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Testcontainers container lifecycle management using JUnit 5

Learn different approaches to manage container lifecycle with Testcontainers using JUnit 5 lifecycle callbacks, extension annotations, and the singleton containers pattern.

Java Testing with Docker

20 minutes

1

Create the project

2

Lifecycle callbacks

3

Extension annotations

4

Singleton containers

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Testcontainers container lifecycle management using JUnit 5 ​

Table of contents

Learn different approaches to manage container lifecycle with Testcontainers using JUnit 5 lifecycle callbacks, extension annotations, and the singleton containers pattern.

Time to complete20 minutes

In this guide, you will learn how to:

  • Start and stop containers using JUnit 5 lifecycle callbacks
  • Manage containers using JUnit 5 extension annotations (@Testcontainers and @Container)
  • Share containers across multiple test classes using the singleton containers pattern
  • Avoid a common misconfiguration when combining extension annotations with singleton containers

Prerequisites ​

  • Java 17+
  • Your preferred IDE
  • A Docker environment supported by Testcontainers

Note

If you're new to Testcontainers, visit the Testcontainers overview to learn more about Testcontainers and the benefits of using it.

Modules ​

  1. Create the project Set up a Java project with a PostgreSQL-backed customer service for lifecycle testing.

  2. Lifecycle callbacks Manage Testcontainers container lifecycle using JUnit 5 @BeforeAll and @AfterAll callbacks.

  3. Extension annotations Manage Testcontainers container lifecycle using @Testcontainers and @Container annotations.

  4. Singleton containers Share containers across multiple test classes using the singleton containers pattern.