This version is still in development and is not considered stable yet. For the latest stable version, please use Spring Session 3.3.1! |
Spring Session - Spring Boot
This guide describes how to use Spring Session to transparently leverage a relational database to back a web application’s HttpSession
when you use Spring Boot.
You can find the completed guide in the httpsession-jdbc-boot sample application. |
Updating Dependencies
Before you use Spring Session, you must update your dependencies. We assume you are working with a working Spring Boot web application. If you use Maven, you must add the following dependencies:
<dependencies>
<!-- ... -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.session</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-session-jdbc</artifactId>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Spring Boot provides dependency management for Spring Session modules, so you need not explicitly declare the dependency version.
Spring Boot Configuration
After adding the required dependencies, we can create our Spring Boot configuration.
Thanks to first-class auto configuration support, setting up Spring Session backed by a relational database is as simple as adding a single configuration property to your application.properties
.
The following listing shows how to do so:
spring.session.store-type=jdbc # Session store type.
If a single Spring Session module is present on the classpath, Spring Boot uses that store implementation automatically. If you have more than one implementation, you must choose the StoreType that you wish to use to store the sessions, as shows above.
Under the hood, Spring Boot applies configuration that is equivalent to manually adding the @EnableJdbcHttpSession
annotation.
This creates a Spring bean with the name of springSessionRepositoryFilter
. That bean implements Filter
.
The filter is in charge of replacing the HttpSession
implementation to be backed by Spring Session.
You can further customize by using application.properties
.
The following listing shows how to do so:
server.servlet.session.timeout= # Session timeout. If a duration suffix is not specified, seconds are used. spring.session.jdbc.initialize-schema=embedded # Database schema initialization mode. spring.session.jdbc.schema=classpath:org/springframework/session/jdbc/schema-@@platform@@.sql # Path to the SQL file to use to initialize the database schema. spring.session.jdbc.table-name=SPRING_SESSION # Name of the database table used to store sessions.
For more information, see the Spring Session portion of the Spring Boot documentation.
Configuring the DataSource
Spring Boot automatically creates a DataSource
that connects Spring Session to an embedded instance of an H2 database.
In a production environment, you need to update your configuration to point to your relational database.
For example, you can include the following in your application.properties:
spring.datasource.url= # JDBC URL of the database. spring.datasource.username= # Login username of the database. spring.datasource.password= # Login password of the database.
For more information, see the Configure a DataSource portion of the Spring Boot documentation.
Servlet Container Initialization
Our Spring Boot Configuration created a Spring bean named springSessionRepositoryFilter
that implements Filter
.
The springSessionRepositoryFilter
bean is responsible for replacing the HttpSession
with a custom implementation that is backed by Spring Session.
In order for our Filter
to do its magic, Spring needs to load our Config
class.
Last, we need to ensure that our Servlet Container (that is, Tomcat) uses our springSessionRepositoryFilter
for every request.
Fortunately, Spring Boot takes care of both of these steps for us.
httpsession-jdbc-boot
Sample Application
The httpsession-jdbc-boot Sample Application demonstrates how to use Spring Session to transparently leverage an H2 database to back a web application’s HttpSession
when you use Spring Boot.
Running the httpsession-jdbc-boot
Sample Application
You can run the sample by obtaining the source code and invoking the following command:
$ ./gradlew :spring-session-sample-boot-jdbc:bootRun
You should now be able to access the application at localhost:8080/
Exploring the Security Sample Application
You can now try using the application. To do so, enter the following to log in:
-
Username user
-
Password password
Now click the Login button.
You should now see a message indicating that your are logged in with the user entered previously.
The user’s information is stored in the H2 database rather than Tomcat’s HttpSession
implementation.
How Does It Work?
Instead of using Tomcat’s HttpSession
, we persist the values in the H2 database.
Spring Session replaces the HttpSession
with an implementation that is backed by a relational database.
When Spring Security’s SecurityContextPersistenceFilter
saves the SecurityContext
to the HttpSession
, it is then persisted into the H2 database.
When a new HttpSession
is created, Spring Session creates a cookie named SESSION
in your browser. That cookie contains the ID of your session.
You can view the cookies (with Chrome or Firefox).
You can remove the session by using the H2 web console available at: localhost:8080/h2-console/ (use jdbc:h2:mem:testdb
for JDBC URL).
Now you can visit the application at localhost:8080/ and see that we are no longer authenticated.