{"id":279,"date":"2025-04-15T12:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/?p=279"},"modified":"2025-04-16T16:33:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T16:33:46","slug":"how-to-use-springs-profile-annotation-for-flexible-configurations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Spring’s @Profile Annotation for Flexible Configurations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The profile annotation in spring allows you to segregate configurations that are available only in specific environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you mark a @Component (and its specializations) or any @Configuration or @Bean with the @Profile annotation, they will be available only if the profile specified is active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can set the profile using application.properties<\/a> by using the spring.profile.active property or by specifying it in the command line when running the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use the property spring.profile.include to add and combine more configuration profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s explore some examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using profiles to separate environments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In your application, you may have a database connection. But to deal with new features and test them you need to test in a separated environment. You need a validation environment before shipping your new feature to production. We can call this environment dev<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for the stable things that are running for all users of your application, you have a prod<\/code> environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each environment has its own database. You can use profiles to set up your application pointing to the right environment. In this case, it will point to the right data source for the environment, but you can separate many other things if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you can have a bean data source for the dev profile that is pointing to the dev database:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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import<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Profile;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> javax.sql.DataSource;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n@<\/span>Configuration<\/span><\/span>\n@<\/span>Profile<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>dev<\/span>"<\/span>)<\/span><\/span>\npublic<\/span> <\/span>class<\/span> <\/span>DevDataSourceConfig<\/span> {<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n    @<\/span>Bean<\/span><\/span>\n    <\/span>public<\/span> <\/span>DataSource<\/span> <\/span>dataSource<\/span>() {<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span> dataSource <\/span>=<\/span> <\/span>new<\/span> <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span>();<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUrl<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>jdbc:h2:mem:devdb<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUsername<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>devuser<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setPassword<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>devpass<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>return<\/span> dataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n    }<\/span><\/span>\n}<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
And another bean configuration for the production profile is pointing to the production data source:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Profile;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> javax.sql.DataSource;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n@<\/span>Configuration<\/span><\/span>\n@<\/span>Profile<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>prod<\/span>"<\/span>)<\/span><\/span>\npublic<\/span> <\/span>class<\/span> <\/span>ProdDataSourceConfig<\/span> {<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n    @<\/span>Bean<\/span><\/span>\n    <\/span>public<\/span> <\/span>DataSource<\/span> <\/span>dataSource<\/span>() {<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span> dataSource <\/span>=<\/span> <\/span>new<\/span> <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span>();<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUrl<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>jdbc:mysql:\/\/prodserver:3306\/proddb<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUsername<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>produser<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setPassword<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>prodpass<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>return<\/span> dataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n    }<\/span><\/span>\n}<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
(In the above code, I created a Dummy class called BasicDataSource<\/code>, that implements DataSource just to exemplify)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you run your application without setting a profile, this log will be shown, telling that Spring is using the default profile:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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2024<\/span>-<\/span>07<\/span>-<\/span>17T21<\/span>:<\/span>50<\/span>:<\/span>05<\/span>.<\/span>329<\/span>-<\/span>03<\/span>:<\/span>00<\/span>  INFO <\/span>18568<\/span> <\/span>---<\/span> [           main] com.spring.mastery.MasteryApplication    <\/span>:<\/span> <\/span>No<\/span> active profile set, falling back to <\/span>1<\/span> <\/span>default<\/span> profile<\/span>:<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>default<\/span>"<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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spring.profiles.active<\/span>=<\/span>dev<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
This log will show up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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2024<\/span>-<\/span>07<\/span>-<\/span>17T21<\/span>:<\/span>52<\/span>:<\/span>03<\/span>.<\/span>996<\/span>-<\/span>03<\/span>:<\/span>00<\/span>  INFO <\/span>8240<\/span> <\/span>---<\/span> [           main] com.spring.mastery.MasteryApplication    <\/span>:<\/span> <\/span>The<\/span> following <\/span>1<\/span> profile is active<\/span>:<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>dev<\/span>"<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Spring will load the data source connection to the dev environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can set the profile in the command line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using VM arguments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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java <\/span>-<\/span>jar <\/span>-<\/span>Dspring.profiles.active<\/span>=<\/span>prod application.jar<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Or you can use program arguments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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java <\/span>-<\/span>jar application.jar <\/span>--<\/span>spring.profiles.active<\/span>=<\/span>prod<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Now, when running your application, you choose the profile that Scneario needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Combining Profiles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Another interesting thing you could do is to combine two different profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let`s suppose that you have to do a test, and in this test, you want to load up the real cache manager bean that is used by your application and combine it with the test database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case, we are going to call the profile that holds the cache manager as common and the test profile that has the data source configuration for the test database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In your properties, you can set up the active environment as a test and include the other profiles that you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like this application.properties:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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spring.profiles.active<\/span>=<\/span>test<\/span><\/span>\nspring.profiles.include<\/span>=<\/span>common<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
So your Cachce Manager is configured as Common Profile:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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import<\/span> org.springframework.cache.CacheManager;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.cache.concurrent.ConcurrentMapCacheManager;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Profile;<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n@<\/span>Configuration<\/span><\/span>\n@<\/span>Profile<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>common<\/span>"<\/span>)<\/span><\/span>\npublic<\/span> <\/span>class<\/span> <\/span>CommonConfig<\/span> {<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n     @<\/span>Bean<\/span><\/span>\n    <\/span>public<\/span> <\/span>CacheManager<\/span> <\/span>cacheManager<\/span>() {<\/span><\/span>\n        log.<\/span>info<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>Loading cache manager from common profile<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>return<\/span> <\/span>new<\/span> <\/span>ConcurrentMapCacheManager<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>entities<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n    }<\/span><\/span>\n}<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Your test Profile points to the test data source:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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import<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.springframework.context.annotation.Profile;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> javax.sql.DataSource;<\/span><\/span>\nimport<\/span> org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n@<\/span>Configuration<\/span><\/span>\n@<\/span>Profile<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>test<\/span>"<\/span>)<\/span><\/span>\npublic<\/span> <\/span>class<\/span> <\/span>TestDataSourceConfig<\/span> {<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n    @<\/span>Bean<\/span><\/span>\n    <\/span>public<\/span> <\/span>DataSource<\/span> <\/span>dataSource<\/span>() {<\/span><\/span>\n        log.<\/span>info<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>Loading data source bean from the test profile<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span> dataSource <\/span>=<\/span> <\/span>new<\/span> <\/span>BasicDataSource<\/span>();<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUrl<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>jdbc:h2:mem:testdb<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setUsername<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>testuser<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        dataSource.<\/span>setPassword<\/span>(<\/span>"<\/span>testpass<\/span>"<\/span>);<\/span><\/span>\n        <\/span>return<\/span> dataSource;<\/span><\/span>\n    }<\/span><\/span>\n}<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
When you run your application, you are going to have the beans from both profiles available and set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A log line like this will show up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The<\/span> following <\/span>2<\/span> profiles are active<\/span>:<\/span> <\/span>"<\/span>common<\/span>"<\/span>, <\/span>"<\/span>test<\/span>"<\/span><\/span>\n<\/span><\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
In this blog post, we did this only with @Bean and @Configuration classes, but you could use this for all @Componet and specifications too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When used in @Configuration class it will set all the @Beans in it to the specific profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now you learned how to use the @Profile in your project. Have you seen this annotation before? Can you think of more usages for this annotation? Share your thoughts with me in the comments or on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you like this topic, make sure to follow me. In the following days, I\u2019ll be explaining more about Spring annotations! Stay tuned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willian Moya (@WillianFMoya) \/ X (twitter.com)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willian Ferreira Moya | LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The profile annotation in spring allows you to segregate configurations that are available only in specific environments. If you mark a @Component (and its specializations) or any @Configuration or @Bean with the @Profile annotation, they will be available only if the profile specified is active. You can set the profile using application.properties by using the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[13,18,20,23,24],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-java","category-spring","tag-java","tag-programming","tag-software-development","tag-spring-framework","tag-springboot"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/springmasteryhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You can set the profile in the application.properties<\/a> like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n