Setting Up Jenkins CI with Nexus Repository Manager and Maven Pipeline

This tutorial explains how to use Jenkins as a continuous integration server together with Nexus Repository Manager to build, store, manage, and monitor compiled artifacts using Maven.

First, ensure Jenkins is running in a Docker container (e.g., docker run -d --name jenkins-ci -p 8080:8080 jenkins/jenkins:lts ) and retrieve the initial admin password with docker exec -i jenkins-ci cat /var/jenkins_home/secrets/initialAdminPassword .

Next, pull and start the Nexus image ( docker pull sonatype/nexus3 and docker run -d --name nexus_repo -p 8081:8081 sonatype/nexus3 ), monitor startup logs ( docker logs nexus_repo -f ) until the message Started Sonatype Nexus OSS 3.20.1-01 appears, and obtain the admin password via docker exec -i nexus_repo cat /nexus-data/admin.password .

In Nexus, create a Maven hosted repository named maven-nexus-repo , enable the “allow redeploy” policy, and create a user with the nx-admin role.

Back in Jenkins, install the “Nexus Artifact Uploader” plugin, add the Nexus credentials, and configure Maven under Global Tool Configuration.

Then define a Jenkins pipeline (see code below) that sets environment variables for Nexus connection, clones a Git repository, builds the project with Maven, and uploads the resulting artifact to Nexus 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 summary of environment variables explains that NEXUS_VERSION selects the Nexus version (e.g., nexus3 ), NEXUS_PROTOCOL is typically HTTP (HTTPS in production), NEXUS_URL is the host and port, and NEXUS_CREDENTIAL_ID references the Jenkins‑stored Nexus user.

After triggering the pipeline, the build logs show successful artifact upload, and the artifact appears in the Nexus repository UI, demonstrating a centralized, automated artifact management solution that can be extended to cloud storage back‑ends.