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Overview

The User Management System uses Spring Boot profiles to manage environment-specific configurations. You can switch between development and production environments by setting the active profile.

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Profile Selection

The active profile is configured in application.properties:
application.properties
spring.application.name=userManagementSystem
spring.profiles.active=dev

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Available Profiles

The development profile (dev) uses an in-memory H2 database and includes debugging features.
spring.profiles.active=dev
Features:
  • H2 in-memory database
  • SQL logging enabled
  • H2 console accessible at /h2-console
  • Auto-initialization with sample data
  • Development JWT secret

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Switching Profiles

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Method 1: Application Properties

Edit src/main/resources/application.properties: 
spring.profiles.active=prod

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Method 2: Environment Variable

Set the SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE environment variable: 
export SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod
java -jar userManagementSystem.jar

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Method 3: Command Line Argument

Pass the profile as a command line argument: 
java -jar userManagementSystem.jar --spring.profiles.active=prod

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Method 4: Maven/Gradle

Run with Maven: 
mvn spring-boot:run -Dspring-boot.run.profiles=prod

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Environment Variables

Environment variables override properties file values and are recommended for sensitive configuration like database passwords and JWT secrets.

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Common Environment Variables

VariableDescriptionExample
SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVEActive profileprod
SPRING_DATASOURCE_URLDatabase connection URLjdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/user_management
SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAMEDatabase usernamedbuser
SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORDDatabase passwordsecurepassword
JWT_SECRETJWT signing secretyour-256-bit-secret
JWT_EXPIRATIONToken expiration in ms86400000 (24 hours)

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Application Properties

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Base Configuration

These properties are shared across all profiles: 
spring.application.name=userManagementSystem
server.error.include-message=always
The server.error.include-message=always setting includes error messages in responses. Consider restricting this in production for security.

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Profile-Specific Files

Create profile-specific configuration files:
  • application-dev.properties - Development configuration
  • application-prod.properties - Production configuration
  • application-{custom}.properties - Custom profile configuration
Spring Boot automatically loads the active profile’s configuration file and merges it with the base application.properties.

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Best Practices

  1. Never commit secrets - Use environment variables for sensitive data
  2. Use dev profile locally - Keep the in-memory database for development
  3. Externalize production config - Store production properties outside the JAR
  4. Validate on startup - Ensure required properties are set before the application starts
  5. Document custom properties - Maintain clear documentation for any custom configuration

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Example: Production Deployment

# Set environment variables
export SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL=jdbc:mysql://prod-db.example.com:3306/user_management
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME=prod_user
export SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD=secure_password_here
export JWT_SECRET=production-secret-key-256-bits-minimum

# Run the application
java -jar userManagementSystem.jar

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