Deploying RocketMQ with Docker and Integrating It into a Spring Boot Application

In this tutorial we explain how to install and run RocketMQ using Docker. First, clone the repository https://github.com/modouxiansheng/about-docker , then edit broker.conf to set the brokerIP1 parameter to your machine's IP address.

Next, create a docker-compose.yml file that defines three services: rmqnamesrv (the name server), rmqbroker (the broker), and rmqconsole (a web UI). The file also sets up the required volumes ( conf , logs , store ) and network configuration. The full content of the compose file is:

version: '3.5'
services:
  rmqnamesrv:
    image: foxiswho/rocketmq:server
    container_name: rmqnamesrv
    ports:
      - 9876:9876
    volumes:
      - ./logs:/opt/logs
      - ./store:/opt/store
    networks:
      rmq:
        aliases:
          - rmqnamesrv

  rmqbroker:
    image: foxiswho/rocketmq:broker
    container_name: rmqbroker
    ports:
      - 10909:10909
      - 10911:10911
    volumes:
      - ./logs:/opt/logs
      - ./store:/opt/store
      - ./conf/broker.conf:/etc/rocketmq/broker.conf
    environment:
      NAMESRV_ADDR: "rmqnamesrv:9876"
      JAVA_OPTS: " -Duser.home=/opt"
      JAVA_OPT_EXT: "-server -Xms128m -Xmx128m -Xmn128m"
    command: mqbroker -c /etc/rocketmq/broker.conf
    depends_on:
      - rmqnamesrv
    networks:
      rmq:
        aliases:
          - rmqbroker

  rmqconsole:
    image: styletang/rocketmq-console-ng
    container_name: rmqconsole
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    environment:
      JAVA_OPTS: "-Drocketmq.namesrv.addr=rmqnamesrv:9876 -Dcom.rocketmq.sendMessageWithVIPChannel=false"
    depends_on:
      - rmqnamesrv
    networks:
      rmq:
        aliases:
          - rmqconsole

networks:
  rmq:
    name: rmq
    driver: bridge

After creating the docker-compose.yml , create the directories conf , logs , and store beside it, and place the provided broker.conf file inside conf . The broker.conf file contains standard RocketMQ settings; the only required change is updating brokerIP1 to the host IP.

Run docker-compose up in the directory containing the compose file. Once the containers start, open http://localhost:8080/ in a browser to see the RocketMQ console, confirming a successful deployment.

To use RocketMQ from a Spring Boot application, add the dependency org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-spring-boot-starter:2.0.3 (or the equivalent Gradle line implementation 'org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-spring-boot-starter:2.0.3' ) to your project.

Configure the producer in application.properties :

rocketmq.name-server=ip:9876
rocketmq.producer.group=my-group

Example producer code:

@SpringBootApplication
public class ProducerApplication implements CommandLineRunner {
    @Resource
    private RocketMQTemplate rocketMQTemplate;

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(ProducerApplication.class, args);
    }

    @Override
    public void run(String... args) throws Exception {
        rocketMQTemplate.convertAndSend("test-topic-1", "Hello, World!");
        rocketMQTemplate.send("test-topic-1", MessageBuilder.withPayload("Hello, World! I'm from spring message").build());
    }
}

Configure the consumer similarly:

rocketmq.name-server=ip:9876

Example consumer code:

@SpringBootApplication
public class ConsumerApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(ConsumerApplication.class, args);
    }

    @Slf4j
    @Service
    @RocketMQMessageListener(topic = "test-topic-1", consumerGroup = "my-consumer_test-topic-1")
    public static class MyConsumer1 implements RocketMQListener
{
        @Override
        public void onMessage(String message) {
            log.info("received message: {}", message);
        }
    }
}

With these steps you can run RocketMQ locally, monitor it via the web console, and send/receive messages from a Spring Boot application. The repository https://github.com/modouxiansheng/about-docker contains all the Docker files, and an alternative ready‑made project is available at https://github.com/modouxiansheng/Doraemon for those who prefer not to set up a Spring Boot project from scratch.