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Chapter 6. Exposing the registry

By default, the OpenShift Container Platform 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.

6.1. Exposing a secure registry manually
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Instead of logging in to the OpenShift Container Platform 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 using the route host.

Prerequisites:

  • The following prerequisites are automatically performed:

    • Deploy the Registry Operator.
    • Deploy the Ingress Operator.

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 }}')
$ podman login -u $(oc whoami) -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: 

    spec:
  routes:
    - name: public-routes
      hostname: myregistry.mycorp.organization
      secretName: public-route-tls
...
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

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

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