Implementing Azure Container Registry for container image storage

Posted on by Panther

Introduction

Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a managed, private registry that allows you to store and secure your Docker container images within Azure. ACR provides a simple and efficient way to manage and deploy container images, to different environments, including Kubernetes clusters and Azure Container Instances (ACI). In this tutorial, we will walk through the steps of implementing ACR for container image storage.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you should have the following:

  • An Azure account with a valid subscription.
  • Docker installed on your workstation.
  • Azure CLI installed on your workstation.

Step 1: Create a Resource Group

Before you can create an ACR instance, you need to create a Resource Group to contain it. A Resource Group is a logical container for grouping Azure resources. To create a Resource Group, run the following command in the Azure CLI:

az group create --name <resource-group-name> --location <location>

In this command, replace <resource-group-name> with the name of your Resource Group, and <location> with the location where you want to create it.

Step 2: Create an Azure Container Registry instance

To create an ACR instance, you need to specify a registry name, location, and SKU (pricing tier). The SKU determines the storage capacity and features of your registry.

To create an ACR instance, run the following command in the Azure CLI:

az acr create --name <registry-name> --resource-group <resource-group-name> --sku <sku>

In this command, replace <registry-name> with the name of your ACR instance, <resource-group-name> with the name of your Resource Group, and <sku> with the SKU you want to use.

For example, to create an ACR instance named myregistry in the myresourcegroup Resource Group, with the Basic SKU, run the following command:

az acr create --name myregistry --resource-group myresourcegroup --sku Basic

Step 3: Log in to the ACR instance

Before you can push Docker images to the ACR instance, you need to log in to it. To do this, run the following command in the Azure CLI:

az acr login --name <registry-name>

In this command, replace <registry-name> with the name of your ACR instance.

For example, to log in to an ACR instance named myregistry, run the following command:

az acr login --name myregistry

Step 4: Tag and push a Docker image

Now that you have logged in to your ACR instance, you can push Docker images to it. To do this, you need to tag the Docker image with the fully qualified name of the ACR instance and push it to the registry.

To tag a Docker image, run the following command:

docker tag <image-name> <acr-login-server>/<image-name>:<tag>

In this command, replace <image-name> with the name of your Docker image, <acr-login-server> with the login server of your ACR instance (you can find this by running the command az acr list --query "[].{acrLoginServer:loginServer}" --output table), and <tag> with a tag for your Docker image.

For example, to tag a Docker image named myimage and push it to an ACR instance named myregistry, run the following commands:

docker tag myimage myregistry.azurecr.io/myimage:v1
docker push myregistry.azurecr.io/myimage:v1

Step 5: Authenticate to the ACR instance from Kubernetes

If you are using Kubernetes to deploy your containerized applications, you can use the ACR instance as a container image repository. To do this, you need to authenticate with the ACR instance from Kubernetes.

To authenticate with the ACR instance, you need to create a Kubernetes secret that contains the credentials for the ACR instance. To do this, run the following command:

kubectl create secret docker-registry <secret-name> --docker-server=<acr-login-server> --docker-username=<acr-username> --docker-password=<acr-password>

In this command, replace <secret-name> with a name for your Kubernetes secret, <acr-login-server> with the login server of your ACR instance, <acr-username> with the username for your ACR instance (which is the name of the ACR instance), and <acr-password> with the password for your ACR instance (which you can find by running the command az acr credential show --name <registry-name> in the Azure CLI).

For example, to create a Kubernetes secret named myregistry-secret for an ACR instance named myregistry, run the following command:

kubectl create secret docker-registry myregistry-secret --docker-server=myregistry.azurecr.io --docker-username=myregistry --docker-password=<acr-password>

Step 6: Use the ACR instance in a Kubernetes deployment

Once you have authenticated with the ACR instance from Kubernetes, you can use it as a container image repository in your Kubernetes deployment.

To use the ACR instance in a Kubernetes deployment, you need to specify the image name in your deployment manifest. To do this, replace the <image-name> field with the fully qualified name of the Docker image in your ACR instance.

For example, to use an image named myregistry.azurecr.io/myimage:v1 in a Kubernetes deployment, specify it in your deployment manifest as follows:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: myapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: myapp
        image: myregistry.azurecr.io/myimage:v1
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

Conclusion

Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a powerful and easy-to-use service for storing and securing Docker container images within Azure. In this tutorial, we walked through the steps of implementing ACR for container image storage, including creating an ACR instance, logging in to the ACR instance, pushing Docker images to the ACR instance, authenticating with the ACR instance from Kubernetes, and using the ACR instance in a Kubernetes deployment. By following these steps, you can take advantage of the benefits of containerization and cloud computing to build and deploy your applications in a scalable, efficient, and secure manner.

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