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Chapter 5. Exposing the registry

By default, the OpenShift image registry is secured during cluster installation so that it serves traffic through TLS. Unlike previous versions of OpenShift Container Platform, the registry is not exposed outside of the cluster at the time of installation.

5.1. Exposing a default registry manually

Instead of logging in to the default OpenShift image registry from within the cluster, you can gain external access to it by exposing it with a route. This external access enables you to log in to the registry from outside the cluster using the route address and to tag and push images to an existing project by using the route host.

Prerequisites

  • The following prerequisites are automatically performed:

    • Deploy the Registry Operator.
    • Deploy the Ingress Operator.
  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

You can expose the route by using the defaultRoute parameter in the configs.imageregistry.operator.openshift.io resource.

To expose the registry using the defaultRoute:

  1. Set defaultRoute to true by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ oc patch configs.imageregistry.operator.openshift.io/cluster --patch '{"spec":{"defaultRoute":true}}' --type=merge

  2. Get the default registry route by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ HOST=$(oc get route default-route -n openshift-image-registry --template='{{ .spec.host }}')

  3. Get the certificate of the Ingress Operator by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ oc extract secret/$(oc get ingresscontroller -n openshift-ingress-operator default -o json | jq '.spec.defaultCertificate.name // "router-certs-default"' -r) -n openshift-ingress --confirm

  4. Move the extracted certificate to the system’s trusted CA directory by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ sudo mv tls.crt /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/

  5. Enable the cluster’s default certificate to trust the route by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ sudo update-ca-trust enable

  6. Log in with podman using the default route by running the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ sudo podman login -u kubeadmin -p $(oc whoami -t) $HOST

5.2. Exposing a secure registry manually

Instead of logging in to the OpenShift image registry from within the cluster, you can gain external access to it by exposing it with a route. This allows you to log in to the registry from outside the cluster using the route address, and to tag and push images to an existing project by using the route host.

Prerequisites

  • The following prerequisites are automatically performed:

    • Deploy the Registry Operator.
    • Deploy the Ingress Operator.
  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

You can expose the route by using DefaultRoute parameter in the configs.imageregistry.operator.openshift.io resource or by using custom routes.

To expose the registry using DefaultRoute:

  1. Set DefaultRoute to True:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ oc patch configs.imageregistry.operator.openshift.io/cluster --patch '{"spec":{"defaultRoute":true}}' --type=merge

  2. Log in with podman:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ HOST=$(oc get route default-route -n openshift-image-registry --template='{{ .spec.host }}')
     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ podman login -u kubeadmin -p $(oc whoami -t) --tls-verify=false $HOST
    1
    1
    --tls-verify=false is needed if the cluster’s default certificate for routes is untrusted. You can set a custom, trusted certificate as the default certificate with the Ingress Operator.

To expose the registry using custom routes:

  1. Create a secret with your route’s TLS keys:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ oc create secret tls public-route-tls \
    -n openshift-image-registry \
    --cert=</path/to/tls.crt> \
    --key=</path/to/tls.key>

    This step is optional. If you do not create a secret, the route uses the default TLS configuration from the Ingress Operator.

  2. On the Registry Operator:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    $ oc edit configs.imageregistry.operator.openshift.io/cluster
     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap 
    spec:
  routes:
    - name: public-routes
      hostname: myregistry.mycorp.organization
      secretName: public-route-tls
...
    Note

    Only set secretName if you are providing a custom TLS configuration for the registry’s route.

Troubleshooting

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