Spring Boot: Developer — Lesson 4: Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting

Learning Objectives

• Assess dependencies, controls, resilience, and the intended service outcome for Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting.
• Demonstrate the workflow and leave reproducible evidence in production-readiness checklist and application operations guide.
• Recommend a preventive improvement after resolving a health endpoint reporting success while a critical downstream dependency is unavailable.

Detailed Topics

• Actuator
• Logging
• Metrics
• Health checks
• Packaging
• Containers
• Configuration security
• Resilience
• Performance
• CI/CD integration
• And production troubleshooting
• Decision ownership, prerequisites, and acceptance evidence for Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting
• Relevant access, security, capacity, dependency, performance, recovery, and support considerations

Instructor Demonstration

The instructor configures and tests Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting within a scenario aimed at a maintainable Spring Boot application with clean configuration, tested REST APIs, reliable data access, observable runtime behavior, secure deployment practices, and repeatable delivery. The walkthrough contrasts a valid setup with a flawed one and uses production-readiness checklist and application operations guide to make the difference explicit.

Hands-On Exercise

Work through a role-based scenario involving Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting. Validate the expected path, test “a health endpoint reporting success while a critical downstream dependency is unavailable,” choose the safest corrective action, and capture the reasoning and outcome in production-readiness checklist and application operations guide.

1. Map the current workflow and mark where the expected result can first be observed.
2. Run the scenario while preserving timestamps, object identifiers, and relevant output.
3. Apply a reversible correction only after evidence supports the cause.
4. Retest the original case plus an unaffected case and update the handover record.

Scenario Analysis

• Clarify the service trigger, affected components and roles, prerequisites, and acceptable result for Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting.
• Compare at least two implementation or correction choices and identify which evidence would distinguish them.
• Decide how production-readiness checklist and application operations guide should be reviewed, approved, retained, and handed to the next owner.

Troubleshooting Guidance

Avoid changing multiple settings at once while troubleshooting Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting. Preserve the failing example, review production-readiness checklist and application operations guide, and verify whether “a health endpoint reporting success while a critical downstream dependency is unavailable” is the root cause. After remediation, confirm downstream effects and add a monitoring action.

Validation Checklist

• Configuration and source state used for Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting are versioned or otherwise traceable.
• Production-readiness checklist and application operations guide shows both baseline and accepted result.
• Security, performance, dependency, and resilience side effects are considered where relevant.
• Recovery steps and handover notes are usable by an operations practitioner.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can apply Actuator, logging, metrics, health checks, packaging, containers, configuration security, resilience, performance, CI/CD integration, and production troubleshooting, explain the decisions made, and defend the result with production-readiness checklist and application operations guide.