Overview

The Artifacts module in Artifactory displays the Artifact Repository Browser that provides two ways to browse through repositories:

  • Tree Browser: Displays the repository as a tree
  • Simple Browser: Focuses on the currently selected item and displays the level below it in the repository hierarchy as a flat list

Both browsers adhere to the security rules defined in the system, and only allow you to perform actions authorized by the system security policies.

To switch between browsing modes, simply select the corresponding link at the top of the Artifact Repository Browser.

Tree and simple browser


Both the Tree Browser and Simple Browser have features to help you navigate them and search for repositories:

  • Repository type icon: Each repository is displayed with a distinct icon that represents its type (local, cache, remote and virtual).
  • Search in the browser: You can search for a specific repository in both browsers by clicking on the filter icon.
  • Keyboard navigation: While in the browser, type the name of the repository you are searching for and Artifactory will navigate you to that repository.
  • Filters: Click the filter icon to filter the repositories displayed in the browser to only display the types that interest you. You can also simply type the filter expression while on the browser.

 

Tree Browsing

The Tree Browser lets you drill down through the repository hierarchy and displays full information for each level within it. For any repository, folder or artifact selected in the tree, a tabbed panel displays detailed data views and a variety of actions that can be performed on the selected item. The information tabs available are context sensitive and depend on the item selected. For example, if you select an npm package, an Npm Info tab displays information specific to Npm packages. Similarly for NuGet, RubyGems and any other supported package formats.

Click on the "Tree" link at the top of the tree browser to collapse all open nodes in the tree. 

Sorting the Tree Browser

The default order in which repositories appear in the Tree Browser is: Distribution, Local, Remote, Virtual.

You can modify this order through the artifactory.treebrowser.sortRepositories.sortByType system property.

For example, to reverse the order, you would set:

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

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

Tree browser



Simple Browsing

The simple browser lets you browse repositories using simple path-driven URLs, which are the same URLs used by build tools such as Maven. It provides lightweight, view-only browsing.

A unique feature of this browsing mode is that you can also view remote repositories (when enabled for the repository), and virtual repositories to see the true location of each folder and artifact

Simple browser

Filters

You can apply a filter to both the Tree Browser and the Simple Browser, either by clicking the search icon, or just typing out the filter expression while on the browser.

By repository name: To filter by repository name, just type the name you want to filter by

By package type: To only display repositories for a particular package type, type pkg:<package type>. For example, typing pkg:docker will filter out any repositories that are not Docker repositories

By repository type: To only display particular repository types, type repo:<repository type>. For example, typing repo:local will filter out any repositories that are not local repositories. The options are local, cached, remote and virtual.

Filter

Sorting, Filtering and Adding Favorite Repositories

You can view only the repositories you need by customizing the Artifact Repository Browser with your favorite repositories, and applying sort and filter options. Use as many different favorite, sort and filter combinations to narrow down the Artifact tree to display exactly what you need. Note that your filters and favourites are saved as cookies in your browser cache.

To tag a repository as a favourite :
Select the repository in the left pane, right-click and select Add to Favorites.


To view the list of favorite repositories, click the Favorites icon.

Information Tabs

Selecting any item in the Tree or Simple browser displays tabs which provide information regarding the metadata associated with the selected item:

General

Info: General Information including download statistics such as the total number of downloads, time stamp of last download and the last user who downloaded.

Dependency Declaration: For Maven artifacts, this section provides code snippets for common build tools' dependency declaration

Virtual Repository Associations: Indicates which virtual repositories "contain" the selected artifact.

Checksums displays SHA1, SHA-256 and MD5 checksums automatically.

Effective Permissions

The permissions (Delete/Overwrite, Deploy/Cache, Annotate, Read) that each user or group regarding the selected item. Permissions for groups are as specifically assigned to them. Permissions for individual users are the union of permissions specifically assigned as well as those inherited by virtue of the user being included in groups.

Xray

This tab is available from version 5.10 and indicates if, and when the last time the selected artifact was indexed by JFrog Xray, as well as the Top Severity for any vulnerabilities detected. Note that if the selected artifact is blocked for download (whether because Xray is unavailable, or due to a policy specified on a Watch in Xray), the tab is marked with a red dot and displays in informational note. The 'More details in Xray' link opens the specific artifact in Xray to view more details.

To override download blocking for the artifact, you may click on the Allow download link.

Xray Information Tab

Properties
The list of properties annotating the selected item.
Watchers
The list of users watching this item.
Builds
The list of builds that either produce or use the selected item.
Governance
Information on the selected item retrieved from Black Duck Code Center.
Xml/Pom View
XML and POM files also display a tab through which you can view the file contents.

Information Tabs


List Browsing

List Browsing lets you browse the contents of a repository outside of the Artifactory UI. It provides a highly responsive, read-only view and is similar to a directory listing provided by HTTP servers.

To use List Browsing, click the icon to the right of a repository name in the Simple Browser (indicated in red in the screenshot above).

List browsing can be used to provide public views of a repository by mounting it on a well-known path prefix such as list (see example below).

This allows the system administrator to create a virtual host that only exposes Artifactory's List Browsing feature to public users (while maintaining write and other advanced privileges), but limiting access to the intensive UI and REST API features for internal use only.

http://host:port/artifactory/list/repo-path

List browser

Remote Browsing

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

To enable remote browsing, you need to set the List Remote Folder Items checkbox in the remote repository configuration. Once this is set you can navigate that repository using the Simple or List Browser. 

In the Simple Browser, an item that is not cached is indicated by an icon on its right when you hover over the item. In the List Browser, an item that is not cached is indicated by an arrow.

Simple Browser

Item that is not cached

List Browser

List browser item not cached



Initial remote browsing may 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.

Trash Can

Artifactory provides a trash can as an easy way to recover items that have been inadvertently deleted from local repositories.

The trash can can be enabled or disabled in the Trash Can Settings by an Artifactory administrator. 

When enabled, the trash can is displayed at the bottom of the Artifact Repository Browser and it holds all artifacts or repository paths that have been deleted from local repositories for the period of time specified in the Retention Period field.

Trash can in browser

Right-click on an item in the trash can gives you the option to Refresh, Restore it to its original location, or Delete permanently.

Right-click on the trash can icon gives you the option to Refresh the whole trash can, Search Trash for specific items, or Empty Trash which means that all items in the trash can will be permanently deleted.

Click the pin icon to pin the trash can so it remains visible even if you scroll the tree.

WebDAV Browsing

Artifactory fully supports browsing with WebDAV. For full details please refer to Using WebDAV.