how do I get sbt to use a local maven proxy repository (Nexus)?

I've got an sbt (Scala) project that currently pulls artifacts from the web. We'd like to move towards a corporate-standardized Nexus repository that would cache artifacts. From the Nexus documentation, I understand how to do that for Maven projects. But sbt obviously uses a different approach. (I understand Ivy is involved somehow, but I've never used it and don't understand how it works.)

How do I tell sbt and/or the underlying Ivy to use the corporate Nexus repository system for all dependencies? I'd like the answer to use some sort of project-level configuration file, so that new clones of our source repository will automatically use the proxy. (I.e., mucking about with per-user config files in a dot-directory is not viable.)

Thanks!

Step 1: Follow the instructions at Detailed Topics: Proxy Repositories, which I have summarised and added to below:

1. (If you are using Artifactory, you can skip this step.) Create an entirely separate Maven proxy repository (or group) on your corporate Maven repository, to proxy ivy-style repositories such as these two important ones:

• http://repo.typesafe.com/typesafe/ivy-releases/
• http://repo.scala-sbt.org/scalasbt/sbt-plugin-releases/

This is needed because some repository managers cannot handle Ivy-style and Maven-style repositories being mixed together. 2. Create a file repositories, listing both your main corporate repository and any extra one that you created in step 1, in the format shown below:

    [repositories]
      my-maven-proxy-releases: http://repo.example.com/maven-releases/
      my-ivy-proxy-releases: http://repo.example.com/ivy-releases/, [organization]/[module]/(scala_[scalaVersion]/)(sbt_[sbtVersion]/)[revision]/[type]s/[artifact](-[classifier]).[ext]

3. Either save that file in the .sbt directory inside your home directory, or specify it on the sbt command line:

    sbt -Dsbt.repository.config=<path-to-your-repo-file>

Good news for those using older versions of sbt: Even though, in the sbt 0.12.0 launcher jar at least, the boot properties files for older sbt versions don't contain the required line (the one that mentions repository.config), it will still work for those versions of sbt if you edit those files to add the required line, and repackage them into the sbt 0.12.0 launcher jar! This is because the feature is implemented in the launcher, not in sbt itself. And the sbt 0.12.0 launcher is claimed to be able to launch all versions of sbt, right back to 0.7!

Step 2: To make sure external repositories are not being used, remove the default repositories from your resolvers. This can be done in one of two ways:

1. Add the command line option -Dsbt.override.build.repos=true mentioned on the Detailed Topics page above. This will cause the repositories you specified in the file to override any repositories specified in any of your sbt files. This might only work in sbt 0.12 and above, though - I haven't tried it yet.
2. Use fullResolvers := Seq( resolver(s) for your corporate maven repositories ) in your build files, instead of resolvers ++= or resolvers := or whatever you used to use.

OK, with some help from Mark Harrah on the sbt mailing list, I have an answer that works.

My build class now looks like the following (plus some other repos):

import sbt._

//By extending DefaultWebProject, we get Jetty support
class OurApplication(info: ProjectInfo) extends DefaultWebProject(info) {
  
  // This skips adding the default repositories and only uses the ones you added
  // explicitly. --Mark Harrah
  override def repositories = Set("OurNexus" at "http://our.nexus.server:9001/nexus/content/groups/public/") 
  override def ivyRepositories = Seq(Resolver.defaultLocal(None)) ++ repositories
    
  /* Squeryl */
  val squeryl = "org.squeryl" % "squeryl_2.8.0.RC3" % "0.9.4beta5"
  
  /* DATE4J */
  val date4j = "hirondelle.date4j" % "date4j" % "1.0" from "http://www.date4j.net/date4j.jar"

  // etc
}

Now, if I delete the Squeryl tree from my machine's .ivy2/cache directory, sbt tries to grab it from the Nexus tree with the appropriate URL. Problem solved!

All you need is to define a property file sbt.boot.properties which will allow you to:

• redefine the ivy cache location (I need that because it would be otherwise part of our roaming Windows profile, which is severely limited in disk space in our shop. See Issue 74)
• define any other Maven repo you want

C:\HOMEWARE\apps\sbt-0.74\sbt.boot.properties

[scala]
  version: 2.7.7
#  classifiers: sources, javadoc

[app]
  org: org.scala-tools.sbt
  name: sbt
  version: read(sbt.version)
  class: sbt.xMain
  components: xsbti
  cross-versioned: true
  classifiers: sources, javadoc

[repositories]
  local
  my-nexus: http://my.nexus/nexus/content/repositories/scala-tools/, [organization]/[module]/[revision]/[type]s/[artifact](-[classifier]).[ext]
  maven-local
#  sbt-db: http://databinder.net/repo/, [organization]/[module]/[revision]/[type]s/[artifact](-[classifier]).[ext]
#  maven-central
#  scala-tools-releases
#  scala-tools-snapshots

[boot]
 directory: project/boot
 properties: project/build.properties
 prompt-create: Project does not exist, create new project?
 prompt-fill: true
 quick-option: true

[log]
 level: debug

[app-properties]
 project.name: quick=set(test), new=prompt(Name)[p], fill=prompt(Name)
 project.organization: new=prompt(Organization)[org.vonc]
 project.version: quick=set(1.0), new=prompt(Version)[1.0], fill=prompt(Version)[1.0]
 build.scala.versions: quick=set(2.8.0.RC2), new=prompt(Scala version)[2.8.0.RC2], fill=prompt(Scala version)[2.8.0.RC2]
 sbt.version: quick=set(0.7.4), new=prompt(sbt version)[0.7.4], fill=prompt(sbt version)[0.7.4]
 project.scratch: quick=set(true)
 project.initialize: quick=set(true), new=set(true)

[ivy]
 cache-directory: C:\HOMEWARE\projects\.ivy2\cache

Note: this sbt.boot.properties file is inspired from:

• the one mentioned in the "Generalized Launcher" page of the sbt project.
• the one found within sbt-0.74 itself!

I have commented any external Maven repository definition, and added a reference to my own Nexus Maven repo.

> The launcher may be configured in one of the following ways in increasing order of precedence:

> - Replace the /sbt/sbt.boot.properties file in the jar.

• Put a configuration file named sbt.boot.properties on the classpath. Put it in the classpath root without the /sbt prefix.
• Specify the location of an alternate configuration on the command line. This can be done by:
  • either specifying the location as the system property sbt.boot.properties
  • or as the first argument to the launcher prefixed by '@'.

> The system property has lower precedence.
Resolution of a relative path is:

>- first attempted against the current working directory,

• then against the user's home directory,
• and then against the directory containing the launcher jar.

> An error is generated if none of these attempts succeed.

---

Define a sbt.bat wrapper (in order to be sure to specify your sbt.boot.properties) like:

C:\HOMEWARE>more C:\HOMEWARE\bin\sbt.BAT
@echo off
set t=%~dp0
set adp0=%t:C:\="%"

set SBT_DIR=%adp0%..\apps\sbt-0.74
dir C:\%SBT_DIR%\sbt-launch-0.7.4.jar
# if needed, add your proxy settings
set PROXY_OPTIONS=-Dhttp.proxyHost=my.proxy -Dhttp.proxyPort=80xx -Dhttp.proxyUser=auser -Dhttp.proxyPassword=yyyy
set JAVA_OPTIONS=-XX:+CMSClassUnloadingEnabled -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Xmx512M -cp C:\HOMEWARE\apps\sbt-0.74\sbt-launch-0.7.4
set SBT_BOOT_PROPERTIES=-Dsbt.boot.properties="sbt.boot.properties"
cmd /C C:\HOMEWARE\apps\jdk4eclipse\bin\java.exe %PROXY_OPTIONS% %JAVA_OPTIONS% %SBT_BOOT_PROPERTIES% -jar C:\HOMEWARE\apps\sbt-0.74\sbt-launch-0.7.4.jar %*

And your sbt will download artifacts only from:

• your Nexus
• your local Maven repo.

---

Just tested at home with an old Nexus opensource 1.6 I had running, java 1.6, sbt07.4

C:\Prog\Java\jdk1.6.0_18\jre\bin\java  -Xmx512M -Dsbt.boot.properties=sbt.boot.properties - jar "c:\Prog\Scala\sbt\sbt-launch-0.7.4.jar"  

That gives:

[success] Build completed successfully.
C:\Prog\Scala\tests\pp>sbt
Getting Scala 2.8.0 ...
downloading http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala/org/scala-lang/scala-compiler/2.8.0/scala-compiler-2.
8.0.jar ...
        [SUCCESSFUL ] org.scala-lang#scala-compiler;2.8.0!scala-compiler.jar (311ms)
downloading http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala/org/scala-lang/scala-library/2.8.0/scala-library-2.8.
0.jar ...
        [SUCCESSFUL ] org.scala-lang#scala-library;2.8.0!scala-library.jar (185ms)
:: retrieving :: org.scala-tools.sbt#boot-scala
        confs: [default]
        2 artifacts copied, 0 already retrieved (14484kB/167ms)
[info] Building project test 0.1 against Scala 2.8.0
[info]    using sbt.DefaultProject with sbt 0.7.4 and Scala 2.7.7

If I try a funny value in the sbt.boot.properties file:

C:\Prog\Scala\tests\pp>sbt
Getting Scala 2.9.7 ...

:: problems summary ::
:::: WARNINGS
                module not found: org.scala-lang#scala-compiler;2.9.7
        ==== nexus: tried
          http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala/org/scala-lang/scala-compiler/2.9.7/scala-compiler-2.9.7.pom
          -- artifact org.scala-lang#scala-compiler;2.9.7!scala-compiler.jar:
          http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala/org/scala-lang/scala-compiler/2.9.7/scala-compiler-2.9.7.jar

So it does limit itself to the two repo I defined:

[repositories]
nexus:  http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala
nexus2: http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/repositories/scala, [organization]/[module]/[revision]/[type]s/[artifact](-[classifier]).[ext]

(I commented everything else: local, maven-local, ...)

If I comment all repositories and put a funny value (2.7.9) for the scala version in the sbt.boot.properties, I do get (like the OP did)

C:\Prog\Scala\tests\pp>sbt
Error during sbt execution: No repositories defined.

If I put 2.7.7 (while still having all repo commented), yes, it won't generate an error:

C:\Prog\Scala\tests\pp>sbt
[info] Building project test 0.1 against Scala 2.8.0
[info]    using sbt.DefaultProject with sbt 0.7.4 and Scala 2.7.7

But that's only because it already had downloaded scala2.8.0 during my previous tries.
If I remove that library from my project/boot directory, then it will throw an Exception:

[info]    using sbt.DefaultProject with sbt 0.7.4 and Scala 2.7.7
> C:\Prog\Scala\tests\pp>sbt
Error during sbt execution: No repositories defined.
        at xsbt.boot.Pre$.error(Pre.scala:18)
        at xsbt.boot.Update.addResolvers(Update.scala:197)
...
        at xsbt.boot.Boot$.main(Boot.scala:15)
        at xsbt.boot.Boot.main(Boot.scala)
Error loading project: Error during sbt execution: No repositories defined.

edit the config file in sbt_home/conf "sbtconfig.txt"

add two line

-Dsbt.override.build.repos=true
-Dsbt.repository.config="C:/Program Files (x86)/sbt/conf/repo.properties"

the repo.properties content is

[repositories]
	local
	public: http://222.vvfox.com/public  <-fix this ,write your local nexus group url

Well this has bugged me for a while so I found a guy that has written an SBT plugin for maven out on github called maven-sbt so all you have to do is include it in your plugins project and make your project mixin with maven.MavenDependencies and all your operations like update and publish-local work with your local maven. The nice thing about that is if you are like me, your org is all maven. So, all you libs are in you local maven repo but if for some reason you build with sbt first, then you start getting a bunch or jars in ivy too. What a waste of space, and time since you will still need to get them for your maven builds.

That said, I wish this were built into sbt so I would not need to add it to every project. Maybe as a processor at least. He mentioned in one thing I read that he would like to add it to 0.9 but I have not been able to find it.

I got this error because I had a blank file in ~/.sbt/repositories. Both adding repositories to the file and removing the file solved the problem.