How to Use CloudRepo with GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions has become the default CI/CD platform for millions of developers. If your code lives on GitHub, running builds, tests, and deployments directly in Actions eliminates the need for external CI services.

But here’s the problem: your builds need to pull dependencies and push artifacts somewhere. Using public registries works for open source, but private projects need private artifact repositories. And if you’ve priced out JFrog Artifactory or Sonatype Nexus for this, you’ve seen how quickly costs escalate when CI/CD pipelines download artifacts hundreds of times per day.

This guide shows you how to integrate CloudRepo with GitHub Actions for Maven, Gradle, and Python builds. You’ll get working examples you can copy into your workflows today.

Why CloudRepo for GitHub Actions

Before diving into configuration, here’s why CloudRepo works well with GitHub Actions:

No egress fees. Every time your workflow runs mvn install or pip install, it downloads artifacts. With consumption-based pricing (like Artifactory), each download costs money. CloudRepo includes unmetered data transfer on all plans. Run 1,000 builds a day if you need to.

Simple authentication. CloudRepo uses standard HTTP basic auth. No special plugins, no complex token management. GitHub Actions secrets work perfectly.

Reliable uptime. Your CI/CD pipeline is only as reliable as its dependencies. CloudRepo’s infrastructure is designed for high availability, so your builds don’t fail because your artifact repository is down.

Prerequisites

Before configuring your workflows, you’ll need:

• A GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• A CloudRepo account with at least one repository created
• Your CloudRepo credentials (username and API token or password)

Setting Up GitHub Secrets

Store your CloudRepo credentials as GitHub secrets. Never hardcode credentials in workflow files.

1. Go to your GitHub repository
2. Navigate to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
3. Add these secrets:
   • CLOUDREPO_USERNAME: Your CloudRepo username
   • CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD: Your CloudRepo password or API token

These secrets will be available as environment variables in your workflows.

Maven Builds with GitHub Actions

Maven is the most common use case. Here’s a complete workflow that builds a Java project, runs tests, and deploys artifacts to CloudRepo.

Workflow Configuration

Create .github/workflows/maven-build.yml:

name: Maven Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up JDK 21
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          java-version: '21'
          distribution: 'temurin'
          cache: maven

      - name: Build and test
        run: mvn -B verify

      - name: Deploy to CloudRepo
        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
        env:
          CLOUDREPO_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME }}
          CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD }}
        run: |
          mvn -B deploy -s .github/settings.xml

Maven Settings File

Create .github/settings.xml in your repository:

<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0
                              https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
  <servers>
    <server>
      <id>cloudrepo-releases</id>
      <username>${env.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME}</username>
      <password>${env.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD}</password>
    </server>
    <server>
      <id>cloudrepo-snapshots</id>
      <username>${env.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME}</username>
      <password>${env.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD}</password>
    </server>
  </servers>
</settings>

POM Configuration

Add distribution management to your pom.xml:

<distributionManagement>
  <repository>
    <id>cloudrepo-releases</id>
    <url>https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-releases</url>
  </repository>
  <snapshotRepository>
    <id>cloudrepo-snapshots</id>
    <url>https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-snapshots</url>
  </snapshotRepository>
</distributionManagement>

Replace your-org with your CloudRepo organization name.

Gradle Builds with GitHub Actions

Gradle configuration follows a similar pattern but uses Gradle’s publishing plugin.

Workflow Configuration

Create .github/workflows/gradle-build.yml:

name: Gradle Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up JDK 21
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          java-version: '21'
          distribution: 'temurin'
          cache: gradle

      - name: Grant execute permission for gradlew
        run: chmod +x gradlew

      - name: Build and test
        run: ./gradlew build

      - name: Publish to CloudRepo
        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
        env:
          CLOUDREPO_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME }}
          CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD }}
        run: ./gradlew publish

Gradle Build Configuration

Add publishing configuration to your build.gradle.kts:

plugins {
    `maven-publish`
}

publishing {
    publications {
        create<MavenPublication>("mavenJava") {
            from(components["java"])
        }
    }
    repositories {
        maven {
            name = "cloudrepo"
            url = uri(
                if (version.toString().endsWith("SNAPSHOT"))
                    "https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-snapshots"
                else
                    "https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-releases"
            )
            credentials {
                username = System.getenv("CLOUDREPO_USERNAME")
                password = System.getenv("CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD")
            }
        }
    }
}

Or if you’re using Groovy DSL (build.gradle):

plugins {
    id 'maven-publish'
}

publishing {
    publications {
        mavenJava(MavenPublication) {
            from components.java
        }
    }
    repositories {
        maven {
            name = 'cloudrepo'
            url = version.endsWith('SNAPSHOT')
                ? 'https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-snapshots'
                : 'https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/maven-releases'
            credentials {
                username = System.getenv('CLOUDREPO_USERNAME')
                password = System.getenv('CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD')
            }
        }
    }
}

Python/Poetry Builds with GitHub Actions

CloudRepo also hosts Python packages. Here’s how to configure Poetry to publish to your private PyPI repository.

Workflow Configuration

Create .github/workflows/python-build.yml:

name: Python Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    tags:
      - 'v*'
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'

      - name: Install Poetry
        uses: snok/install-poetry@v1
        with:
          version: 1.8.0
          virtualenvs-create: true
          virtualenvs-in-project: true

      - name: Load cached venv
        id: cached-poetry-dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: .venv
          key: venv-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/poetry.lock') }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        if: steps.cached-poetry-dependencies.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: poetry install --no-interaction --no-root

      - name: Install project
        run: poetry install --no-interaction

      - name: Run tests
        run: poetry run pytest

      - name: Build package
        run: poetry build

      - name: Publish to CloudRepo
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
        env:
          CLOUDREPO_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME }}
          CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD }}
        run: |
          poetry config repositories.cloudrepo https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/python-releases/
          poetry config http-basic.cloudrepo $CLOUDREPO_USERNAME $CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD
          poetry publish -r cloudrepo

Installing Private Packages

To install packages from your private CloudRepo repository in other projects:

[[tool.poetry.source]]
name = "cloudrepo"
url = "https://your-org.mycloudrepo.io/repositories/python-releases/simple/"
priority = "supplemental"

Then in your workflow, configure authentication before installing:

- name: Configure private repository
  env:
    CLOUDREPO_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_USERNAME }}
    CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD }}
  run: |
    poetry config http-basic.cloudrepo $CLOUDREPO_USERNAME $CLOUDREPO_PASSWORD
    poetry install

CloudRepo vs. Competitors for CI/CD

Here’s why teams choose CloudRepo over alternatives for their GitHub Actions workflows:

Why Flat Pricing Matters for CI/CD

Consumption-based pricing creates unpredictable costs that scale with your success. The more you build, the more you pay.

Consider a team running 100 builds per day, each downloading 500 MB of dependencies:

Daily transfer:  100 builds x 500 MB = 50 GB
Monthly transfer: 50 GB x 30 days = 1,500 GB

With JFrog Artifactory Cloud:

• Consumption charges add up quickly at scale
• Plus base subscription fees ($750+/month for Pro X)
• Enterprise support costs extra

With self-hosted Nexus:

• You pay for your own infrastructure (servers, storage, bandwidth)
• Maintenance and upgrade burden on your team
• No direct egress fees to Sonatype, but infrastructure costs scale with usage

With CloudRepo:

• Team plan: $399/month flat
• No egress fees, no surprises
• Support included

CloudRepo’s predictable pricing means you can scale your CI/CD pipelines without worrying about runaway costs.

Best Practices for CI/CD with CloudRepo

Cache Dependencies Aggressively

GitHub Actions caching reduces both build time and repository load:

- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    java-version: '21'
    distribution: 'temurin'
    cache: maven # Built-in caching

Use Separate Repositories for Snapshots and Releases

Keep development artifacts separate from production releases:

• maven-snapshots for -SNAPSHOT versions
• maven-releases for stable versions
• python-releases for published packages

This makes it easy to clean up old snapshots without affecting releases.

Rotate Credentials Regularly

Create dedicated CI/CD credentials in CloudRepo and rotate them periodically. Don’t use your personal account for automated builds.

Implement Branch-Based Deployment Logic

Only deploy from specific branches to prevent accidental releases:

- name: Deploy to CloudRepo
  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
  run: mvn deploy

Troubleshooting Common Issues

401 Unauthorized Errors

• Verify secrets are set correctly in GitHub
• Check that secret names match exactly (they’re case-sensitive)
• Ensure your CloudRepo credentials haven’t expired
• Verify the repository URLs are correct

403 Forbidden Errors

• Confirm your CloudRepo user has write access to the repository
• Check if the repository exists (typos in URLs are common)
• Verify you’re using HTTPS, not HTTP

Slow Builds

• Enable dependency caching in your workflow
• Consider using GitHub-hosted larger runners for complex builds
• Check if your repository is in a region close to GitHub’s runners

Next Steps

You now have everything you need to integrate CloudRepo with GitHub Actions for Maven, Gradle, and Python projects.

Ready to simplify your CI/CD artifact management?

Start your free CloudRepo trial - no credit card required. Get your private repositories set up in minutes and connect them to your GitHub Actions workflows today.

Already using Artifactory or Nexus? Our team can help you migrate. Contact us or check out our migration guides:

• Migrate from JFrog Artifactory
• Migrate from Sonatype Nexus

Have questions about integrating CloudRepo with your CI/CD pipeline? Our support team is here to help - support is included with every CloudRepo plan, not sold as an expensive add-on.