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How to generate a HAR for Nexus Repository UI issues

Updated

When investigating Sonatype product issues regarding the user interface (UI), we may sometimes request a HAR file in order to troubleshoot the reported issue further. This is needed to investigate the network requests being made from the UI when the problem you are experiencing is occurring.

HAR (HTTP Archive) is a file format (JSON) used by several HTTP session tools to export the captured data (HTTP requests and responses).

Note: A HAR file must always be captured on the UI page where you are experiencing the reported issue.

This article details how to capture a HAR file for each of our currently supported browsers.

Chrome
Firefox
Internet Explorer/Edge
Safari

Chrome

NOTE: Starting with Chrome v130, exported HAR files no longer include cookies (sanitized). To troubleshoot session-related issues, such as SAML login problems, please temporarily enable the "Allow to generate HAR with sensitive data" option in the DevTools settings. This can be accessed via the gear icon in the top-right corner of the DevTools window.

Screenshot 2024-12-27 at 10.24.05 am.png

  1. Open Google Chrome and go to the UI page where the issue is occurring.
  2. Open the Developer Tools from the menu (Menu > More Tools > Developer tools).
  3. Click on the Network tab.
  4. Look for a round button (record.jpg) at the top left of the Network tab. Make sure it is red. If it is grey, click it once to start recording.
  5. Check the box next to Preserve log.
  6. You can use the clear button (clear.jpg) right before trying to reproduce the issue to remove unnecessary header information.
  7. Reproduce the issue that you are experiencing whilst the network requests are being recorded.
  8. Once the issue has been reproduced, save the capture by right-clicking on the grid and choosing "Save as HAR with Content", or for newer Chrome versions, "Copy all listed as HAR (with sensitive data)" and paste into a text file.
    Screenshot 2024-12-27 at 10.26.55 am.png

Firefox

  1. Open Firefox and go to the UI page where the issue is occurring.
  2. Start Firefox Developer Tools in Network mode (Top right menu > Web Developer > Network).
  3. Reproduce the issue that you are experiencing.
  4. Save the capture by right-clicking on the grid and choosing "Save all as HAR".
  5. Export the capture to a HAR file.

Internet Explorer/Edge

  1. Open Internet Explorer and go to the page where the issue is occurring.
  2. Press F12 on your keyboard(or click the gear icon > F12 Developer Tools)
  3. Click the Network tab.
  4. Reproduce the issue that you were experiencing before, while the network requests are being recorded.
  5. Once done click the Save button.
  6. Give the trace a filename and click the Save button which will save it as a .har file or .xml file.

Safari

Before generating the HAR file, make sure you can see the Develop menu in Safari. If it is not there, follow the instructions under Use the developer tools in the Develop menu in Safari on Mac.

  1. Open the Develop menu and select Show Web Inspector.
  2. Click the Network tab and complete the activity that is causing issues.
  3. Click the download icon (the arrow pointing down icon) and save the web archive file.

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