As you should have noticed in the previous section, you can function just fine as a developer connected to the Internet as long as the critical Internet resources are available when they are needed to populate your localRepository cache. However, if you were part of a larger development team you would not want each separate developer reaching out the Internet to locate a common dependency. There is both a speed and failure issue with that type of setup.

The steps listed in this chapter are not necessary for class because you work alone and you have a localRepository cache. In fact -- I urge you not to follow them unless you feel the strong desire to dig deeper in this enterprise development setup. However, it does provide you with some experience in setting up and using a realistic production maven environment.

Still here? Okay -- lets get started...

In the previous section we installed and setup Maven in a stand-alone client mode. In that mode the individual environment communicated directly with the external Internet organizations to obtain missing artifacts. In this section we will add a proxy server between the developer and the Internet so that one or more developers can share what has already been downloaded and be completely isolated from network and remote outages. Ideally this proxy would be placed on a shared server somewhere on your local Intranet with access to the outside Internet. The instructions will act as though you are installing it locally. It is your decision whether to use it and where to install it. If you do not install and configure a proxy -- you will notice small delays in your builds while your local maven client checks Internet sources for new artifacts and updates to existing artifacts.

Figure 5.1. Maven Proxied and Non-Proxied Configuration