Popular Maven Repository Managers

Three commonly used private repository solutions for Maven include:

1. Apache Archiva
2. JFrog Artifactory
3. Sonatype Nexus (the most widely adoppted)

Installing and Configuring Nexus 3 on Windows with Java 8

Download

Obtain Nexus 3 from the official site:

• General download page: https://help.sonatype.com/repomanager3/product-information/download
• Direct link for latest version: https://sonatype-download.global.ssl.fastly.net/repository/downloads-prod-group/3/nexus-3.67.1-01-java8-win64.zip

Setup

After extracting the downloaded archive, perform the following steps:

1. Set the system environment variable NEXUS_HOME to the extracted directory path.

   echo %NEXUS_HOME%
   # Example output: D:\devtools\nexus-3.58.1-02-win64\nexus-3.58.1-02
   

2. Add %NEXUS_HOME%\bin to the system PATH.

3. Adjust port and context path settings in %NEXUS_HOME%\etc\nexus-default.properties:

   application-port=8081
   application-host=0.0.0.0
   nexus-context-path=/
   

4. Optionally tune JVM parameters in %NEXUS_HOME%\etc\nexus.vmoptions. Default memory allocation is sufficient for basic usage.

Running Nexus

Start Nexus using one of these commands:

nexus.exe /run          # Run in console mode
nexus.exe /install      # Install as Windows service
nexus.exe /start        # Start installed service

Access the web interface at http://localhost:8081/ after startup.

On first launch, an initial admin password will be generated in:

%NEXUS_HOME%\sonatype-work\nexus3\admin.password

Use this to log in; you'll be prompted to change it upon first acces.

Configuring Aliyun as a Proxy Repository

To use Aliyun's Maven mirror:

1. Create a new proxy repository in Nexus UI:

   • Select type maven2(proxy)
   • Remote storage URL: https://maven.aliyun.com/repository/central

2. Add the newly created proxy repo to the maven-public group under Repositories > Groups.

3. Update your local Maven configuration (%MAVEN_HOME%/conf/settings.xml) with server credentials and mirrors:

   <servers>
     <server>
       <id>maven-snapshots</id>
       <username>your_username</username>
       <password>your_password</password>
     </server>
     <!-- Repeat for releases and public repos -->
   </servers>
   
   <mirrors>
     <mirror>
       <id>nexus-central-proxy</id>
       <mirrorOf>*</mirrorOf>
       <url>http://localhost:8081/repository/maven-public/</url>
     </mirror>
   </mirrors>
   

Deploying Artifacts

To publish builds to Nexus, update your project's pom.xml:

<distributionManagement>
  <snapshotRepository>
    <id>maven-snapshots</id>
    <url>http://localhost:8081/repository/maven-snapshots/</url>
  </snapshotRepository>
  <repository>
    <id>maven-releases</id>
    <url>http://localhost:8081/repository/maven-releases/</url>
  </repository>
</distributionManagement>

Then execute deployment command:

mvn deploy

Successful execution uploads artifacts to the specified repositories.