[[using.auto-configuration]]
= Auto-configuration

Spring Boot auto-configuration attempts to automatically configure your Spring application based on the jar dependencies that you have added.
For example, if `HSQLDB` is on your classpath, and you have not manually configured any database connection beans, then Spring Boot auto-configures an in-memory database.

You need to opt-in to auto-configuration by adding the `@EnableAutoConfiguration` or `@SpringBootApplication` annotations to one of your `@Configuration` classes.

TIP: You should only ever add one `@SpringBootApplication` or `@EnableAutoConfiguration` annotation.
We generally recommend that you add one or the other to your primary `@Configuration` class only.



[[using.auto-configuration.replacing]]
== Gradually Replacing Auto-configuration

Auto-configuration is non-invasive.
At any point, you can start to define your own configuration to replace specific parts of the auto-configuration.
For example, if you add your own `DataSource` bean, the default embedded database support backs away.

If you need to find out what auto-configuration is currently being applied, and why, start your application with the `--debug` switch.
Doing so enables debug logs for a selection of core loggers and logs a conditions report to the console.



[[using.auto-configuration.disabling-specific]]
== Disabling Specific Auto-configuration Classes

If you find that specific auto-configuration classes that you do not want are being applied, you can use the exclude attribute of `@SpringBootApplication` to disable them, as shown in the following example:

include-code::MyApplication[]

If the class is not on the classpath, you can use the `excludeName` attribute of the annotation and specify the fully qualified name instead.
If you prefer to use `@EnableAutoConfiguration` rather than `@SpringBootApplication`, `exclude` and `excludeName` are also available.
Finally, you can also control the list of auto-configuration classes to exclude by using the configprop:spring.autoconfigure.exclude[] property.

TIP: You can define exclusions both at the annotation level and by using the property.

NOTE: Even though auto-configuration classes are `public`, the only aspect of the class that is considered public API is the name of the class which can be used for disabling the auto-configuration.
The actual contents of those classes, such as nested configuration classes or bean methods are for internal use only and we do not recommend using those directly.



[[using.auto-configuration.packages]]
== Auto-configuration Packages

Auto-configuration packages are the packages that various auto-configured features look in by default when scanning for things such as entities and Spring Data repositories.
The `@EnableAutoConfiguration` annotation (either directly or through its presence on `@SpringBootApplication`) determines the default auto-configuration package.
Additional packages can be configured using the `@AutoConfigurationPackage` annotation.
