When developing a Spring project using the Spring Tool Suite (STS) IDE, you may encounter an error message indicating that the 8080 port is already in use. This can happen if there is another application or process running on your system that is using the same port. In this blog post, we will discuss the cause of this issue and provide step-by-step instructions for resolving it.



Understanding the 8080 Port Conflict

The 8080 port is a well-known port commonly used by application servers, including the Apache Tomcat server used by STS. When you try to deploy your Spring project from STS, the IDE attempts to start a Tomcat server on the 8080 port. If this port is already in use by another application or process, you will receive an error message indicating that the port is already taken.



Identifying the Process or Application Using the 8080 Port

To resolve the 8080 port conflict, you need to identify the process or application that is using the port. You can do this by using the netstat command in a terminal or command prompt.

netstat -ano | find "8080"

The output of the netstat command will display a list of all active connections on your system. Look for a line that contains :8080 and note the process ID (PID) in the right-most column.



Stopping the Process or Application Using the 8080 Port

Once you have identified the process or application using the 8080 port, you can stop it in one of two ways:

  1. Terminate the process using the Task Manager (Windows) or the Activity Monitor (macOS).
  2. Stop the application or service that is using the port.


Changing the Port for the Tomcat Server in STS

If you are unable to stop the process or application using the 8080 port, or if you prefer not to, you can change the port used by the Tomcat server in STS. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on your Spring project in the STS Project Explorer and select Properties.
  2. In the Properties window, select Server and then Tomcat v9.0 Server.
  3. In the Tomcat v9.0 Server section, change the HTTP/1.1 port to a different number, such as 8081.
  4. Save your changes and try to redeploy your project. The Tomcat server should now start on the new port.


Conclusion

The 8080 port conflict is a common issue when deploying a Spring project from STS. By identifying the process or application using the port, stopping it, or changing the port used by the Tomcat server, you can resolve this issue and successfully redeploy your project.



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