The completed guide can be found in the boot sample application. |
Updating Dependencies
Before you use Spring Session, you must ensure to update your dependencies. We assume you are working with a working Spring Boot web application. If you are using Maven, ensure to add the following dependencies:
<dependencies>
<!-- ... -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.session</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-session</artifactId>
<version>1.0.2.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-redis</artifactId>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Spring Configuration
After adding the required dependencies, we can create our Spring configuration. The Spring configuration is responsible for creating a Servlet Filter that replaces the HttpSession
implementation with an implementation backed by Spring Session. Add the following Spring Configuration:
@EnableRedisHttpSession
public class HttpSessionConfig { }
The @EnableRedisHttpSession annotation creates a Spring Bean with the name of springSessionRepositoryFilter that implements Filter. The filter is what is in charge of replacing the HttpSession implementation to be backed by Spring Session. In this instance Spring Session is backed by Redis. |
Configuring the Redis Connection
Spring Boot automatically creates a RedisConnectionFactory
that connects Spring Session to a Redis Server on localhost on port 6379 (default port). In a production environment you need to ensure to update your configuration to point to your Redis server. For example, you can include the following in your application.properties
spring.redis.host=localhost spring.redis.password=secret spring.redis.port=6379
For more information, refer to Connecting to Redis portion of the Spring Boot documentation.
Servlet Container Initialization
Our Spring Configuration created a Spring Bean named springSessionRepositoryFilter
that implements Filter
. The springSessionRepositoryFilter
bean is responsible for replacing the HttpSession
with a custom implementation that is backed by Spring Session.
In order for our Filter
to do its magic, Spring needs to load our Config
class. Last we need to ensure that our Servlet Container (i.e. Tomcat) uses our springSessionRepositoryFilter
for every request. Fortunately, Spring Boot takes care of both of these steps for us.
boot Sample Application
The boot Sample Application demonstrates how to use Spring Session to transparently leverage Redis to back a web application’s HttpSession
when using Spring Boot.
Running the boot Sample Application
You can run the sample by obtaining the source code and invoking the following command:
For the sample to work, you must install Redis 2.8+ on localhost and run it with the default port (6379). Alternatively, you can update the |
$ ./gradlew :samples:boot:bootRun
You should now be able to access the application at http://localhost:8080/
Exploring the security Sample Application
Try using the application. Enter the following to log in:
-
Username user
-
Password password
Now click the Login button. You should now see a message indicating your are logged in with the user entered previously. The user’s information is stored in Redis rather than Tomcat’s HttpSession
implementation.
How does it work?
Instead of using Tomcat’s HttpSession
, we are actually persisting the values in Redis. Spring Session replaces theHttpSession
with an implementation that is backed by Redis. When Spring Security’sSecurityContextPersistenceFilter
saves the SecurityContext
to the HttpSession
it is then persisted into Redis.
When a new HttpSession
is created, Spring Session creates a cookie named SESSION in your browser that contains the id of your session. Go ahead and view the cookies (click for help with Chrome or Firefox).
If you like, you can easily remove the session using redis-cli. For example, on a Linux based system you can type:
$ redis-cli keys '*' | xargs redis-cli del
The Redis documentation has instructions for installing redis-cli. |
Alternatively, you can also delete the explicit key. Enter the following into your terminal ensuring to replace 7e8383a4-082c-4ffe-a4bc-c40fd3363c5e
with the value of your SESSION cookie:
$ redis-cli del spring:session:sessions:7e8383a4-082c-4ffe-a4bc-c40fd3363c5e
Now visit the application at http://localhost:8080/ and observe that we are no longer authenticated.