Managing Container Registries
Overview
Manage container registries across Docker Hub, AWS ECR, GCP Artifact Registry, Azure ACR, and self-hosted registries (Harbor, Nexus). Automate image tagging, lifecycle policies, cross-region replication, vulnerability scanning integration, and access control for container image storage and distribution.
Prerequisites
- Docker CLI installed and authenticated to the target registry
- Cloud provider CLI (
aws, gcloud, az) for managed registries
- Registry credentials configured (
docker login or credential helpers)
- Understanding of image naming conventions (registry/namespace/image:tag)
- IAM permissions for registry operations (push, pull, delete, admin)
Instructions
- Identify the target registry type: ECR, Artifact Registry, ACR, Docker Hub, or self-hosted
- Configure authentication: set up credential helpers for automated access (
docker-credential-ecr-login, gcloud auth configure-docker)
- Define image naming and tagging strategy: use semantic versioning for releases, git SHA for CI builds,
latest only for development
- Create repository/namespace structure organized by team, application, or environment
- Configure lifecycle policies to auto-delete untagged images and images older than retention threshold (e.g., keep last 10 tagged images, delete untagged after 7 days)
- Set up vulnerability scanning: enable automatic scanning on push (ECR scan-on-push, GCP Container Analysis)
- Configure cross-region replication for disaster recovery and latency reduction
- Implement access control: read-only for CI pull, push access for CI build agents, admin for operators
- Generate Terraform/IaC for registry infrastructure and policies
Output
- Terraform/CloudFormation for registry creation with lifecycle and replication policies
- Docker credential helper configuration scripts
- CI/CD pipeline steps for building, tagging, and pushing images
- Lifecycle policy JSON (ECR) or cleanup scripts (Docker Hub, Harbor)
- RBAC configurations for registry access control
Error Handling
| Error |
Cause |
Solution |
denied: requested access to the resource is denied |
Missing push/pull permissions or expired token |
Re-authenticate with docker login or refresh credential helper; verify IAM policies |
manifest unknown: manifest unknown |
Image tag does not exist in the registry |
Verify image name and tag; check if lifecycle policy deleted the image |
no space left on device during push |
Registry storage quota exceeded |
Increa
Ready to use container-registry-manager?
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