Setting Up Jenkins CI with Nexus Repository Manager for Maven Artifact Management

This tutorial demonstrates how to use Jenkins as a continuous integration server together with Nexus Repository Manager as a Maven artifact repository, enabling a full CI/CD workflow for building, storing, managing, and monitoring compiled artifacts.

Jenkins installation : Run the Jenkins Docker container with

docker run -d --name jenkins-ci -p 8080:8080 jenkins/jenkins:lts

, access it via http://your-ip-addr:8080, and retrieve the initial admin password using

docker exec -i jenkins-ci cat /var/jenkins_home/secrets/initialAdminPassword

.

Nexus installation : Pull the Nexus image with docker pull sonatype/nexus3 and start it on port 8081 using docker run -d --name nexus_repo -p 8081:8081 sonatype/nexus3. Verify startup by checking the logs ( docker logs nexus_repo -f) for the message "Started Sonatype Nexus OSS 3.20.1-01" and then open http://your-ip-addr:8081 to log in (default user admin and password obtained via docker exec -i nexus_repo cat /nexus-data/admin.password).

Creating a Maven hosted repository in Nexus : In the Nexus UI, create a new repository named maven-nexus-repo, select the Maven2 format, enable redeployment, and configure appropriate storage settings.

Jenkins configuration : Install the "Nexus Artifact Uploader" plugin, add Nexus credentials under Credentials → System → Global credentials , and configure Maven as a tool in Manage Jenkins → Global Tool Configuration .

Jenkins pipeline script (shown below) defines environment variables for Nexus connection, checks out a sample Java project, builds it with Maven, and uploads the generated artifact and POM to the Nexus repository using nexusArtifactUploader:

pipeline {
    agent { label "master" }
    tools { maven "Maven" }
    environment {
        NEXUS_VERSION = "nexus3"
        NEXUS_PROTOCOL = "http"
        NEXUS_URL = "your-ip-addr:8081"
        NEXUS_REPOSITORY = "maven-nexus-repo"
        NEXUS_CREDENTIAL_ID = "nexus-user-credentials"
    }
    stages {
        stage("Clone code from VCS") {
            steps { script { git 'https://github.com/javaee/cargotracker.git' } }
        }
        stage("Maven Build") {
            steps { script { sh "mvn package -DskipTests=true" } }
        }
        stage("Publish to Nexus Repository Manager") {
            steps { script {
                pom = readMavenPom file: "pom.xml"
                filesByGlob = findFiles(glob: "target/*.${pom.packaging}")
                artifactPath = filesByGlob[0].path
                if (fileExists(artifactPath)) {
                    nexusArtifactUploader(
                        nexusVersion: NEXUS_VERSION,
                        protocol: NEXUS_PROTOCOL,
                        nexusUrl: NEXUS_URL,
                        groupId: pom.groupId,
                        version: pom.version,
                        repository: NEXUS_REPOSITORY,
                        credentialsId: NEXUS_CREDENTIAL_ID,
                        artifacts: [
                            [artifactId: pom.artifactId, classifier: "", file: artifactPath, type: pom.packaging],
                            [artifactId: pom.artifactId, classifier: "", file: "pom.xml", type: "pom"]
                        ]
                    )
                } else { error "*** File: ${artifactPath}, could not be found" }
            } }
        }
    }
}

The pipeline variables are explained: NEXUS_VERSION (e.g., nexus3), NEXUS_PROTOCOL (use http for testing, https for production), NEXUS_URL (IP and port), NEXUS_CREDENTIAL_ID (Jenkins credential ID), and the Git project URL.

After saving the job, trigger a build; upon success, Jenkins console output shows the uploaded artifact details, and the Nexus UI displays the newly stored Maven artifact, confirming a functional CI/CD pipeline that centralizes artifact management.

Finally, the guide notes that Nexus can be extended with cloud storage back‑ends such as AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage for greater flexibility.