nx/docs/shared/packages/powerpack-azure-cache/powerpack-azure-cache-plugin.md

title	description
Overview of the Nx powerpack-azure-cache Plugin	The powerpack-azure-cache Nx plugin enables you to use Azure Storage to host your remote cache instead of Nx Cloud

The @nx/powerpack-azure-cache plugin enables you to use Azure Storage instead of Nx Cloud to host your remote cache.

This plugin will enable the remote cache for your Nx workspace, but does not provide any of the other features of Nx Cloud. If you want to leverage distributed task execution, re-running flaky tasks or automatically splitting tasks, you'll need to connect to Nx Cloud and use Nx Replay instead.

{% callout title="This plugin requires an active Nx Powerpack license" %} In order to use @nx/powerpack-azure-cache, you need to have an active Powerpack license. If you don't have a license or it has expired, your cache will no longer be shared and each machine will use its local cache. {% /callout %}

Set Up @nx/powerpack-azure-cache

1. Install the Package

1. Activate Powerpack if you haven't already. It only takes a minute.
2. Install the package

nx add @nx/powerpack-azure-cache

2. Authenticate with Azure

There are several ways to authenticate with Azure Storage, but the method recommended by Azure is to use OpenID Connect, like this:

name: CI
...
permissions:
  id-token: write
  ...

jobs:
  main:
    env:
      NX_POWERPACK_LICENSE: ${{ secrets.NX_POWERPACK_LICENSE }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
        ...

      - name: Azure login
        uses: azure/login@v2
        with:
          client-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
          tenant-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
          subscription-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}
        ...

      - run: pnpm exec nx affected -t lint test build

You need to set the AZURE_CLIENT_ID, AZURE_TENANT_ID and AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID secrets as defined in the Azure documentation.

Note: Any authentication method that sets up the DefaultAzureCredentials will enable the plugin to work.

{% callout type="note" title="Custom Azure Endpoint" %} If you are using a custom Azure endpoint, you will need to authenticate by setting the AZURE_STORAGE_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable. The @nx/powerpack-azure-cache plugin will detect the environment variable and automatically use it to connect to Azure. {% /callout %}

3. Configure the Nx Cache to Use Azure Storage

Finally, you need to configure your Nx cache in the nx.json file. The container that you specify needs to already exist - Nx doesn't create it for you.

{
  "azure": {
    "container": "mycontainer",
    "accountName": "myaccount"
  }
}

Property	Description
container	The name of the container to use
accountName	The name of blob storage account

Migrating from Custom Tasks Runners

Many people who are interested in Nx Powerpack have previously used custom task runners. Nx offers a new and simpler extension API designed to meet the same use cases as the now-deprecated custom task runners.

To learn more about migrating from custom task runners, please refer to this detailed guide.

Cache Modes

By default, Nx will try to write and read from the remote cache while running locally. This means that permissions must be set for users who are expected to access the remote cache.

Nx will only show warnings when the remote cache is not writable. You can disable these warnings by setting localMode to read-only or no-cache in the nx.json file.

{
  "azure": {
    // ...
    "localMode": "read-only"
  }
}

The cache mode in CI can also be configured by setting ciMode to read-only or no-cache in the nx.json file. Or setting NX_POWERPACK_CACHE_MODE to read-only or no-cache in the CI environment.

{
  "azure": {
    // ...
    "ciMode": "read-only"
  }
}