Accessing and Configuring Capabilities in Nexus Repository 2

Capabilities are features of the repository manager and plugins that can be configured by a user in the generic administration view accessible in the left-hand navigation menu Administration under Capabilities.

Nexus Repository Manager ships with a number of capabilities preinstalled and allows you to enable/disable them. An example capability is Outreach Management displayed in Figure 6.21, “Capabilities Management Interface with the Outreach Management Details Visible”. The capabilities management interface supports adding new capabilities by pressing the New button, copying a selected capability from the list by pressing the Duplicate button and deleting a selected capability with the Delete button. Pressing the Refresh button updates the list of capabilities. The list of capabilities can be filtered with the search input box in the header of the list and sorted by the different columns by pressing a column header. The list uses the following columns:

Status

The status column does not have a title. Enabled capabilities have a green checkmark added on top of a blue icon. If an enabled capability is not fully operational the icon displays a warning sign on top of the blue icon and the entire row is surrounded with a red border; you can find out further information in a warning message below the list of the capabilities and above the individual tabs. Disabled capabilities use a greyed out icon.

Type

The Type column provides the specific type of a capability in the list

Category

The Category is optional and details the wider context the capability belongs to

Repository

The Repository value is optional and references the repository for which the specific capability is configured

Description

The Description column contains further descriptive information about the capability

Notes

The Notes column can contain user created notes about the capability

Figure 6.21. Capabilities Management Interface with the Outreach Management Details Visible

Every capability can be inspected and configured by selecting it in the list and using the tabs underneath the list.

The Summary tab displays the Type of the capability as well as optionally the Description, the Category and the Repository. The Notes field can be used to provide a descriptive text about the capability or any other notes related to it and can be persisted by pressing the Save button. The Discard link can be used to reset any changes in the tab.

The Settings tab allows you to activate or deactivate the capability with the Enabled checkbox. Below this checkbox, each capability type has specific additional configuration parameters available. Mousing over the help icon beside the input field or checkbox reveals further information about the specific parameter. Once you have completed the configuration, press the Save button. The Discard link can be used to reset any changes in the tab.

The Status tab displays a text message that details the status of the capability and any potential problems with the configuration. Depending on the capability, the reasons can vary widely. For example, the Secure Central capability requires the repository manager to run on a JVM with specific security features. If the JVM is not suitable, an error message with further details is displayed in the Status column.

The About tab displays a descriptive text about the purpose of the capability.

Creating a new capability by pressing the New button will display a new form allowing you to configure the capability in a dialog. The Type drop-down allows you to decide what capability to create, and a selection changes the rest of the available information and configuration in the dialog. You can configure if the capability should be enabled with the Enabled checkbox. Once you have completed the configuration, press Add and the capability will be saved and appear in the list.

Many of the built-in capabilities and plugins can be configured in the Capabilities administration section but also in other more user friendly, targeted user interface sections, e.g., the user token feature administrated by using the interface available via the User Token menu item in the Security left-hand menu as well as by editing the user token capability. Other capabilities are internal to repository manager functionality and sometimes managed automatically by the responsible plugin. Some optional configuration like the branding plugin is only done in the capabilities administration. The branding plugin allows the customization of the icon in the top left-hand corner of the user interface header and is described in Customizing the User Interface with Branding.