#RefreshScope not working with external config files - spring

Question

I added the following dependencies in my pom so I could make use of Spring cloud
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-cloud-starter</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependencyManagement>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-cloud-dependencies</artifactId>
<version>${spring-cloud.version}</version>
<type>pom</type>
<scope>import</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>
Added spring-cloud.version as Finchley.RELEASE
This is the bean that I intend to refresh:
#Component
#ConfigurationProperties(ignoreUnknownFields = true,prefix="global")
#PropertySource(value = "${spring.config.location}")
#Getter
#Setter
#Validated
#RefreshScope
public class GeneralProperties {
private String mode;
}
Accessing the bean in my controller:
#RestController
#RequestMapping
#RefreshScope
public class AppController {
private static final AnalyticsLogger LOGGER = AnalyticsLoggerFactory
.getLogger(AppController.class);
#Autowired
SimulatorRequestProcessor simulatorRequestProcessor;
#Autowired
GeneralProperties generalProperties;
#ResponseBody
#PostMapping(value = "/api/mock-getdata", produces = "application/json")
public String fetchResponseBasedOnMode(#RequestHeader HttpHeaders headers,
#RequestBody String request) {
String response = null;
LOGGER.info("color: "+color);
switch (generalProperties.getMode()) {
//code
Properties set in application config:
spring.config.location=file:///var/lib/data/demo/config/generalConfig.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=refresh
Unable to refresh the value of mode. Can someone point out the error in this code. My property files are in a folder that is not committed in git, so I am not making use of spring-cloud-config.

Answer 1

Put this in src/main/resources/application.properties
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=*
Run this program with this argument --spring.config.additional-location=/tmp/application.properties
package com.example.demorefreshscopeexternalfile;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.EnableConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.core.style.ToStringCreator;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
#SpringBootApplication
#RestController
#EnableConfigurationProperties(DemorefreshscopeexternalfileApplication.MyProps.class)
public class DemorefreshscopeexternalfileApplication {
#Autowired
MyProps props;
#RequestMapping
public String message() {
return props.getMessage();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(DemorefreshscopeexternalfileApplication.class, args);
}
#ConfigurationProperties("my")
public static class MyProps {
private String message;
public String getMessage() {
return this.message;
}
public void setMessage(String message) {
this.message = message;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return new ToStringCreator(this)
.append("message", message)
.toString();
}
}
}
contents of /tmp/application.properties
my.message=message from /tmp
view http://localhost:8080
/tmp/application.properties can be updated, the post to /actuator/refresh and view 8080 again and you will see updated values.
Built with boot 2.2.4 and Hoxton.SR1
See https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/2.2.4.RELEASE/reference/html/appendix-application-properties.html#common-application-properties for spring.config.* and their meaning.