apache ivy local repository

In Apache Ivy, a local repository is a directory on the file system that is used to store Ivy modules and their artifacts (JAR files, documentation, etc.). The local repository is typically used as a cache to store downloaded dependencies so that they can be reused across multiple projects and builds.

The location of the local repository is defined in the Ivy settings file (ivysettings.xml) using the "ivy.local.default.ivy.pattern" and "ivy.local.default.artifact.pattern" properties. By default, the local repository is located in the user's home directory under the ".ivy2" folder.

When Ivy resolves dependencies for a project, it first looks for the dependencies in the local repository. If the dependencies are not found in the local repository, Ivy will attempt to download them from the configured remote repositories.

You can also manually add modules to the local repository using the "ivy:install" Ant task or the "ivy install" command from the command line. This can be useful when you need to use a custom-built module that is not available in any remote repositories.

By using a local repository, you can avoid the need to download dependencies from remote repositories for each build, which can improve build performance and reduce network traffic. Additionally, by caching dependencies in the local repository, you can ensure that your builds are consistent and reproducible even if the remote repositories are not available.