# Hosted Private npm

* [Getting Started](#getting-started)
* [Web Interface][web-interface]
	* [User management][user-management]
	* [Package management][package-management]
* [Command Line Interface][cli]
* [FAQ][faq]

<hr>

## Getting Started

In this getting started guide you will get setup with your Hosted Private npm registry from Nodejitsu as well as learn about some of the best practices for working with `package.json` files.

But first, take a look at this 4 minute introduction to our Private npm solution.

<div style="text-align:center;margin:20px 0;">
  <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/86596362" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>

### 1. Configure the npm CLI

Just like the public registry, the `npm` CLI program is what you'll use to install, publish and otherwise interact with npm modules. Nodejitsu Enterprise private npm has two changes in the configuration to your npm CLI client:

```
$ npm config set always-auth true
$ npm config set strict-ssl true
$ npm config set ca ""
```

Why do you need to do these things?

* *Every request requires authentication:* This means that users you have not authorized cannot download packages from your private npm. Since this is not the default behavior of the public npm you need to set:

```
$ npm config set always-auth true
```

* *Be strict about SSL*: [We improved our SSL experience](http://blog.nodejitsu.com/improved-ssl-experience-for-private-npm/), now our Private npm registry supports multi-level wildcard certificate issued by [DigiCert](http://www.digiserver.com/) and serves `https://*.registry.nodejitsu.com`, so you'll need to set the following to your npm config:


```
$ npm config set strict-ssl true
$ npm config set ca ""
```

### 2. Login & start making requests against your private npm

Requests can be made against your private npm in two ways:

* _Set the registry for all requests:_ This means that every request will hit your private registry
```
  $ npm config set registry https://your-subdomain.registry.nodejitsu.com
```
* _Use the `--reg` flag when necessary:_ The `--reg` flag (short for `--registry`) will allow you to make any request against your private registry:
```
  $ npm login
  $ npm info your-private-module --reg http://your-subdomain.registry.nodejitsu.com
```

**We recommend that **you set the registry for all requests** to avoid any accidental publishes of private modules to the public registry. Since all new publishes go by default to your private npm registry when you need **to publish a new public npm package** you can explicitly set the `--reg` flag:

```
  $ cd /my/new/public/package
  $ npm init
  $ npm publish --reg https://registry.npmjs.org
```

More information available at the [Command Line Interface Documentation][cli]


### 3. Login to the Web Interface

```
http://your-subdomain.npm.nodejitsu.com
```

More information available at the [Web Interface Documentation][web-interface]

### PROTIP: Publish modules using `publishConfig`

The `publishConfig` in your package.json does the following (from the [npm documentation](https://github.com/isaacs/npm/blob/master/doc/files/package.json.md#publishconfig)):

> This is a set of config values that will be used at publish-time. It's especially
> handy if you want to set the tag or registry, so that you can ensure that a given
> package is not tagged with "latest" or published to the global public registry by default.
>
> Any config values can be overridden, but of course only "tag" and "registry" probably
> matter for the purposes of publishing.

For example:

``` js
  {
    "publishConfig": { "registry": "https://your-subdomain.registry.nodejitsu.com" }
  }
```

The benefits of using `publishConfig` is that it avoids accidental publishes to the public registry due to user error. Take for example a developer on your team who has not properly configured their machine by running `npm config set registry` or using the `--reg` flag. _That command would send your code public._ By using the `publishConfig` property you avoid that because it is part of your application.


[web-interface]: /npm/web
[user-management]: /npm/web#user-management
[package-management]: /npm/web#package-management
[cli]: /npm/cli
[faq]: /npm/faq

[meta:title]: <> (Hosted Private npm)