Stores artifacts reliably with secure access and detailed file auditing
What is our primary use case?
I am using the
Sonatype Nexus Repository and it's working well with the corporation. I have not purchased the
Sonatype Nexus Repository license. Currently, I'm using the free open-source version because its functionality fits the corporation's needs. We do not need to buy for now, but we will purchase it in the future.
I'm using the Sonatype Nexus Repository to store the artifact files, specifically the build files from my company. The project builds into many binary files and images, so I store all of that on Sonatype Nexus Repository. We have retention days for all artifacts. Whenever the server needs to get the binary file, it requests it from the Sonatype Nexus Repository and takes the correct file for deployment. Instead of ECR, AWS has something called ECR and some other services to store binary files, but the Sonatype Nexus Repository open-source is sufficient without any cost.
The Sonatype Nexus Repository is running on AWS Cloud, on EKS as a service. The current functions fit our corporation, and we're presently using it free without the need for a license. However, we plan to buy a license in the future.
What is most valuable?
I integrate the Sonatype Nexus Repository with AWS. The Sonatype Nexus Repository offers detailed file information such as SHA and checksum, which is useful for auditing and ensuring file consistency against unauthorized changes.
Hosting, proxying, and grouping repositories in Sonatype Nexus Repository have no impact on development process time and are perceived as very fast. It simplifies version management by storing a consistent library version, avoiding conflicts.
User policies and granular access control, though not integrated with LDAP or Azure Entra, work well for specific action configurations.
What needs improvement?
We want to change the AWS credentials into an assume role instead of a fixed credential for authentication, but Sonatype Nexus Repository does not support this feature yet. This is a point of exploration for us.
We installed the Sonatype Nexus Repository using an open-source Helm chart but need to test it for credential-less AWS integration. We may seek support in the future.
One of the challenging aspects of the Sonatype Nexus Repository is understanding its procedures, as job scheduling is not fully explained in documentation and logs are cumbersome and unhelpful for issues such as troubleshooting push file errors.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the Sonatype Nexus Repository for nine months.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The setup was done using the Helm chart from Sonatype Nexus Repository. The setup itself is easy but configuring background jobs is difficult since they run at specific times and impact performance but cannot be tested easily.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have been using the Sonatype Nexus Repository for nine months and it has not experienced any downtime or errors, which makes it a reliable solution for our needs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Because we are using the open-source Sonatype Nexus Repository, it is limited to a fixed zone or region. It cannot be changed to support multi-region or multi-zone deployment. Currently, it does not provide high availability.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before using the Sonatype Nexus Repository, we used
Harbor to store image files. For artifacts and binary files, we stored them on
GitLab. After implementing the Sonatype Nexus Repository, our process became simpler and easier to understand, making it a better solution.
How was the initial setup?
I performed the initial setup and deployment for the Sonatype Nexus Repository using the Helm chart. The setup process required reading extensive documentation about policies, users, storage configuration, credentials, login procedures, and metrics. These aspects were straightforward, but the background job setup was more challenging as we had to wait several days to observe the actions from the background jobs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated several solutions including JFrog, ECR from AWS, and
Black Duck. However, these options were too complicated and offered more functionality than we needed. The Sonatype Nexus Repository aligned with our vision, so we chose it after testing all alternatives.
What other advice do I have?
I am a customer and end user of Sonatype Nexus Repository. We will examine the code more thoroughly and need to test it first. Since we installed the Sonatype Nexus Repository using an open-source Helm chart, we need to test its integration with AWS without credentials before potentially contacting support.
Our team pushes libraries to the Sonatype Nexus Repository to store them with fixed versions. Before using Sonatype Nexus Repository, we pulled from external sources, which sometimes caused issues with library versions changing and breaking code.
One of the notable features of Sonatype Nexus Repository is the detailed file information provided for stored files, including SHA and checksums.
I rate the Sonatype Nexus Repository 9.5 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)