Cache a Maven Repository¶

Pulp Maven can be used to cache packages from Maven Central or any other repository on the internet.

When a client requests content from a distribution with a remote configured, Pulp streams the content from the remote and automatically saves it into the associated repository. This means cached content is immediately available and protected from orphan cleanup without any additional steps.

The commands below use the pulp-cli-maven package available on PyPI.

1. Create a new Maven Remote¶

runoutput

pulp maven remote create --name maven-central --url https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/

{
  "pulp_href": "/pulp/api/v3/remotes/maven/maven/a0554b43-d229-4aba-b106-bd9f41eddd31/",
  "pulp_created": "2023-03-10T20:28:08.573718Z",
  "name": "maven-central",
  "url": "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/",
  "ca_cert": null,
  "client_cert": null,
  "tls_validation": true,
  "proxy_url": null,
  "pulp_labels": {},
  "pulp_last_updated": "2023-03-10T20:28:08.573744Z",
  "download_concurrency": null,
  "max_retries": null,
  "policy": "immediate",
  "total_timeout": null,
  "connect_timeout": null,
  "sock_connect_timeout": null,
  "sock_read_timeout": null,
  "headers": null,
  "rate_limit": null,
  "hidden_fields": [
    {
      "name": "client_key",
      "is_set": false
    },
    {
      "name": "proxy_username",
      "is_set": false
    },
    {
      "name": "proxy_password",
      "is_set": false
    },
    {
      "name": "username",
      "is_set": false
    },
    {
      "name": "password",
      "is_set": false
    }
  ]
}

2. Create a Maven Repository¶

The repository will be used to store cached content. When content is fetched via pull-through caching, it is automatically added to this repository.

You don't have to specify a remote on it, but adding one now will enable you to not have to specify one each time you want to add newly cached content to a repository.

runoutput

pulp maven repository create --name maven-central --remote maven-central

{
  "pulp_href": "/pulp/api/v3/repositories/maven/maven/550b4240-4d1a-4d98-811d-ce7fbbab81c8/",
  "pulp_created": "2023-03-16T10:10:18.047792Z",
  "versions_href": "/pulp/api/v3/repositories/maven/maven/550b4240-4d1a-4d98-811d-ce7fbbab81c8/versions/",
  "pulp_labels": {},
  "latest_version_href": "/pulp/api/v3/repositories/maven/maven/550b4240-4d1a-4d98-811d-ce7fbbab81c8/versions/0/",
  "name": "maven-central",
  "description": null,
  "retain_repo_versions": null,
  "remote": "/pulp/api/v3/remotes/maven/maven/a0554b43-d229-4aba-b106-bd9f41eddd31/"
}

3. Create a Maven Distribution¶

Create a distribution with a defined remote.

Doing this ensures that when clients request content from that distribution, pulpcore-content will stream the content from the remote to the client. During that process the content is automatically saved into Pulp and added to the repository, creating a new repository version for each new content unit.

Adding the repository to the distribution will enable users to browse the HTML listing pages served by pulpcore-content.

runoutput

pulp maven distribution create --name maven-central --remote maven-central --repository maven-central --base-path maven-central

Started background task /pulp/api/v3/tasks/627488da-5375-4827-9424-5b75b1c880d1/
.Done.
{
  "pulp_href": "/pulp/api/v3/distributions/maven/maven/1c70eb04-7229-44a2-bf74-b8a94f461b73/",
  "pulp_created": "2023-03-10T20:30:04.487734Z",
  "base_path": "maven-central",
  "base_url": "http://pulp-hostname/pulp/content/maven-central/",
  "content_guard": null,
  "pulp_labels": {},
  "name": "maven-central",
  "repository": "/pulp/api/v3/repositories/maven/maven/550b4240-4d1a-4d98-811d-ce7fbbab81c8/",
  "remote": "/pulp/api/v3/remotes/maven/maven/a0554b43-d229-4aba-b106-bd9f41eddd31/"
}

4. Add Pulp as a mirror for Maven¶

In your ~/.m2/settings.xml add Pulp as a mirror of Maven Central. The URL comes from the base_url attribute of the Maven Distribution.

~/.m2/settings.xml

<settings>
  <mirrors>
    <mirror>
      <id>pulp-maven-central</id>
      <name>Local Maven Central mirror </name>
      <url>http://pulp-hostname/pulp/content/maven-central/</url>
      <mirrorOf>central</mirrorOf>
    </mirror>
  </mirrors>
</settings>

Once your Maven client resolves packages through this mirror, Pulp automatically caches each artifact and adds it to the repository. The cached content will be available in subsequent requests even if the upstream repository becomes unreachable, and the remote can later be removed from the distribution without losing access to cached content.