How To Set up a Docker Registry on Debian 12

Overview

This document outlines how to setup and install a docker registry running in docker-compose.

Set up Docker Registry

Dependencies

We will need grab the authentication tools and a place to put the docker registry in the system, in a standardized place.

sudo apt install apache2-utils -y
sudo mkdir -p /srv/docker/registry
sudo chown -R blair: /srv/docker/registry
cd /srv/docker/regisry

Setting up Docker-Compose

We will create a new docker-compose.yaml file:

version: "3"

services:
  registry:
    image: registry:2
    container_name: registry
    environment:
      REGISTRY_AUTH: htpasswd
      REGISTRY_AUTH_HTPASSWD_REALM: Registry
      REGISTRY_AUTH_HTPASSWD_PATH: /auth/registry.password
      REGISTRY_STORAGE_FILESYSTEM_ROOTDIRECTORY: /data
    volumes:
      - ./auth:/auth
      - container_data:/data
    labels:
      - "traefik.docker.network=traefik_frontend"
      - "traefik.http.routers.registry.rule=Host(`registry.weepynet.com`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.registry.tls=true"
    restart: always
    dns:
      - 172.19.0.254
    networks:
      - traefik_frontend

volumes:
  container_data:
    driver: local

networks:
  traefik_frontend:
    external: true

This will get the container set up with the traefik front end (reverse proxy), set up to use basic auth, and uses a docker volume to store the docker objects, which is a more stable platform for the data than storing it in a local folder.

Setting up the Authentication

We will now create a user for authentication with the repository.

cd auth
htpasswd -Bc registry.password username

Where username is your username. Enter the password as prompted.

When creating additional users, do not pass the -c flag. This is used for the first user only.

htpasswd -B registry.password new_username

Testing installation

We should now be good to go. Start up the registry and test it out.

cd /srv/docker/registry
docker-compose up -d

In a browser, go to https://registry.weepynet.com/v2/, which should prompt you for credentials. Enter the credentials you set earlier and you should be greeted with this output:

{}

Using this registry

From a client machine that needs to use this registry, you will need to do a docker-login

docker login -u <username> -p <password> https://registry.weepynet.com

Alternatively, you can leave out the -u and -p switches and enter them interactively.