I spent some time trying to figure out how SpringBoot worked recently. I thought I would document the steps I took to get a project up and running.

Here is the final repository in Github.

Setup Steps

1. First, create a workspace.

   mkdir -p ~/projects

   cd ~/projects

   mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=com.tonyzampogna -DartifactId=base-springboot-app -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart -DinteractiveMode=false

   cd ~/projects/base-springboot-app

2. In the pom.xml, add the Spring Boot dependencies. First, add the parent block. I put it above the dependencies block.

     <parent>
       <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
       <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
       <version>1.4.0.RELEASE</version>
       <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
     </parent>
   

3. Then, in the dependencies block, add the following dependencies.

     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
       <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
     </dependency>
   
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
       <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
   

4. Add the plugin for building SpringBoot with maven. This goes either above or below the dependencies block. This solves an error stating: “no main manifest attribute”.

     <build>
       <plugins>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
           <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
           <executions>
             <execution>
               <goals>
                 <goal>repackage</goal>
               </goals>
             </execution>
           </executions>
         </plugin>
       </plugins>
     </build>
   

5. Move the App.java file in src/main/java/com/tonyzampogna to a new package called “main”.

   mkdir -p src/main/java/com/tonyzampogna/main

   mv src/main/java/com/tonyzampogna/App.java src/main/java/com/tonyzampogna/main

6. Replace the contents of the App.java file with the text below.

     package com.tonyzampogna.main;
   
     import org.slf4j.Logger;
     import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
     import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
     import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
     import org.springframework.context.annotation.ComponentScan;
   
     /**
      * Main application file.
      */
     @SpringBootApplication
     @ComponentScan("com.tonyzampogna")
     public class App {
       private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(App.class);
   
       /////////////////////////////////////////////////
       // Application Start Methods
       /////////////////////////////////////////////////
   
       /**
        * This method runs on applications start.
        */
       public static void main(String[] args) {
         logger.info("Starting application");
         SpringApplication.run(App.class, args);
       }
     }
   

7. Make a controller so that we can test our server. First, create the package directory.

   mkdir -p src/main/java/com/tonyzampogna/controller

8. Then, add HomeController.java code to the controller package.

     package com.tonyzampogna.controller;
   
     import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
     import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
   
     @RestController
     public class HomeController {
   
       @RequestMapping("/home")
       public String getHome() {
         return "Hello";
       }
     }
   

9. Create a resources directory for a log4j properties file.

   mkdir -p src/main/resources

10. Add the log4.properties file below to src/main/resources.

      #################################################################
      ## Log Levels
      #################################################################
    
      log4j.rootLogger=INFO, STDOUT
      log4j.logger.com.tonyzampogna=DEBUG, STDOUT, FILE
    
    
      #################################################################
      ## Appenders
      #################################################################
    
      # Console
      log4j.appender.STDOUT=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
      log4j.appender.STDOUT.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
      log4j.appender.STDOUT.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n
    
      # File
      log4j.appender.FILE=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
      log4j.appender.FILE.File=application.log
      log4j.appender.FILE.MaxFileSize=10MB
      log4j.appender.FILE.MaxBackupIndex=10
      log4j.appender.FILE.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
      log4j.appender.FILE.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n
    

To run the project (from either Eclipse, Intellij, or the command line):

From the command line

1. In the project directory, package the jar file and then run it.

   mvn package

   java -jar target/base-springboot-app-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

From Eclipse

1. First, run the maven eclipse target to setup some essential eclipse files.

   mvn eclipse:eclipse

2. Open Eclipse. Make sure you get the SpringSource Tool Suite from the Eclipse Marketplace. Then, import the project into the workspace as an existing eclipse project.

3. Now, you can right-click on the project and choose either “Run as SpringBoot application” or “Debug as SpringBoot application”.

From Intellij

1. Open Intellij and choose File -> New Project.

2. Select Java project and choose Next.

3. For project name, type in base-springboot-app. For project location, type in ~/projects/base-springboot-app.

4. In the Run menu, choose Edit Configurations. Click the plus sign and select JAR Application. Fill in the information below.

   • Name: Server
   • Path to JAR: ~/projects/base-springboot-app/target/base-springboot-app-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
   • VM Arguments: -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=1044
   • Working directory: ~/projects/base-springboot-app

5. Select ok.

6. Now, from the Run menu, you can choose either