Deploying Spring Boot with Derby Database on Docker

October 02, 2025

#1

This guide shows how to package a Spring Boot app using Apache Derby and run it inside Docker for lightweight deployment.

1. Add Dependencies

In pom.xml:

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

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

2. Configure Derby

In application.properties:

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:derby:/app/data/derbyDB;create=true
spring.datasource.driver-class-name=org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update

This stores Derby files in /app/data/derbyDB inside the container.

3. Create Dockerfile

In the project root:

FROM openjdk:17-jdk-slim
VOLUME /app/data
ARG JAR_FILE=target/*.jar
COPY ${JAR_FILE} app.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java","-jar","/app.jar"]

• VOLUME /app/data → persists Derby data outside container lifecycle.

4. Build Docker Image

Package the JAR:

mvn clean package -DskipTests

Build Docker image:

docker build -t springboot-derby-app .

5. Run Container

Run app with Derby database:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v derby_data:/app/data springboot-derby-app

• -p 8080:8080 → exposes API.
• -v derby_data:/app/data → persists Derby data on host.

6. Test the API

Use curl to test:

curl http://localhost:8080/your-endpoint

The data will remain safe across container restarts thanks to the volume.