Supported package functionality
The GitLab package registry supports different functionalities for each package type. This support includes publishing and pulling packages, request forwarding, managing duplicates, and authentication.
Publishing packages
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Packages can be published to your project, group, or instance.
| Package type | Project | Group | Instance |
|---|---|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Y | N | N |
Maven (with gradle) |
Y | N | N |
Maven (with sbt) |
N | N | N |
| npm | Y | N | N |
| NuGet | Y | N | N |
| PyPI | Y | N | N |
| Generic packages | Y | N | N |
| Terraform | Y | N | N |
| Composer | N | Y | N |
| Conan | Y | N | Y |
| Helm | Y | N | N |
| Debian | Y | N | N |
| Go | Y | N | N |
| Ruby gems | Y | N | N |
Pulling packages
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Packages can be pulled from your project, group, or instance.
| Package type | Project | Group | Instance |
|---|---|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Y | Y | Y |
Maven (with gradle) |
Y | Y | Y |
Maven (with sbt) |
Y | Y | Y |
| npm | Y | Y | Y |
| NuGet | Y | Y | N |
| PyPI | Y | Y | N |
| Generic packages | Y | N | N |
| Terraform | N | Y | N |
| Composer | Y | Y | N |
| Conan | Y | N | Y |
| Helm | Y | N | N |
| Debian | Y | N | N |
| Go | Y | N | Y |
| Ruby gems | Y | N | N |
Forwarding requests
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Requests for packages not found in your GitLab project are forwarded to the public registry. For example, Maven Central, npmjs, or PyPI.
| Package type | Supports request forwarding |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Yes (disabled by default) |
Maven (with gradle) |
Yes (disabled by default) |
Maven (with sbt) |
Yes (disabled by default) |
| npm | Yes |
| NuGet | N |
| PyPI | Yes |
| Generic packages | N |
| Terraform | N |
| Composer | N |
| Conan | N |
| Helm | N |
| Debian | N |
| Go | N |
| Ruby gems | N |
Deleting packages
When package requests are forwarded to a public registry, deleting packages can be a dependency confusion vulnerability.
If a system tries to pull a deleted package, the request is forwarded to the public registry. If a package with the same name and version is found in the public registry, that package is pulled instead. There is a risk that the package pulled from the registry might not be what is expected, and could even be malicious.
To reduce the associated security risks, before deleting a package you can:
- Verify the package is not being actively used.
- Disable request forwarding:
- Instance administrators can disable forwarding in the Continuous Integration section of the Admin Area.
- Group owners can disable forwarding in the Packages and Registries section of the group settings.
Importing packages from other repositories
You can use GitLab pipelines to import packages from other repositories, such as Maven Central or Artifactory with the package importer tool.
| Package type | Importer available? |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Y |
Maven (with gradle) |
Y |
Maven (with sbt) |
Y |
| npm | Y |
| NuGet | Y |
| PyPI | Y |
| Generic packages | N |
| Terraform | N |
| Composer | N |
| Conan | N |
| Helm | N |
| Debian | N |
| Go | N |
| Ruby gems | N |
Allow or prevent duplicates
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By default, the GitLab package registry either allows or prevents duplicates based on the default of that specific package manager format.
| Package type | Duplicates allowed? |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Y (configurable) |
Maven (with gradle) |
Y (configurable) |
Maven (with sbt) |
Y (configurable) |
| npm | N |
| NuGet | Y |
| PyPI | N |
| Generic packages | Y (configurable) |
| Terraform | N |
| Composer | N |
| Conan | N |
| Helm | Y |
| Debian | Y |
| Go | N |
| Ruby gems | Y |
Authentication tokens
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GitLab tokens are used to authenticate with the GitLab package registry.
The following tokens are supported:
| Package type | Supported tokens |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
Maven (with gradle) |
Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
Maven (with sbt) |
Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| npm | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| NuGet | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| PyPI | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| Generic packages | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| Terraform | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| Composer | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group), project access |
| Conan | Personal access, job tokens, project access |
| Helm | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group) |
| Debian | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group) |
| Go | Personal access, job tokens, project access |
| Ruby gems | Personal access, job tokens, deploy (project or group) |
Authentication protocols
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The following authentication protocols are supported:
| Package type | Supported auth protocols |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
Headers, Basic auth |
Maven (with gradle) |
Headers, Basic auth |
Maven (with sbt) |
Basic auth (pulling only) (1) |
| npm | OAuth |
| NuGet | Basic auth |
| PyPI | Basic auth |
| Generic packages | Basic auth |
| Terraform | Token |
| Composer | OAuth |
| Conan | OAuth, Basic auth |
| Helm | Basic auth |
| Debian | Basic auth |
| Go | Basic auth |
| Ruby gems | Token |
- Basic authentication for Maven packages introduced in GitLab 16.0.
Supported hash types
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Hash values are used to ensure you are using the correct package. You can view these values in the user interface or with the API.
The package registry supports the following hash types:
| Package type | Supported hashes |
|---|---|
Maven (with mvn) |
MD5, SHA1 |
Maven (with gradle) |
MD5, SHA1 |
Maven (with sbt) |
MD5, SHA1 |
| npm | SHA1 |
| NuGet | not applicable |
| PyPI | MD5, SHA256 |
| Generic packages | SHA256 |
| Composer | not applicable |
| Conan | MD5, SHA1 |
| Helm | not applicable |
| Debian | MD5, SHA1, SHA256 |
| Go | MD5, SHA1, SHA256 |
| Ruby gems | MD5, SHA1, SHA256 (gemspec only) |