Docker Private Registry using Harbor

By /

Hardware

The following table lists the minimum and recommended hardware configurations for deploying Harbor.

ResourceMinimumRecommended
CPU2 CPU4 CPU
Mem4 GB8 GB
Disk40 GB160 GB

Software

The following table lists the software versions that must be installed on the target host.

Network ports

Harbor requires that the following ports be open on the target host.

PortProtocolDescription
443HTTPSHarbor portal and core API accept HTTPS requests on this port. You can change this port in the configuration file.
4443HTTPSConnections to the Docker Content Trust service for Harbor. You can change this port in the configuration file.
80HTTPHarbor portal and core API accept HTTP requests on this port. You can change this port in the configuration file.

For Opening Network ports , we use ufw :

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp # Open SSH port
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp # Open HTTP port
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp # Open HTTPS port
sudo ufw allow 4443/tcp # Open Harbor's default port
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp # Open port 8080
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Then we enable the ufw :

sudo ufw enable # Enable ufw
sudo ufw status # Staus of ufw
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

we should an output like following output :

Status: active To Action From

---

22/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
80/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
443/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
4443/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
8080/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Part 1 : DNS Records

We should config and set DNS Records for our domain.
My main domain is : developerhub.blog
I need a subdomain for Harbor : harbor.developerhub.blog

Also I have IPV4 and IPV6 on my VPS . So we have

⚠️ Change IPV4 and IPV6 in following tutorial to your VPS IP .

  1. A Records (IPv4):

    • @ (or developerhub.blog): This record maps the root domain to your server’s IPv4 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
    • www.developerhub.blog: This record maps the www subdomain to your server’s IPv4 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
    • harbor.developerhub.blog: This record maps the harbor subdomain to your server’s IPv4 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
  2. AAAA Records (IPv6):

    • @ (or developerhub.blog): This record maps the root domain to your server’s IPv6 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
    • www.developerhub.blog: This record maps the www subdomain to your server’s IPv6 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
    • harbor.developerhub.blog: This record maps the harbor subdomain to your server’s IPv6 address. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
  3. CNAME Record:

    • harbor.developerhub.blog: This record is an alias or a canonical name record that points the harbor subdomain to another domain name. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)
  4. MX Record:

    • @ (or developerhub.blog): This record specifies the mail server(s) responsible for handling email for your domain. TTL: 86400 (24 hours)
  5. TXT Records:

    • @ (or developerhub.blog): TXT records are used for various purposes, such as verifying domain ownership, configuring email security (SPF, DKIM), or providing additional information about your domain. TTL: 3600 (1 hour)

Here’s an example of how your DNS records might look like with TTL values:

; A Records (IPv4)
@ IN A 192.0.2.1 3600
www IN A 192.0.2.1 3600
harbor IN A 192.0.2.1 3600 ; AAAA Records (IPv6)
@ IN AAAA 2001:db8::1 3600
www IN AAAA 2001:db8::1 3600
harbor IN AAAA 2001:db8::1 3600 ; CNAME Record (Only if harbor is hosted on a different server)
harbor IN CNAME example.com 3600 ; MX Record
@ IN MX 10 mail.example.com 86400 ; TXT Records (Examples)
@ IN TXT "v=spf1 include:example.com ~all" 3600
@ IN TXT "google-site-verification=..." 3600
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

The TTL (Time to Live) value specifies the amount of time (in seconds) that a DNS record can be cached by other DNS servers and clients before it needs to be refreshed. A lower TTL value means that changes to your DNS records will propagate faster, but it also increases the load on your DNS server. A higher TTL value reduces the load on your DNS server but may cause delays in propagating changes.

The recommended TTL values can vary based on your specific use case and requirements. For example, MX records generally have a higher TTL value (e.g., 24 hours) since they don’t change frequently, while A and AAAA records may have a lower TTL value (e.g., 1 hour) to facilitate faster updates in case of IP address changes.

⚠️ We need to configure SSL Certificate for this domain and subdomain .
Also We should set DNS Records for SSL.

Part 2 : Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate

  1. Installing certbot

Debian

# Debian-based OS
sudo apt-get install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Red-Hat

#RedHat-based OS
sudo yum install certbot python3-certbot-nginx
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Obtain SSL Certificate using Certbot
sudo certbot certonly --manual --preferred-challenges=dns -d developerhub.blog -d harbor.developerhub.blog
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Create a TXT Record for Domain Ownership Verification

For developerhub.blog

_acme-challenge TXT "<acme-challenge-value>"
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

For harbor.developerhub.blog

_acme-challenge.harbor TXT "<acme-challenge-value>"
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

⚠️ Warning : The acme-challenge-value for domain and subdomain is different !

You can check DNS Records and acme-challenge-value in the following website :

Dig (DNS lookup)

Part 3 – Convert SSL Certificates

If you want to upload you SSL certificate into your domain Provider , it is better to do following steps :

  1. Go to SSL directory
# /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOURDOMAIN
cd /etc/letsencrypt/live/developerhub.blog
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Convert privkey.pem to privkey.key
openssl pkey -in privkey.pem -out privkey.key
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Convert cert.pem to cert.crt
openssl x509 -in cert.pem -out cert.crt
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Copy cert.crt to docker directory
mkdir /etc/docker/certs.d/
cd /etc/docker/certs.d/
# mkdir YOURDOMAIN/
mkdir developerhub.blog
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Then copy cert.crt to docker directory :

# cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/YOURDOMAIN/cert.crt /etc/docker/certs.d/YOURDOMAIN
cp /etc/letsencrypt/live/developerhub.blog/cert.crt \
/etc/docker/certs.d/developerhub.blog/ chmod 644 /etc/docker/certs.d/developerhub.blog/cert.crt
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Restart docker
sudo systemctl restart docker
sudo systemctl status docker
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

The process of installing Harbor involves several steps, which are all essential to ensure a smooth and successful installation.

Step 1 – Download the Harbor Installer

The first step is to download the Harbor installer from the official GitHub repository. It’s important to select the appropriate installer that corresponds to your operating system. This is to ensure compatibility and prevent potential installation issues.

Harbor Release URL : https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases

In this tutorial , I’ve used offline installer

cat << EOF
wget \ https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/download/v2.9.4/\ harbor-offline-installer-v2.9.4.tgz
EOF
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Step 2 – Unzip the Installer

Once the download process is complete, the next step is to unzip the installer. This can be done using any standard unzipping tool. When unzipped, the installer files should be readily accessible.

# tar xzvf harbor-offline-installer-version.tgz
tar xzvf harbor-offline-installer--v2.9.4.tgz
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Step 3 – Configure the harbor.yml File

Next, it’s time to configure the harbor.yml file. This configuration file is crucial as it contains various settings and parameters that Harbor will use during and after the installation. It’s important to carefully review and update this file according to your specific requirements.

cd ./harbor
cp harbor.yml.tmpl harbor.yml
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Then we should edit the harbor.yml :
We just edit hostname , http port , https certificate and private_key .
The remain config is default .

# Configuration file of Harbor # The IP address or hostname to access admin UI and registry service.
# DO NOT use localhost or 127.0.0.1, because Harbor needs to be accessed by external clients.
hostname: harbor.developerhub.blog # http related config
http: # port for http, default is 80. If https enabled, this port will redirect to https port port: 8080 # https related config
https: # https port for harbor, default is 443 port: 443 # The path of cert and key files for nginx certificate: /etc/letsencrypt/live/developerhub.blog/fullchain.pem private_key: /etc/letsencrypt/live/developerhub.blog/privkey.pem
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Step 4 – Run install.sh Script

Finally, once the harbor.yml file has been configured to your liking, the last step is to run the install.sh script. This script will initiate the installation process of Harbor. You’ll need to wait for some time as the script installs all necessary components and sets up Harbor on your system.

./install.sh
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

⚠️ After Installation , you can check docker-compose ps in the harbor directory to ensure harbor images are running and up !

We can login to Harbor UI using the hostname url in harbor.yml

harbor.developerhub.blog

Credentials for login (Default ) :

Username : admin
Password : Harbor12345
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

From Users Tab , we can add new users to Harbor

Managing Users in Harbor

For creating docker private registry , we need to create new projects to able to push new docker images to Harbor .
So we create a new project name : reg

In the client ( Where we want to push images from ) , first we should login to our docker private registry using following command

# docker login YOURDOMAIN
docker login harbor.developerhub.blog
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Then docker asks username and password

Username : admin
Password : Harbor12345
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

If the credentials is true , you should see this message :

Authenticating with existing credentials...
WARNING! Your password will be stored unencrypted in /home/amir/.docker/config.json.
Configure a credential helper to remove this warning. See
https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/login/#credentials-store Login Succeeded
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Then you are able to push new images to your docker registry !

For pushing images , you should do following steps :

  1. list docker images to see the IMAGE ID
docker image ls
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Select the image you want to push and copy the IMAGE ID. Then change the image tag like the following structure
# docker tag IMAGEID HARBORURL/PROJECT/IMAGE:TAG
docker tag bb6d28039b8c harbor.developerhub.blog/reg/node:12-alpine
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode
  1. Then push this docker image
docker push harbor.developerhub.blog/reg/node:12-alpine
Enter fullscreen mode
Exit fullscreen mode

Discover more from Coursity

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Discover more from Coursity

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top