A Dockerfile for Sonatype Nexus Repository 3, starting with 3.18 the image is based on the Red Hat Universal Base Image while earlier versions used CentOS.
- Contribution Guidlines
- Running
- Building the Sonatype Nexus Repository image
- Chef Solo for Runtime and Application
- Testing the Dockerfile
- Red Hat Certified Image
- Notes
- Getting Help
Go read our contribution guidelines to get a bit more familiar with how we would like things to flow.
To run, binding the exposed port 8081 to the host, use:
$ docker run -d -p 8081:8081 --name nexus sonatype/nexus3
When stopping, be sure to allow sufficient time for the databases to fully shut down.
docker stop --time=120 <CONTAINER_NAME>
To test:
$ curl http://localhost:8081/
To build a docker image from the Dockerfile you can use this command:
$ docker build --rm=true --tag=sonatype/nexus3 .
The following optional variables can be used when building the image:
- NEXUS_VERSION: Version of the Sonatype Nexus Repository
- NEXUS_DOWNLOAD_URL: Download URL for Sonatype Nexus Repository, alternative to using
NEXUS_VERSION
to download from Sonatype - NEXUS_DOWNLOAD_SHA256_HASH: Sha256 checksum for the downloaded Sonatype Nexus Repository archive. Required if
NEXUS_VERSION
orNEXUS_DOWNLOAD_URL
is provided
Chef Solo is used to build out the runtime and application layers of the Docker image. The Chef cookbook being used is available on GitHub at sonatype/chef-nexus-repository-manager.
We are using rspec
as the test framework. serverspec
provides a docker backend (see the method set
in the test code)
to run the tests inside the docker container, and abstracts away the difference between distributions in the tests
(e.g. yum, apt,...).
rspec [--backtrace] spec/Dockerfile_spec.rb
A Red Hat certified container image can be created using Dockerfile.rh.ubi which is built to be compliant with Red Hat certification. The image includes additional meta data to comform with Kubernetes and OpenShift standards, a directory with the licenses applicable to the software and a man file for help on how to use the software. It also uses an ENTRYPOINT script the ensure the running user has access to the appropriate permissions for OpenShift 'restricted' SCC.
The Red Hat certified container image is available from the Red Hat Container Catalog and qualified accounts can pull it from registry.connect.redhat.com.
In addition to the Universal Base Image, we can build images based on:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Dockerfile.rh.el
- CentOS: Dockerfile.rh.centos
An Alpine-based container image can be created using Dockerfile.alpine.java11 This Dockerfile is built to leverage the minimalistic and efficient nature of Alpine Linux, emphasizing fewer dependencies to achieve a cleaner SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) and a stronger security posture.
The Alpine-based container image includes minimal dependencies and uses an ENTRYPOINT script to ensure the application runs with the necessary permissions. It is optimized for rapid deployment and efficient resource usage.
The Alpine-based container image is available from Docker Hub and can be pulled using the following tags:
- sonatype/nexus3:3.XX.y-alpine (runs Java 11)
- sonatype/nexus3:3.XX.y-java11-alpine
- sonatype/nexus3:3.XX.y-java17-alpine
-
Our system requirements should be taken into account when provisioning the Docker container.
-
Default user is
admin
and the uniquely generated password can be found in theadmin.password
file inside the volume. See Persistent Data for information about the volume. -
It can take some time (2-3 minutes) for the service to launch in a new container. You can tail the log to determine once Nexus is ready:
$ docker logs -f nexus
-
Installation of Nexus is to
/opt/sonatype/nexus
. -
A persistent directory,
/nexus-data
, is used for configuration, logs, and storage. This directory needs to be writable by the Nexus process, which runs as UID 200. -
There is an environment variable that is being used to pass JVM arguments to the startup script
INSTALL4J_ADD_VM_PARAMS
, passed to the Install4J startup script. Defaults to-Xms2703m -Xmx2703m -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize=2703m -Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=${NEXUS_DATA}/javaprefs
.
This can be adjusted at runtime:
$ docker run -d -p 8081:8081 --name nexus -e INSTALL4J_ADD_VM_PARAMS="-Xms2703m -Xmx2703m -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize=2703m -Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=/some-other-dir" sonatype/nexus3
Of particular note,
-Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=/some-other-dir
can be set to a persistent path, which will maintain the installed Sonatype Nexus Repository License if the container is restarted.Be sure to check the memory requirements when deciding how much heap and direct memory to allocate.
-
Another environment variable can be used to control the Nexus Context Path
NEXUS_CONTEXT
, defaults to /
This can be supplied at runtime:
$ docker run -d -p 8081:8081 --name nexus -e NEXUS_CONTEXT=nexus sonatype/nexus3
There are two general approaches to handling persistent storage requirements with Docker. See Managing Data in Containers for additional information.
- Use a docker volume. Since docker volumes are persistent, a volume can be created specifically for this purpose. This is the recommended approach.
$ docker volume create --name nexus-data
$ docker run -d -p 8081:8081 --name nexus -v nexus-data:/nexus-data sonatype/nexus3
- Mount a host directory as the volume. This is not portable, as it relies on the directory existing with correct permissions on the host. However it can be useful in certain situations where this volume needs to be assigned to certain specific underlying storage.
$ mkdir /some/dir/nexus-data && chown -R 200 /some/dir/nexus-data
$ docker run -d -p 8081:8081 --name nexus -v /some/dir/nexus-data:/nexus-data sonatype/nexus3
Looking to contribute to our Docker image but need some help? There's a few ways to get information or our attention:
- Chat with us on Gitter
- Check out the Nexus3 tag on Stack Overflow
- Check out the Sonatype Nexus Repository User List
Sonatype Nexus Repository OSS is distributed with Sencha Ext JS pursuant to a FLOSS Exception agreed upon between Sonatype, Inc. and Sencha Inc. Sencha Ext JS is licensed under GPL v3 and cannot be redistributed as part of a closed source work.