Glossary
What is an artifact repository?
An artifact repository is a centralized system that stores, manages, and distributes binary software artifacts generated during the software development lifecycle. These artifacts include compiled code (e.g., JAR, WAR, DLL), container images, configuration files, Helm charts, and other build outputs.
Artifact repositories are essential in DevOps and CI/CD environments, enabling teams to reliably version, track, and reuse components throughout development, testing, and deployment.
Why use an artifact repository?
Without an artifact repository, organizations risk:
- Losing control over critical build outputs
- Introducing inconsistencies across environments
- Making it more challenging to verify or reproduce releases
- Increasing attack surface through unmanaged artifacts
Artifact repositories ensure:
- Consistent deployment pipelines
- Traceability of builds and releases
- Secure distribution of internal or third-party software
- Proper retention and rollback capabilities
They are a key element of modern software supply chain integrity.
How does it work?
An artifact repository is a version-controlled storage system integrated with CI/CD pipelines. The typical workflow involves:
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Artifact Generation: Build tools (e.g., Maven, Gradle, npm, Docker) compile code and produce binary outputs.
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Publishing: Artifacts are pushed to the repository along with metadata (e.g., version, checksum, author).
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Storage and Indexing: Repositories store and catalog artifacts, often with tagging and access control.
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Retrieval and Distribution: Other systems (e.g., deployment tools, developers) pull artifacts as needed.
- Retention Policies: Manage the lifecycle of artifacts by archiving or deleting older versions.
Popular artifact repository tools include JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus, AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts, and GitHub Packages.
Benefits:
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Improves Build Reliability: Ensures consistent and repeatable builds using trusted, versioned artifacts.
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Enhances DevOps Efficiency: Improve CI/CD processes with local caching and smart proxying.
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Supports Supply Chain Security: Controls what goes into production by managing binaries securely.
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Enables Traceability and Auditing: Tracks provenance of every artifact across environments.
- Reduces External Dependency Risk: Mitigates outages or tampering from public registries.
Artifact repositories vs.
|
Term |
Focus Area |
Key Difference from Artifact Repository |
|
Source Code Repository |
Stores human-readable code |
Artifact repositories store built binaries, not source code. |
|
Container Registry |
Stores container images |
A specialized type of artifact repository. |
|
Package Manager |
Retrieves software packages |
Often interacts with artifact repositories, not a replacement. |
|
SBOM |
Software component inventory |
SBOM tracks contents; artifact repositories store the contents. |
Limit attacks using an artifact repository:
- Restrict upload/download access with role-based controls
- Scan artifacts for malware or vulnerabilities before publishing
- Use checksums and signatures to validate artifact integrity
- Isolate internal artifacts from public sources to prevent poisoning
Use cases:
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Secure CI/CD Pipeline Management: Ensure only verified, signed artifacts are used in build and deployment processes to prevent tampering.
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Versioned Deployment for Microservices: Manage precise versions of service artifacts for consistent, reliable microservice deployment.
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Air-Gapped Environment Support: Enable secure software delivery in isolated environments by hosting internal-only artifacts.
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Software Provenance and Release Traceability: Maintain a complete audit trail of how, when, and by whom artifacts were built and modified.
- Internal Package Distribution at Scale: Centrally manage and distribute custom or third-party packages across teams and environments.
Additional considerations:
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Storage Growth: Repositories can grow quickly, establish cleanup and archival policies.
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Malware Risk: Artifacts may be tampered with by integrating malware and vulnerability scanning.
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License Tracking: Link artifacts to dependency and license metadata for compliance visibility.
- Replication and High Availability: Critical in global or distributed engineering environments.
