# Use the official OpenJDK base image FROM openjdk:17-jdk-alpine # Set the working directory inside the container WORKDIR /app # Copy the built jar file into the container COPY target/demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar app.jar # Expose port 8080 EXPOSE 8080 # Run the application ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "app.jar"] 

Step 3: Build and Run the Application

3.1 Build the Jar File

Run the following command to build the jar file of your Spring Boot application:

./mvnw clean package 

3.2 Build and Run Docker Compose

Run the following command to build and start the Docker Compose services:

docker-compose up --build 

3.3 Verify the Application

Open a web browser or a tool like Postman and navigate to the following URL to test the endpoints:

  1. Retrieve all students:

    • URL: http://localhost:8080/students
    • Method: GET
  2. Create a new student:

    • URL: http://localhost:8080/students
    • Method: POST
    • Body:
      { "name": "Ramesh Fadatare", "email": "ramesh.fadatare@example.com" } 

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to set up and run a Spring Boot application with PostgreSQL using Docker Compose. We covered:

  • Setting up a Spring Boot project with PostgreSQL.
  • Creating a Dockerfile for the Spring Boot application.
  • Creating a docker-compose.yml file to define the services.
  • Building and running the application using Docker Compose.

By following these steps, you can easily manage and deploy your Spring Boot application and its dependencies using Docker Compose.

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