The Registry is a stateless, highly scalable server side application that stores and lets you distribute Docker images. The Registry is open-source, under the permissive Apache license.
You should use the Registry if you want to:
- tightly control where your images are being stored
- fully own your images distribution pipeline
- integrate image storage and distribution tightly into your in-house development workflow
Users looking for a zero maintenance, ready-to-go solution are encouraged to head-over to the Docker Hub, which provides a free-to-use, hosted Registry, plus additional features (organization accounts, automated builds, and more).
Users looking for a commercially supported version of the Registry should look into Docker Trusted Registry.
The Registry is compatible with Docker engine version 1.6.0 or higher. If you really need to work with older Docker versions, you should look into the old python registry.
Start your registry
docker run -d -p 5000:5000 --name registry registry:2
Pull (or build) some image from the hub
docker pull ubuntu
Tag the image so that it points to your registry
docker tag ubuntu localhost:5000/myfirstimage
Push it
docker push localhost:5000/myfirstimage
Pull it back
docker pull localhost:5000/myfirstimage
Now stop your registry and remove all data
docker stop registry && docker rm -v registry
You should now read the detailed introduction about the registry, or jump directly to deployment instructions.