Java: Find an Available Port Number

In some cases, such as in unit tests, you might need to start up a server or an rmiregistry. What port number do you use? You cannot hardcode the port number because when your unit test runs on a continuous build server or on a colleague's machine, it might already be in use. Instead, you need a way to find an available port on the current machine.

According to IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), the ports that we are free to use lie in the range 1024-49151:

Port numbers are assigned in various ways, based on three ranges: System Ports (0-1023), User Ports (1024-49151), and the Dynamic and/or Private Ports (49152-65535)

The following utility class can help find an available port on your local machine:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.DatagramSocket;
import java.net.ServerSocket;
 
/**
 * Finds an available port on localhost.
 */
public class PortFinder {
 
  // the ports below 1024 are system ports
  private static final int MIN_PORT_NUMBER = 1024;
 
  // the ports above 49151 are dynamic and/or private
  private static final int MAX_PORT_NUMBER = 49151;
 
  /**
   * Finds a free port between 
   * {@link #MIN_PORT_NUMBER} and {@link #MAX_PORT_NUMBER}.
   *
   * @return a free port
   * @throw RuntimeException if a port could not be found
   */
  public static int findFreePort() {
    for (int i = MIN_PORT_NUMBER; i <= MAX_PORT_NUMBER; i++) {
      if (available(i)) {
        return i;
      }
    }
    throw new RuntimeException("Could not find an available port between " + 
                               MIN_PORT_NUMBER + " and " + MAX_PORT_NUMBER);
  }
 
  /**
   * Returns true if the specified port is available on this host.
   *
   * @param port the port to check
   * @return true if the port is available, false otherwise
   */
  private static boolean available(final int port) {
    ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
    DatagramSocket dataSocket = null;
    try {
      serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port);
      serverSocket.setReuseAddress(true);
      dataSocket = new DatagramSocket(port);
      dataSocket.setReuseAddress(true);
      return true;
    } catch (final IOException e) {
      return false;
    } finally {
      if (dataSocket != null) {
        dataSocket.close();
      }
      if (serverSocket != null) {
        try {
          serverSocket.close();
        } catch (final IOException e) {
          // can never happen
        }
      }
    }
  }
}