Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

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
Copy link

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: 

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

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

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

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

    $ 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
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

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

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

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

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

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

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

5.2. Exposing a secure registry manually
Copy link

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: 

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

  2. Log in with podman: 

    $ 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
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    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: 

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

    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: 

    $ 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
...
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    Note

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

Troubleshooting

Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat