Install Nexus Repository Manager on Ubuntu

Install Java

Installing 💿 OpenJDK 21 is necessary because Nexus Repository Manager Ubuntu requires Java to run properly. You can set this up quickly by updating your package list and running the standard installation command for the Java Development Kit in your terminal.

Run these commands to update your system and install OpenJDK 21:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openjdk-21-jdk

You can find more details on managing Java versions at How to install and use OpenJDK on Ubuntu Linux.

Install Nexus Repository Manager

Installing 💿 Nexus Repository Manager Ubuntu involves downloading ⬇️ the archive file from the official source, extracting the contents, and moving the folder to the /opt directory for proper system organization and management.

Run these commands to download and extract the files:

cd /tmp
wget https://download.sonatype.com/nexus/3/nexus-3.77.0-02-unix.tar.gz
tar xzf nexus-3.77.0-02-unix.tar.gz
sudo mv nexus-3.77.0-02 /opt/nexus
sudo mv sonatype-work /opt/

Next, we create a dedicated user account to run Nexus safely. This account will not be used to log in to the system.

sudo useradd -m -d /opt/nexus -U -r -s /bin/bash nexus
sudo chown -R nexus:nexus /opt/nexus /opt/sonatype-work

Configure Nexus to run on Ubuntu

Configuring Nexus Repository Manager Ubuntu requires editing the program settings to run under a dedicated user account rather than root, which keeps your server secure and ensures the application starts correctly.

Edit the configuration file to set the user:

sudo nano /opt/nexus/bin/nexus.rc

Uncomment the line and set it to: run_as_user="nexus".

For custom settings like memory limits, use the nexus.vmoptions file or the dedicated configuration directory instead of changing default files.

Now, create a system service file to manage the application:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/nexus.service

Paste these lines into the file:

[Unit]
Description=nexus service
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
LimitNOFILE=65536
ExecStart=/opt/nexus/bin/nexus start
ExecStop=/opt/nexus/bin/nexus stop
User=nexus
Restart=on-abort

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start the service with these commands:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start nexus.service
sudo systemctl enable nexus.service

To access the web interface, open your browser and go to http://your-server-ip:8081.

The Nexus Repository Manager initial admin password is required for your first login. You can retrieve this password by running the command `sudo cat /opt/sonatype/nexus/etc/nexus-default.properties | grep -oP 'password\K.*'`. This command will display the password directly in your terminal.

sudo cat /opt/sonatype-work/nexus3/admin.password

You will be prompted to create a new, secure password.

Run Nexus behind a proxy

Running Nexus Repository Manager behind a web server like Nginx or Apache on Ubuntu improves security and performance.

How to set up a reverse proxy with Nginx

How to set up a reverse proxy with Apache

For more official documentation, visit https://help.sonatype.com/docs.

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