Installation Method Selection

Compare Platform methods (Helm, Ansible) vs individual product installers. Helm and Ansible are recommended for production.

Compare deploying the full JFrog Platform (Helm or Ansible) with installing individual products and choose the right installation method.

When To Use This Page

Use this page when comparing installation approaches before committing to an implementation.

flowchart TD
    subgraph flow["Installation Method Selection"]
        A[Decision Maker] -->|Platform or Individual Products| B{Starting fresh or<br />existing deployment?}
        B -->|New| C[Full Platform<br />Helm or Ansible]
        B -->|Existing| D{Migrate to Platform?}
        D -->|Yes| C
        D -->|No| E[Continue Individual<br />Products]
    end

⚠️
Use a Platform Method for All New Deployments
Use a Platform method (Helm or Ansible) for all new deployments, even if you only need one product today. You can enable just Artifactory and add Xray, Distribution, or others later with no reinstallation required.

Platform vs Individual Products

	Full Platform	Individual Products
Install method	Single Helm chart or Ansible playbook	Separate installer per product
Products included	All: enable what you need	One at a time
Management	Unified UI and configuration	Separate per product
Integration	Native (Artifactory + Xray share data automatically)	Manual setup
Upgrades	Coordinated across products	Individual per product
Add products later	Toggle in config, no reinstall	Separate installation
Best for	All deployments	Existing standalone setups, specific constraints

Platform Methods (Recommended)

Deploy the JFrog Platform from a single installation flow with unified configuration and coordinated upgrades.

	Helm chart	Ansible
Infrastructure	Kubernetes (OpenShift as well)	VMs and bare-metal
Products	All (Artifactory, Xray, Distribution, Catalog, Workers, Bridge Client, AppTrust, JAS)	Core (Artifactory, Xray, Distribution)
Production ready	Yes	Yes
HA support	Built-in (replicaCount, HPA)	Built-in (serial mode)
Scaling	HPA / replicas	Manual
Automation	Helm	Ansible playbooks
Secrets management	Kubernetes Secrets, Vault, IRSA	Ansible Vault
Best for	Kubernetes (including OpenShift) environments	VM-based / bare-metal environments

Platform Installation with Helm Charts

Recommended. Deploy all JFrog products on Kubernetes (including OpenShift) from a single chart. Supports HA, auto-scaling, and GitOps

Platform Installation with Ansible

Deploy all core JFrog products on VMs and bare-metal with automated roles for Artifactory, Xray, Distribution, and PostgreSQL

Individual Product Methods

Deploy JFrog products separately, with one installer and configuration per product. Use this approach only when:

You have an existing standalone deployment and are not ready to migrate.
You have a specific constraint (for example, regulatory or tooling) that prevents using a platform method.

	Docker / Docker Compose	RPM / Debian Packages	Linux Archive	Windows
Infrastructure	Docker hosts	RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian	Any Linux	Windows Server
Products	Per product (separate containers)	Per product (separate packages)	Per product	Artifactory only
Production ready	Limited	Yes	Yes	Limited
HA support	Limited	Manual	Manual	No
Scaling	Manual	Manual	Manual	Manual
Best for	Existing Docker setups, dev environments	Existing Linux server setups	Minimal dependency installs	Windows-only environments

Supported Installation Methods by Product

Product	Helm (Kubernetes)	Ansible (VM/Bare-metal)	Docker / Docker Compose	RPM	Debian	Linux Archive	Windows Archive
Artifactory	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported
Xray	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
Distribution	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
Catalog	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
JAS	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
Workers	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported
Bridge Client	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
AppTrust	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported
MCP	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported	❌ Not supported

Individual JFrog Products Installation

Docker, Docker Compose, RPM, Debian, Linux Archive, and Windows installers: one product at a time

When To Use This Page

Platform vs Individual Products

Platform Methods (Recommended)

Individual Product Methods

Supported Installation Methods by Product

Related Topics