How to Run IronPDF for Java in an Azure Function

Darrius Serrant

January 22, 2023

Updated October 20, 2024

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

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.

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.

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

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
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
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.

Darrius Serrant

Chat with engineering team now

Full Stack Software Engineer (WebOps)

Darrius Serrant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami and works as a Full Stack WebOps Marketing Engineer at Iron Software. Drawn to coding from a young age, he saw computing as both mysterious and accessible, making it the perfect medium for creativity and problem-solving.

At Iron Software, Darrius enjoys creating new things and simplifying complex concepts to make them more understandable. As one of our resident developers, he has also volunteered to teach students, sharing his expertise with the next generation.

For Darrius, his work is fulfilling because it is valued and has a real impact.