Setting Up Derby Network Server in Spring Boot Projects

September 19, 2025

This guide shows how to connect Spring Boot to an Apache Derby Network Server, running Derby in client/server mode instead of embedded.

1. Start Derby Network Server

Run Derby network server from command line:

java -jar $DERBY_HOME/lib/derbynet.jar start -p 1527

Default port is 1527. Create a database:

java -jar $DERBY_HOME/lib/ij.jar

Inside IJ tool:

CONNECT 'jdbc:derby://localhost:1527/demoDB;create=true' USER 'user' PASSWORD 'pass';

2. Add Dependencies

In pom.xml:

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.derby</groupId>
  <artifactId>derbyclient</artifactId>
  <scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
  <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
</dependency>

3. Configure Spring Boot

In application.properties:

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:derby://localhost:1527/demoDB;create=true
spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.apache.derby.jdbc.ClientDriver
spring.datasource.username=user
spring.datasource.password=pass
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update

4. Define Entity

import jakarta.persistence.*;

@Entity
public class Customer {
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
    private Long id;
    private String name;
    private String email;

    // getters and setters
}

5. Repository

import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;

public interface CustomerRepository extends JpaRepository<Customer, Long> {
}

6. REST Controller

import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.*;
import java.util.List;

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/customers")
public class CustomerController {
    private final CustomerRepository repo;

    public CustomerController(CustomerRepository repo) {
        this.repo = repo;
    }

    @PostMapping
    public Customer add(@RequestBody Customer customer) {
        return repo.save(customer);
    }

    @GetMapping
    public List<Customer> all() {
        return repo.findAll();
    }
}

7. Run and Test

Start Derby Network Server, then run Spring Boot:

mvn spring-boot:run

Test APIs:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/customers -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"John","email":"john@mail.com"}'
curl http://localhost:8080/customers