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How to Run IronPDF for Java in an Azure Function

Chaknith Bin

January 22, 2023

Updated October 20, 2024

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• IronPDF for Java only supports Docker deployment.
• Zip Deployment is not supported, since IronPDF requires execution of binaries at runtime.

1. Follow the Microsoft Official Guide for Creating Function on Linux Using Custom Image
   • For Choose a programming language -> select Java
   • Follow the guide until your app is up and running.

2. Add the IronPDF dependency

   • Add this to your pom with the latest <version>

   <dependencies>
       <dependency>
               <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
               <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
               <version>2022.xx.x</version>
           </dependency>
           <dependency>
               <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
               <artifactId>ironpdf-engine-linux-x64</artifactId>
               <version>2022.xx.x</version>
           </dependency>
       </dependencies>

   <dependencies>
       <dependency>
               <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
               <artifactId>ironpdf</artifactId>
               <version>2022.xx.x</version>
           </dependency>
           <dependency>
               <groupId>com.ironsoftware</groupId>
               <artifactId>ironpdf-engine-linux-x64</artifactId>
               <version>2022.xx.x</version>
           </dependency>
       </dependencies>

   XML
   • Note: ironpdf-engine-linux is required to run IronPDF in Docker.

3. Add a RenderPdf function

   • Add a new function in Function.java
   • This function will receive a URL and return a rendered PDF.

   public class Function {
   
   //...
   @FunctionName("RenderPdf")
   public HttpResponseMessage renderPdf(
           @HttpTrigger(
                   name = "req",
                   methods = {HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST},
                   authLevel = AuthorizationLevel.ANONYMOUS)
           HttpRequestMessage<Optional<String>> request,
           final ExecutionContext context) {
       context.getLogger().info("Java HTTP trigger processed a request. (RenderPdf)");
       // Parse query parameter
       final String url = request.getQueryParameters().get("url");
       if (url == null) {
           return request.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST).body("Please pass a url on the query string").build();
       } else {
           context.getLogger().info("IronPDF try to render url: " + url);
           PdfDocument pdfDocument = com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf(url);
           byte [] content = pdfDocument.getBinaryData();
           return request.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.OK)
                   .body(content)
                   .header("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=ironpdf_result.pdf")
                   .build();
       }
   }
   }

   public class Function {
   
   //...
   @FunctionName("RenderPdf")
   public HttpResponseMessage renderPdf(
           @HttpTrigger(
                   name = "req",
                   methods = {HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST},
                   authLevel = AuthorizationLevel.ANONYMOUS)
           HttpRequestMessage<Optional<String>> request,
           final ExecutionContext context) {
       context.getLogger().info("Java HTTP trigger processed a request. (RenderPdf)");
       // Parse query parameter
       final String url = request.getQueryParameters().get("url");
       if (url == null) {
           return request.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST).body("Please pass a url on the query string").build();
       } else {
           context.getLogger().info("IronPDF try to render url: " + url);
           PdfDocument pdfDocument = com.ironsoftware.ironpdf.PdfDocument.renderUrlAsPdf(url);
           byte [] content = pdfDocument.getBinaryData();
           return request.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.OK)
                   .body(content)
                   .header("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=ironpdf_result.pdf")
                   .build();
       }
   }
   }

   JAVA

4. Update Dockerfile

   • Add the IronPDF Linux required packages. From the example, the base Docker image is mcr.microsoft.com/azure-functions/java:4-java$JAVA_VERSION-build, which is Debian 11. So we need to add these packages to the Docker file.

   RUN apt update \
   && apt install -y libgdiplus libxkbcommon-x11-0 libc6 libc6-dev libgtk2.0-0 libnss3 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libx11-xcb1 libxcb-dri3-0 libdrm-common libgbm1 libasound2 libxrender1 libfontconfig1 libxshmfence1
   RUN apt-get install -y xvfb libva-dev libgdiplus

   • For other Linux distros please see IronPDF Linux Installation Guide
5. Redeploy your function to Azure
   1. Build & package mvn clean package
   2. Build Docker image e.g. docker build --tag <DOCKER_ID>/azurefunctionsimage:v1.0.0 .
   3. Push Docker image e.g. docker push <DOCKER_ID>/azurefunctionsimage:v1.0.0
   4. Update Azure function e.g. az functionapp create --name <APP_NAME> --storage-account <STORAGE_NAME> --resource-group AzureFunctionsContainers-rg --plan myPremiumPlan --deployment-container-image-name <DOCKER_ID>/azurefunctionsimage:v1.0.0
6. Enjoy IronPDF
   • Trigger function at: https://<APP_NAME>.azurewebsites.net/api/RenderPdf?url=https://www.google.com
   • Note: The first time the function is triggered, it may be slow or fail due to initialization, but after that, it will be fine.

Chaknith Bin

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Software Engineer

Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.