Spring boot - Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver

Issue

I'm trying to learn Spring, I'm building a project using Netbeans, I used Srping Initializr to get all files ready but when I try to run the project I get this error 'Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver ' Event though the driver is set up, I have the dependencies on the POM file as well as the project's properties, can you please take a look?

This is the error message:

Error starting ApplicationContext. To display the conditions report re-run your application with 'debug' enabled.
2023-11-20 20:58:28.978 ERROR 10340 --- [           main] o.s.boot.SpringApplication               : Application run failed

org.springframework.beans.factory.UnsatisfiedDependencyException: Error creating bean with name 'dataSourceScriptDatabaseInitializer' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/sql/init/DataSourceInitializationConfiguration.class]: Unsatisfied dependency expressed through method 'dataSourceScriptDatabaseInitializer' parameter 0; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'dataSource' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jdbc/DataSourceConfiguration$Hikari.class]: Bean instantiation via factory method failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource]: Factory method 'dataSource' threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver 
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.createArgumentArray(ConstructorResolver.java:801) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:536) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1352) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1195) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:582) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:542) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.lambda$doGetBean$0(AbstractBeanFactory.java:335) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:234) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:333) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:322) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.getBean(AbstractApplicationContext.java:1160) ~[spring-context-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:911) ~[spring-context-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:583) ~[spring-context-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.context.ServletWebServerApplicationContext.refresh(ServletWebServerApplicationContext.java:147) ~[spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:732) [spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refreshContext(SpringApplication.java:409) [spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:308) [spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1300) [spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1289) [spring-boot-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at com.egg.biblioteca.BibliotecaApplication.main(BibliotecaApplication.java:10) [classes/:na]
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'dataSource' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jdbc/DataSourceConfiguration$Hikari.class]: Bean instantiation via factory method failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource]: Factory method 'dataSource' threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver 
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiate(ConstructorResolver.java:653) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:633) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1352) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1195) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:582) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:542) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.lambda$doGetBean$0(AbstractBeanFactory.java:335) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:234) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:333) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.config.DependencyDescriptor.resolveCandidate(DependencyDescriptor.java:276) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.doResolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:1391) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.resolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:1311) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.resolveAutowiredArgument(ConstructorResolver.java:911) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.createArgumentArray(ConstructorResolver.java:788) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    ... 21 common frames omitted
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource]: Factory method 'dataSource' threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver 
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:185) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiate(ConstructorResolver.java:648) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    ... 35 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot load driver class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver 
    at org.springframework.util.Assert.state(Assert.java:97) ~[spring-core-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
    at org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceProperties.determineDriverClassName(DataSourceProperties.java:175) ~[spring-boot-autoconfigure-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceProperties.initializeDataSourceBuilder(DataSourceProperties.java:125) ~[spring-boot-autoconfigure-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceConfiguration.createDataSource(DataSourceConfiguration.java:48) ~[spring-boot-autoconfigure-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceConfiguration$Hikari.dataSource(DataSourceConfiguration.java:90) ~[spring-boot-autoconfigure-2.7.17.jar:2.7.17]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_111]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[na:1.8.0_111]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[na:1.8.0_111]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) ~[na:1.8.0_111]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:154) ~[spring-beans-5.3.30.jar:5.3.30]
36 common frames omitted

This is the POM file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>2.7.17</version>
        <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>
    <groupId>com.egg</groupId>
    <artifactId>biblioteca</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>biblioteca</name>
    <description>Proyecto de biblioteca Egg</description>
    <properties>
        <java.version>1.8</java.version>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
            <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
        </dependency>
                
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <image>
                        <builder>paketobuildpacks/builder-jammy-base:latest</builder>
                    </image>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

And these are the properties:

spring.datasource.url: jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/DATABASE?allowPublicKeyRetrieval=true&useSSL=false&use
Timezone=true&serverTimezone=GMT&characterEncoding=UTF-8
spring.datasource.username: root
spring.datasource.password: root
spring.datasource.driver-class-name: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver 
spring.jpa.show-sql: true
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto: update
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect: org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect
spring.thymeleaf.cache: false

I tried changing the version of the Mysql driver on the dependencies inside the pom.xml but doesn't seem to work. I've reviewed the driver version and everything seems to be working ok.

I'm running springboot version 2.7.17, Java version 8 and the current Mysql driver is 8.0.33.

Solution

As @M. Deinum specified in the comment, you have an extra trailing space in the driver setup property line.

So try changing: spring.datasource.driver-class-name: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver

To this: spring.datasource.driver-class-name: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver

And it should work.

Answered By - Troley