Documentation Nexus IQ Server 1.23

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Chapter 12. Sonatype CLM and Repository Management

Repository managers allow you to manage software components required for development, deployment, and provisioning and fulfill a central role for component lifecycle management. A repository manager greatly simplifies the maintenance of your own internal repositories and access to external repositories. Using a repository manager is a recommended best practice for development efforts using Apache Maven or other build systems with declarative and automated transitive dependency management.

By proxying external repositories as well as providing a deployment target for internal components, a repository manager becomes the central and authoritative storage platform for all components. You can completely control access to, and deployment of, every component in your organization from a single location. It allows you to control, which components get into your products from external sources as well as examine, and keep track of artifacts produced by your build systems.

In terms of the incoming components a repository manager allows you to secure the connection to an external repository and ensure that your component usage is not publicly exposed.

Just as Source Code Management (SCM) tools are designed to manage source artifacts, repository managers have been designed to manage and track external dependencies and components generated by your build. They are an essential part of any enterprise or open-source software development effort. They enable greater collaboration between developers and wider distribution of software bring increased build performance due to local component availability and reduced bandwidth needs by avoiding repeated downloads to your setup.

figs/web/repository-manager-central-role.png

Figure 12.1. The Central Role of A Repository Manager in Your Infrastructure


For additional information, the Repository Management with Nexus book provides an extensive introduction to repository management, its advantages, and stages of adoptions for further reference.