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JFrog CLI for Maven & Docker: One Tool to Rule the Artifacts

If we’ve worked with both Maven and Docker in a CI/CD pipeline, we probably know the pain of managing two completely different artifact publishing flows.

Enter JFrog CLI—a unified command-line tool that simplifies working with JFrog Artifactory, no matter the technology. Whether you’re dealing with Java packages or Docker images, JFrog CLI acts as one interface to rule them all.

🧰 What Is JFrog CLI?

JFrog CLI is a smart, lightweight tool that wraps Artifactory’s REST API into a developer-friendly experience. It supports artifact uploads/downloads, builds, Docker operations, and more.

Instead of writing long curl commands or juggling plugin configurations, we get a consistent, scriptable interface.

🛠️ Use Case 1: Maven Build with JFrog CLI

🔗 Prerequisites

curl -fL https://getcli.jfrog.io | sh

./jfrog rt config <artifactory-server-id> \
  --url=https://our-artifactory-url \
  --user=<username> \
  --password=<password>

🔧 Sample configuration.yml

version: 1
type: maven
resolver:
  snapshotRepo: libs-snapshot
  releaseRepo: libs-release
  serverID: <artifactory-server-id>
deployer:
  snapshotRepo: libs-snapshot-local
  releaseRepo: libs-release-local
  serverID: <artifactory-server-id>

🚀 Build & Publish Maven Project

./jfrog rt mvn "clean install" configuration.yml \
  --build-name=maven-demo \
  --build-number=1
./jfrog rt build-publish maven-demo 1

🐳 Use Case 2: Docker with JFrog CLI

🔧 Build & Push Docker Image

docker build -t our-artifactory-domain.com/docker-local/hello-world:1.0 .

./jfrog rt docker-login

./jfrog rt docker-push our-artifactory-domain.com/docker-local/hello-world:1.0 \
  docker-local \
  --build-name=docker-demo \
  --build-number=1

./jfrog rt build-publish docker-demo 1

This automatically tracks the image layers, environment variables, and Docker metadata.

🧩 Bonus: Combine Maven + Docker into One Build

You can associate multiple build steps under the same build-name and build-number.

./jfrog rt build-collect-env unified-demo 1
./jfrog rt build-add-git unified-demo 1
./jfrog rt build-publish unified-demo 1

This way, our entire build footprint (Java, Docker, Git commit, env vars) is stored in one place—versioned and auditable.

✅ Why It Matters

Consistency: One CLI for all our artifact types

Traceability: Build info includes environment, VCS, artifacts, dependencies

Simplicity: Easy to script and integrate into CI/CD

Security: Credentials stored and reused securely

🔗 Example Projects