68. Build
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68. Build

68.1 Customize dependency versions with Maven

If you use a Maven build that inherits directly or indirectly from spring-boot-dependencies (for instance spring-boot-starter-parent) but you want to override a specific third-party dependency you can add appropriate <properties> elements. Browse the spring-boot-dependencies POM for a complete list of properties. For example, to pick a different slf4j version you would add the following:

<properties>
    <slf4j.version>1.7.5<slf4j.version>
</properties>
[Note]Note

this only works if your Maven project inherits (directly or indirectly) from spring-boot-dependencies. If you have added spring-boot-dependencies in your own dependencyManagement section with <scope>import</scope> you have to redefine the artifact yourself instead of overriding the property .

[Warning]Warning

Each Spring Boot release is designed and tested against a specific set of third-party dependencies. Overriding versions may cause compatibility issues.

68.2 Create an executable JAR with Maven

The spring-boot-maven-plugin can be used to create an executable “fat” JAR. If you are using the spring-boot-starter-parent POM you can simply declare the plugin and your jars will be repackaged:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

If you are not using the parent POM you can still use the plugin, however, you must additionally add an <executions> section:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.1.RELEASE</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>repackage</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

See the plugin documentation for full usage details.

68.3 Remote debug a Spring Boot application started with Maven

To attach a remote debugger to a Spring Boot application started with Maven you can use the jvmArguments property of the maven plugin.

Check this example for more details.

68.4 Build an executable archive with Ant

To build with Ant you need to grab dependencies, compile and then create a jar or war archive as normal. To make it executable:

  1. Use the appropriate launcher as a Main-Class, e.g. JarLauncher for a jar file, and specify the other properties it needs as manifest entries, principally a Start-Class.
  2. Add the runtime dependencies in a nested “lib” directory (for a jar) and the provided (embedded container) dependencies in a nested lib-provided directory. Remember not to compress the entries in the archive.
  3. Add the spring-boot-loader classes at the root of the archive (so the Main-Class is available).

Example:

<target name="build" depends="compile">
    <copy todir="target/classes/lib">
        <fileset dir="lib/runtime" />
    </copy>
    <jar destfile="target/spring-boot-sample-actuator-${spring-boot.version}.jar" compress="false">
        <fileset dir="target/classes" />
        <fileset dir="src/main/resources" />
        <zipfileset src="lib/loader/spring-boot-loader-jar-${spring-boot.version}.jar" />
        <manifest>
            <attribute name="Main-Class" value="org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher" />
            <attribute name="Start-Class" value="${start-class}" />
        </manifest>
    </jar>
</target>

The Actuator Sample has a build.xml that should work if you run it with

$ ant -lib <path_to>/ivy-2.2.jar

after which you can run the application with

$ java -jar target/*.jar
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