Nexus

Learn how to install and configure Nexus Repository Manager for artifact storage and dependency management

What is Nexus?

Nexus is a repository manager designed to store, manage, and distribute components, binaries, and build artifacts across your entire software supply chain. It helps developers streamline dependency management, version control, and artifact storage, ensuring a smooth and efficient software development lifecycle.

By integrating Nexus into your DevOps workflow, teams can securely manage open-source and proprietary dependencies while improving build performance and reliability.

Prerequisites

Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 22.04 or newer

Update Package Repository and Packages

Bash

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install Java 17

Bash

sudo apt install -y fontconfig openjdk-17-jdk
sudo update-alternatives --config java

Download and extract Nexus3

Bash

wget https://download.sonatype.com/nexus/3/nexus-3.71.0-06-unix.tar.gz

Bash

sudo tar -xzvf nexus-3.71.0-06-unix.tar.gz -C /opt
sudo mv /opt/nexus-3.71.0-06 /opt/nexus

Create Nexus user

Bash

sudo adduser nexus

Update permissions for Nexus

Bash

sudo chown -R nexus:nexus /opt/nexus
sudo chown -R nexus:nexus /opt/sonatype-work

Configure Nexus to run as a service

Bash

sudo vim /opt/nexus/bin/nexus.rc

Uncomment and set:

Bash

run_as_user="nexus"

Create Nexus Service

Bash

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/nexus.service <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=nexus service
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=forking
LimitNOFILE=65536
User=nexus
Group=nexus
ExecStart=/opt/nexus/bin/nexus start
ExecStop=/opt/nexus/bin/nexus stop
Restart=on-abort
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Start and enable Nexus

Bash

sudo systemctl enable nexus
sudo systemctl start nexus
sudo systemctl status nexus

Low Memory fix

Bash

sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

Bash

echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Optimize Nexus Memory Settings

Bash

sudo vim /opt/nexus/bin/nexus.vmoptions

Reduce the -Xms and -Xmx to these values

Bash

-Xms512m
-Xmx512m

Restart Nexus

Bash

sudo systemctl enable nexus.service
sudo systemctl start nexus.service
sudo systemctl status nexus.service

Enable TLS

TLS Configuration

Install Nginx:

Bash

sudo apt install -y nginx

Start Nginx:

Bash

sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl status nginx

Configure Nginx proxy for Nexus:

Bash

sudo vim /etc/nginx/sites-available/nexus.devopsfoundry.com

Paste the following contents:

NGINX

server {
    listen   *:80;
    server_name  nexus.devopsfoundry.com;
    client_max_body_size 1G;
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8081;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    }
    # Docker /v2 and /v1 (for search) requests
    location /v2 {
        proxy_set_header Host $host:$server_port;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:1111;
    }
    location /v1 {
        proxy_set_header Host $host:$server_port;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:1111;
    }
}

Bash

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nexus.devopsfoundry.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Bash

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Install Certbot and obtain TLS certificate:

Bash

sudo apt install -y python3-certbot-nginx

Bash

sudo certbot --nginx -d nexus.devopsfoundry.com

Nexus

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