Choosing the Right Spring Cloud Alibaba Version: Compatibility with Spring Boot & Cloud

Why Version Selection Matters

When teaching the Spring Cloud Alibaba series, many readers asked which version to use. The issue is common because Spring Cloud Alibaba is not managed by the main Spring Cloud release train, so its version must be imported separately.

Importing the Correct BOM

Instead of using a Spring Cloud release train (e.g., Dalston, Edgware, Finchley, Greenwich), you need to add the spring-cloud-alibaba-dependencies BOM to your dependencyManagement section:

<dependencyManagement>
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-cloud-dependencies</artifactId>
      <version>Finchley.SR1</version>
      <type>pom</type>
      <scope>import</scope>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-cloud-alibaba-dependencies</artifactId>
      <version>0.2.1.RELEASE</version>
      <type>pom</type>
      <scope>import</scope>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

This BOM manages the versions of all Spring Cloud Alibaba components.

Compatibility Between Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, and Spring Cloud Alibaba

The following list shows which versions of Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, and Spring Cloud Alibaba work together:

Spring Boot 2.1.x – Spring Cloud Greenwich – Spring Cloud Alibaba 0.2.2 (not yet released)

Spring Boot 2.0.x – Spring Cloud Finchley – Spring Cloud Alibaba 0.2.1

Spring Boot 1.5.x – Spring Cloud Edgware – Spring Cloud Alibaba 0.1.1

Spring Boot 1.5.x – Spring Cloud Dalston – Spring Cloud Alibaba 0.1.1

If you follow the tutorials on Spring Boot, Spring Cloud, or the Spring Cloud Alibaba series and encounter build or runtime issues, verify that your versions match the matrix above.

Recommended Spring Cloud Alibaba Tutorial Series

Using Nacos for service registration and discovery

Supported service consumption patterns

Using Nacos as a configuration center

Detailed rules for Nacos configuration loading

Multi‑environment management with Nacos

Multi‑file loading and shared configuration in Nacos

Nacos data persistence

Nacos cluster deployment

The source code for the series is available on:

GitHub: https://github.com/dyc87112/SpringCloud-Learning/

Gitee: https://gitee.com/didispace/SpringCloud-Learning/

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