spring-boot-demo/graalvm-native-images/docs/01-versions-and-setup.md

01 — Versions and setup

Back to README → | Next: 02 — building the image →

The version this project's own earlier post got wrong

The previous version of the linked post assumed Spring Boot 3.x, JDK 17, and "GraalVM 22.3" -- installed the old way, via sdk install java 22.3.r17-grl followed by a separate gu install native-image step.

Checked directly rather than assumed:

• GraalVM ships native-image bundled by default now. Downloading GraalVM Community Edition for JDK 25 (build 25.0.2, verified by downloading it from github.com/graalvm/graalvm-ce-builds/releases/download/jdk-25.0.2/... and running native-image --version) and checking $JAVA_HOME/bin/ shows native-image, native-image-configure, and jnativescan already present. The gu install native-image step the old post described was retired years ago; running it against a current GraalVM distribution fails because the gu tool itself was removed.
• The current official docs' local-build command is mvn -Pnative native:compile, not ./mvnw clean package -Pnative (what the old post used). Chapter 02 shows exactly why that distinction matters -- package alone silently does not invoke the GraalVM compiler at all in this verified setup.
• spring-boot-starter-parent:4.1.1 already wires up native-maven-plugin with zero extra configuration. The old post's manual <profile> block, hardcoded <native-buildtools.version> property, and explicit <mainClass> are all unnecessary now -- this project's pom.xml needs only a bare <profile><id>native</id> with the plugin declared and no version, and mvn help:effective-pom -Pnative confirms Maven resolves it to version 1.1.8, which is what spring-boot-starter-parent pins via its own dependency management (1.1.14 is the newest release on Maven Central as of this writing, per native-maven-plugin's maven-metadata.xml, but the parent's pinned version is what actually runs unless you override it).

What this project pins, and why

	Version	Checked how
Spring Boot	4.1.1	Matches the rest of this repository's other chapters
JDK for JVM runs	Temurin 25.0.4.1	java -version
GraalVM for native builds	Community Edition for JDK 25, build 25.0.2+10.1	Downloaded directly, native-image --version
native-maven-plugin	1.1.8	mvn help:effective-pom -Pnative; Maven Central's maven-metadata.xml lists 1.1.14 as newest, confirming 1.1.8 is a deliberate, slightly older pin from Spring Boot's own dependency management, not the newest available

A plain JDK (Temurin, in $JDK25_HOME) is enough for every JVM-mode measurement in this project. Only the native-image build itself needs the separate GraalVM distribution in $GRAALVM_HOME (see scripts/run-all.sh) -- and switching JAVA_HOME back and forth between the two is the only genuinely fiddly part of the whole setup.