Browsing Artifacts

In JFrog Artifactory, you can use the Artifacts page to find and view information about folders, repositories, and artifacts. There are three browsing experiences for finding artifacts: the repository tree, the native browser, and WebDAV.

To learn more about browsing artifacts in Artifactory, see the following information:

Repository Tree

The repository tree displays the full repository hierarchy and information about each level. For any repository, folder, or artifact you select, you can see item details in the pane next to the repository tree and perform different management actions. The details and tabs available are context-sensitive and depend on the selected item.

You can apply filters to get a reduced, specific view of repositories, folders, and artifacts in the repository tree. For more information, see Apply Artifact Filters.

repository_tree.png

Tip

You can configure a repository to allow viewing the content of HTML, Javadoc, JSON, and other files directly from the file URL in the repository tree. For more information, see Advanced Settings for Local Repositories.

Repository Sort Order

The default sort order for repositories in the repository tree is: virtual, local, remote, cached.

You can modify this order through the artifactory.treebrowser.sortRepositories.sortByType system property. For example, to reverse the sort order, the property would be set as follows:

artifactory.treebrowser.sortRepositories.sortByType=cached,remote,local,virtual

If you omit any repository type in the specified sort order, it will be ordered according to the default setting.

Apply Artifact Filters

You can use filters to reduce the number of items that appear in the repository tree and easily find relevant artifacts.

To apply filters:

  1. In the Platform module, navigate to Artifactory > Artifacts. The repository tree appears.

  2. In the Repository Name field, enter the name of the repository you want to search.

  3. Apply any of the following filters:

    • Package Types: Select the type of package you want to find.
    • Repository Types: Select the type of repository you want to search.
    • My Favorites: Click the My Favorites button to view only items you have favorites.
    • Sort By: Choose to sort the repositories alphabetically by Repository Type, Repository Key, or Package Type.

    The results are automatically filtered according to your selections.

  4. Click Clear to clear filters and reset the repository tree view.

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Note

Filters are saved as cookies in your browser.

Add Repository to Favorites

You can mark a repository as a favorite to make it easier to search for the repository and its contents.

To add a repository to Favorites:

  • On the Artifacts page, in the repository tree, do one of the following:

    • Right-click the repository name in the tree and select Add to Favorites.

      save as favourites.png
    • Select the repository and in the artifact information, click Add to Favorites.

      add_to_fave_details.png

    Repositories now appear in the My Favorites list.

Use the Native Browser

The native browser is a highly responsive, read-only view where you can browse the contents of a repository outside of the Artifactory UI. The native browser is similar to a directory listing provided by HTTP servers.

native_browser.png

To use the Native Browser:

  1. On the Platform module, navigate to Artifactory > Artifacts. The repository tree and item details appear.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • In the repository tree, right-click an item and select Native Browser.

      repo_tree_native.png

    • In the repository tree, select an item. In the item details, open the actions menu and select Native Browser.

      item_details_native.png

    The selected item opens in the native browser.

  3. Use the links in the native browser to navigate through the repository and view item information.

Tip

If you have Artifact Content Browsing enabled, you can view the contents of HTML, Javadoc, JSON, and other files directly in the native browser by clicking the filename. For more information, see Advanced Settings for Local Repositories.

Public Repository Views

You can create a public repository view with the native browser by mounting the repository on a well-known path prefix. This allows system administrators to create a virtual host that exposes the native browser to public users while maintaining write and other advanced privileges. The public repository view also limits access to the intensive UI and REST API features to internal use only.

The public repository view URL follows this structure:

https://<ADDRESS>/artifactory/<PREFIX>/<REPO>

Where:

  • <ADDRESS>: The Artifactory server address, either a URL like company.jfrog.io or a <HOST>:<PORT> pair.
  • <PREFIX>: The path prefix
  • <REPO>: The name of the repository you want to make public

For example:

https://localhost:8082/artifactory/npm/npm-local

Remote Browsing

For a Smart Remote Repository, you can navigate the contents of the repository on the remote Artifactory instance even if the artifacts are not cached locally.

Remote browsing is enabled with the List Remote Folder Items checkbox in the remote repository configuration. For more information, see Configure a Smart Remote Repository.

ListItemNotCached.jpg
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Note

Initial remote browsing might be slow, especially when browsing a virtual repository containing multiple remote repositories. However, browsing speeds up since remote content is cached for browsing according to the Retrieval Cache Period defined in the remote repository configuration panel.

Artifact Information

You can view artifact information and metadata next to the repository tree. Depending on the artifact you selected, one or more tabs appear and display information associated with the selected item. The following table includes some of the most common artifact information tabs.

Tab

Description

Diagram

General

General information including Info, Dependency Declaration, Virtual Repository Associations, Checksums, and other sections.

If Artifact Content Browsing is enabled for the repository, you can click the file URL to view the content of HTML, Javadoc, JSON, and other files. For more information, see Advanced Settings for Local Repositories.

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Important

In certain cases (particularly when working with large artifacts), the Created timestamp might be later than the Last Modified timestamp. This can occur because the Last Modified timestamp records when the upload began, whereas the Created timestamp is set only when the upload is complete and committed to the database.

Effective Permissions

Lists users, groups, or permission targets on the artifact level. For more information, see Permissions.

Xray

Displays the status of the most recent scan, a summary of any security issues encountered and their severity, and the contents of the artifact's SBOM (software bill of materials).

If there item has violations that block downloading, you can click Ignore Violation on the item you want to ignore.

Evidence

Displays a list of evidence files associated with the selected item. For more information, see View the Artifact Evidence Table.

Properties

Displays the list of properties annotating the selected item.

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Note

You can define the collections of properties called 'Property Sets' in the user interface. In each property set you can define properties and for each property specify whether the property is open, single-value or multi-value. For more information, see Property Sets.

Followers

Displays the list of followers using this item.

The Followers feature allows you to monitor selected artifacts, folders, or repositories for storage events (create, delete, or modify) and receive detailed email notifications on repository changes that are of interest to you.

Followers or folders intercept changes on all children. An admin or users with the Manage permission can view and manage followers via the Followers tab.

Follow notifications are aggregated at around 1-minute intervals and sent in a single email message.

All notifications respect the read permissions of the watcher on the followed item(s).

Builds

Displays the list of builds that either produce or use the selected item.

Manage Items in Trash Can

When enabled, the Trash Can appears at the bottom of the repository tree. The Trash Can holds all artifacts or repository paths that have been deleted from local repositories. An administrator or user with Manage permissions can enable the Trash Can and configure its retention period. For more information, see Trash Can Settings.

The following actions are available on the Trash Can:

Search Trash Can

You can search the contents of the Trash Can to find deleted items.

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Note

The contents of the Trash Can are filtered based on user permissions. This means that you can only view and manage Trash Can items that you have permissions for.

To search the contents of the Trash Can:

  1. On the Artifacts page, in the repository tree, right-click Trash Can and select Search Trash Can. The Application Search at the top of the page populates with a searchType:Trash operator.

    application_search_trash.png

  2. Enter a search term.

  3. Press Enter or click Search.

Empty Trash Can

Emptying the Trash Can permanently deletes all items currently in the Trash Can.

To empty the Trash Can:

  1. On the Artifacts page, in the repository tree, right-click Trash Can and select Empty Trash Can. A confirmation message appears.
  2. Click Confirm.

Refresh Trash Can

If you want to manually update the Trash Can to get an updated view of of its contents, you can refresh the Trash Can.

To refresh the Trash Can:

  • On the Artifacts page, in the repository tree, right-click Trash Can and select Refresh. The tree view and list of contents refreshes with the latest information.

Restore Deleted Items

If you accidentally deleted items from a local repository, you can restore them from the Trash Can within the specified retention period.

To restore items from the Trash Can:

  1. On the Artifacts page, in the repository tree, click Trash Can to expand it and view the contents.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • Right-click the item you want to restore and select Restore.

      trash_Restore_Tree.png

    • Select the item you want to restore. From the action menu in the artifact information, select Restore.

      item_Details_restore.png

    The Restore window appears.

  3. Set any of the following options for the restoration:

    • Target Repository: Select the repository where you want to restore the item.
    • Restore to a Custom Path: Select the checkbox if you want to restore the item to a custom path within the selected repository, then enter the path in the Target Path field.
  4. Click Restore.

Using WebDAV

Artifactory supports WebDAV shares. You can mount a local or cached repository as a secure WebDAV share and make it accessible from any WebDAV-supporting file manager. Access a secure WebDAV-share by referencing the URL of the target repository as follows:

http://<HOST>:<PORT>/artifactory/<REPO_KEY>

File Locking in WebDAV

When deploying a file through WebDAV where file locking is enabled, the Artifactory log may display the following message:

"Received unsupported request method: lock"

In some cases, you can solve this issue by disabling file locking before mounting the repository. This process is done differently for each WebDAV client. For example, for davfs2 file locking is disabled with this command:

echo "use_locks 0" >> /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf
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Note

While for some clients file locking is disabled by default, it may not be possible to disable file locking in all clients.

Authenticate davfs2 Clients

Because davfs2 does not use preemptive authentication, the client must be authenticated using two requests in order to authenticate with user credentials. The first request is sent without credentials and receives a 401 challenge in response. Then, a second request is sent, this time with the credentials.

To access your repository through Artifactory with your full user permissions, you need to add an authorization header to the client configuration. This ensures that all requests sent to Artifactory are preemptively authenticated, eliminating the need for a 401 challenge and response. In this way, you are immediately granted access based on your user credentials instead of being initially treated as an anonymous user.

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Anonymous access with Artifactory

If Artifactory is configured to allow anonymous access, there will be no 401 challenge response. You will be granted file access with anonymous user permissions, which may be less than your own user permissions.

To add an authorization header to the client configuration:

  1. Encode your username and password credentials in base64 using the following Groovy script:

    Basic ${”<USERNAME>:<PASSWORD>".bytes.encodeBase64()}

    Where:

    • <USERNAME>: Your Artifactory username
    • <PASSWORD>: Your Artifactory password

    For example:

    Basic ${”jeffry:Fr0gP4sswOrd!".bytes.encodeBase64()}
  2. Open one of these configuration files in a text editor:

    • /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf
    • ~/.davfs2/davfs2.conf
  3. Add the encoded credentials to the authorization header as follows:

    add_header Authorization “Basic <AUTH>”

    Where <AUTH> is the Base64-encoded username and password. For example:

    add_header Authorization “Basic amVmZnJ5OkZyMGdQNHNzd09yZCE=”

Authentication for Windows and other WebDAV clients

It is recommended to use a tool like as Cyberduck (Open Source) when using Windows with WebDAV shared Artifactory repositories.

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Windows Limitation

Using Windows with WebDAV and Artifactory provides limited functionality. Browsing and listing files is supported, but Artifactory doesn't support some specific WebDAV commands for operations like copy and move.