Configuring Distribution Edges Using the Distribution Edges Add-on

Overview

Self-hosted customers who have an existing JFrog Distribution in place may sometimes require the option of adding additional JFrog Artifactory instances in the cloud.

To enable this type of hybrid setup, JFrog now offers the Distribution Edges Add-on, a commercial offering for On-Prem customers to leverage JFrog SaaS for software distribution. This add-on enables On-Prem customers to add cloud-based Edge nodes managed by JFrog (software-as-a-service) and fully utilize them for content distribution.

WebUI Changes implemented in Artifactory 7.38.x and above

Identity and Access is now called User Management. All the relevant text and images on this page have been updated to reflect this change.

About Distribution Edges

Distribution Edges are read-only Artifactory repositories that provide fast, low latency, local consumption points for distributed content for public or authenticated downloads. Distribution Edges provide secure, governed distribution, with full role-based access control, configurable download restrictions, and audit trail.

Distribution Edges are used as part of a flexible, hybrid software distribution infrastructure that can be deployed on any environment (self hosted) or consumed as a managed SaaS instance on public clouds (multicloud). SaaS edges allow for multi-tenant distribution and for improved management costs and overhead.

With Distribution Edges, self-hosted customers can now consume cloud Distribution Edges, and distribute from any source JPD to any Edge, including from self-hosted to SaaS.

Adding Distribution Edges requires minimal configuration. The steps required are described below (you will need to make sure the prerequisites below are also in place).

Important

The Distribution Edges Add-on is available only to Enterprise+ subscriptions.

Currently the Access Federation feature cannot be enabled for the Distribution Edges Add-on.

Prerequisites

You will need to make sure the following prerequisites are in place.

Purchase Distribution Edges Add-on

To use the Distribution Edges add-on, you will need to purchase the add-on through your JFrog salesperson. You will receive a confirmation email of your purchase with a link, which will bring you to the webpage where you will create the Distribution Edges by selecting your edge locations/details and submitting the form (you will need to enter your email address for validation).

Setting up the JFrog Distribution Edges add-on requires you to have successfully launched at least one Cloud Edge node.

You will need to create at least one edge; however, the minimum purchase for a Distribution Edges setup is for two edges. You will be able to set up the rest of your edges later using MyJFrog Portal.

Set Permissions

You will need to verify that you have the proper permissions in place. See Permissions.

JFrog Subscription Levels

SELF-HOSTED

_ENTERPRISE+

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Getting Started

To get started, you will need to activate your JFrog Distribution Edges add-on and to set up your Distribution Edges by following these steps.

Step 1: Register the Distribution Edges

First, you will need to register each Distribution Edge in JFrog Mission Control. This is done by replacing the join.key-based method with a scoped token of type pairing token using the Access Tokens tab, on the Distribution Edge.

Setting up Pairing Tokens

In the Distribution Edge, go to the Administration tab, and then go to User Management | Access Tokens | Pairing Token.
In the Generate Pairing Token for field, select Mission Control.
Click Generate to generate the token.
This displays the token window, which includes the token's expiration (in seconds, set by default to 300 seconds = 5 minutes), the token ID, and the actual token.
Copy the pairing token you generated by clicking Copy, then paste the token in a clipboard.
You will need to access this token in the steps below.
Alternatively you can generate a scoped pairing token using the Create Pairing Token API.

The result of a pairing is the master token, which is an access token that grants the requesting service all the actions it is required to do on the issuing service, based on the given use case. The master token is usually a strong access token that can be used for several operations and is usually a long-lived token. An admin user can revoke trust by revoking this token.

Step 2: Set the GPG Keys in the Distribution Edges

From version 2.8.1, Distribution supports managing multiple pairs of GPG signing to sign Release Bundles using a set of REST APIs. You will need to get the public GPG key from Distribution via the Distribution REST API GPG Signing Keys.

If you have existing GPG keys, simply propagate the keys instead of uploading new ones. See Upload and Propagate GPG Signing Keys for Distribution.

Next Steps

Once you have completed these steps, you will receive an email that your JFrog Distribution Edges are ready. You will now be able to view the latest status updates and your complete topology in the MyJFrog Portal.

If you have additional Distribution Edges that you purchased but have not yet set up, follow the instructions in Manage Your Cloud Topology to set up these Edges.

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