The Ultimate Guide: How to Deploy a Java Spring Boot API on Vultr using Docker (2026)

Deploying a Java Spring Boot application doesn’t have to be a nightmare of configuring Java runtimes, environment variables, and hidden server dependencies. In 2026, containerization is the absolute standard.

By wrapping your Spring Boot API in a Docker container, you guarantee that it will run exactly the same way on a production server as it does on your local machine. In this ultimate guide, I will show you the exact, step-by-step process to deploy your Spring Boot API on a Vultr cloud server in under 15 minutes.

🎁 Before We Begin: Grab Your $300 Free Cloud Credit

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need a live VPS (Virtual Private Server). If you don’t have one yet, you are in luck.

Vultr is currently offering a massive $300 Free Credit for new users to test their high-performance cloud infrastructure.

👉 Click here to claim your $300 Vultr Credit and spin up your server

Once you have created your account and claimed your credits, let’s get down to business.

Step 1: Preparing Your Spring Boot Application

Before we touch the server, we need to ensure our Java application is ready to be containerized. The essence of this step is creating an executable .jar file.

Open your terminal in the root directory of your Spring Boot project and run the standard Maven build command to clean the target folder and package the application:

mvn clean package -DskipTests

Note: We are skipping tests here strictly for the speed of this deployment tutorial, but in a real CI/CD pipeline, you should always let your tests run.

Once the build is successful, you will find your compiled .jar file inside the target/ directory.

Step 2: Writing the Optimized Dockerfile

Instead of installing Java directly on our Vultr VPS, we will let Docker handle the environment. Create a new file named Dockerfile (no extension) in your project root.

We will use a lightweight Alpine image to ensure our container is secure and downloads instantly. Paste the following configuration into your Dockerfile:

# Use a lightweight JDK 17 base image
FROM eclipse-temurin:17-jdk-alpine

# Set the working directory inside the container
WORKDIR /app

# Copy the compiled JAR file from the target folder
COPY target/*.jar app.jar

# Expose the port your Spring Boot app runs on (default is 8080)
EXPOSE 8080

# Command to execute the application
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "app.jar"]

Step 3: Setting Up Docker Compose

While you could run the Docker container directly, managing it via docker-compose is the industry best practice, especially if you plan to add a database later.

Create a file named docker-compose.yml in the same directory:

services:
  springboot-api:
    build: .
    container_name: springboot_app
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "80:8080" # Maps port 80 on the Vultr server to port 8080 in the container
    environment:
      - SPRING_PROFILES_ACTIVE=prod

Step 4: Deploying to Vultr

Now it’s time to bring your application to life on the internet.

1. Push your project code (including the Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml) to a GitHub repository.
2. SSH into your freshly created Vultr VPS.
3. Install Docker and Docker Compose on the server.
4. Clone your GitHub repository to the server.
5. Navigate into the project folder and run the magic command:

sudo docker compose up -d

Docker will automatically pull the Java image, build your .jar file into a container, and map it to port 80. Open your browser, type in your Vultr Server’s Public IP address, and you should see your Spring Boot API responding beautifully!

Conclusion

Deploying Java applications used to require complex Tomcat configurations, but Docker has completely revolutionized the process. By combining containerization with a high-performance VPS, you achieve maximum scalability with minimum headache.

If you found this guide helpful, don’t forget to Grab your $300 Free Vultr Credit here and start deploying your own APIs today!