Deploy SpringBoot Apps with IntelliJ’s Docker Plugin: A Step‑by‑Step Guide

Plugin Enable

Since the Docker plugin is built into IntelliJ IDEA, simply enable it in the plugin settings.

Configure the remote Docker connection in the Docker settings; a "Connection successful" message confirms correct configuration.

Open the Services panel at the bottom of IDEA, double‑click the Docker icon to connect, and then you can manage remote Docker containers and images.

Image Management

Click the Images button, enter the image name and tag to download; IDEA provides auto‑completion.

Right‑click an image to create a container, view details, or delete it.

You can also build a custom image using a Dockerfile. For example, using the mall‑tiny scaffold project:

# Base image
FROM java:8
# Copy JAR into container
ADD ./mall-tiny-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar /mall-tiny-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
# Expose port 8080
EXPOSE 8080
# Run the JAR
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "/mall-tiny-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar"]
MAINTAINER macrozheng

Select the configured remote Docker service, specify the build directory and image name.

After building, the console shows logs and the JAR is uploaded to the remote server and packaged as an image.

Container Management

Right‑click an image to create a container directly.

Start required services such as MySQL and Redis before running the mall‑tiny project.

Adjust the container configuration to match the original docker run command options.

Refer to the original docker run command to understand each setting:

docker run -p 8080:8080 --name mall-tiny \
  --link mysql:db \
  --link redis:redis \
  -e 'spring.profiles.active'=prod \
  -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime \
  -v /mydata/app/mall-tiny/logs:/var/logs \
  -d mall-tiny/mall-tiny:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT

View container logs in the Log tab for real‑time monitoring.

Interacting with Containers

Use the container panel to inspect environment variables, port mappings, and IP addresses (via docker inspect).

Execute commands inside the container with docker exec -it.

Docker Compose Support

Create a docker-compose.yml file to define services. Example configuration:

version: '3'
services:
  redis:
    image: redis:5
    container_name: redis-tiny
    command: redis-server --appendonly yes
    volumes:
      - /mydata/redis-tiny/data:/data # data file mount
    ports:
      - 6379:6379
  mall-tiny:
    image: mall-tiny/mall-tiny:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT
    container_name: mall-tiny
    links:
      - redis:redis
    depends_on:
      - redis
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    environment:
      - 'spring.profiles.active=prod'
      - 'spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://192.168.3.105:3306/mall_tiny?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=utf-8&serverTimezone=Asia/Shanghai&useSSL=false'
      - 'spring.redis.host=redis'
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime
      - /mydata/app/mall-tiny/logs:/var/logs

Click the docker-compose.yml file arrow to deploy the application to the remote server.

After deployment, access the Swagger UI at http://192.168.3.105:8080/swagger-ui/.

Summary

The IntelliJ IDEA Docker plugin allows you to manage remote Docker images and containers, build custom images, and deploy SpringBoot applications via Docker Compose without using the command line, greatly simplifying the development workflow.