Using container registries

A container registry is a storage and content delivery system, holding named container images, available in different tagged versions.

Users can connect to container registries from the following sources:

Azure Container Registry
Docker Hub
GitHub container registry
Any generic private registry that supports the Docker V2 api

Push an image to a container registry

Before you can deploy a container image, the image must be uploaded to a container registry. The image can be uploaded to Docker Hub, Azure Container Registry (ACR) or another registry. You can follow the same steps to push the image regardless of whether you're pushing to Docker Hub, Azure Container Registries, or any other registry. If you don't already have an Azure Container Registry, you can create one during the Push step.

Open the Container Explorer, select Connect Registry... icon under the Registries view, and follow the prompt. Choose the provider (for example, Azure or Docker Hub) and provide the credential to connect to the registry. If prompted, install the Azure Resources extension.
Now the registry will be visible under Registries.
Optionally, tag the image. In order to upload an image to a registry, the image needs to be tagged with registry name so that the docker push will upload it to the right registry. If the image isn't tagged when you try to push it, VS Code asks you what registry you want to associate with the image.
- Images you previously built appear in the Container Explorer under the Images view. Right-click and choose Tag....
- Specify the new name <your registry or username>/<image name>:<tag> and complete the tag action. For example, new image name for ACR would be mainacr.azurecr.io/webapp6:latest and for Docker Hub it would be myusername/webapp6:latest.
The image shows up in the Container Explorer in the Images view under the registry that the image tag points to. Select this image and choose Push. If the image has not yet been tagged, you're prompted to choose a registry to push to, or create a new registry, and the image is tagged based on the selection.
Once the push command is completed, refresh the registry node where the image is pushed to and the uploaded image will show up.

Docker Hub

This connects to Docker Hub and lists all of the repositories and images under the given account. Once you select this option, you will be required to type in your Docker Hub credentials.

Docker Hub

For each repository in the Docker Hub registry, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull repository: copies all of the images in a given repository locally
Open in browser: opens the browser and navigates to the given repository on Docker Hub
Refresh: refreshes the repository to reflect changes

For each tagged image in a repository, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull image: copies the latest version of the image locally
Copy Full Tag: copies the full tag to the clipboard
Deploy Image to Azure App Service: deploys the image to Azure App Service, see Deploy images to Azure page
Deploy Image to Azure Container Apps: deploys the image to Azure Container Apps, see Deploy images to Azure page
Open in browser: opens the browser and navigates to the given image on Docker Hub

Azure Container Registry

This option requires the Azure Resources extension to be able to connect to your Azure account and display all of the different subscriptions and registries. Once authenticated, the node Azure will display the subscriptions along with registries each have:

Azure Container Registry

For each registry, users have different actions that can be performed using the context menu:

Delete Registry: deletes the registry permanently
Open in Portal: opens the browser and navigates to the registry in Azure Portal
View Properties: opens the registry properties in a json format
Refresh: refreshes the registry to reflect changes

For each repository in a given registry, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull Repository: copies all of the images in a given repository locally
Delete Repository: deletes the repository permanently
Refresh: refreshes the repository to reflect changes

For each tagged image in a repository, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull Image: copies the latest version of the image locally
Copy Full Tag: copies the full tag to the clipboard
Copy Image Digest: copies the image digest, which is a SHA256 hash identifier that Docker uses, to the clipboard. See Docker Docs for more info on image digests
Inspect Image Manifest: inspects the image's registry manifest. This is not the same as inspecting the image when it is pulled locally.
Deploy Image to Azure App Service: deploys the image to Azure App Service, see Deploy images to Azure page
Deploy Image to Azure Container Apps: deploys the image to Azure Container Apps, see Deploy images to Azure page
Untag Image: untags the image
Delete Image: deletes the image permanently

GitHub

This connects to container registries in your GitHub account. Once you select this option, you are asked to type in your GitHub account credentials.

GitHub

For each repository in the GitHub registry, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull Repository: copies all of the images in a given repository locally
Refresh: refreshes the repository to reflect changes

For each tagged image in a repository, here are the actions that can be performed:

Pull Image: copies the latest version of the image locally
Copy Full Tag: copies the full tag to the clipboard
Copy Image Digest: copies the image digest, which is a SHA256 hash identifier that Docker uses, to the clipboard. See Docker Docs for more info on image digests
Inspect Image Manifest: inspects the image's registry manifest. This is not the same as inspecting the image when it is pulled locally.
Deploy Image to Azure App Service: deploys the image to Azure App Service, see Deploy images to Azure page
Deploy Image to Azure Container Apps: deploys the image to Azure Container Apps, see Deploy images to Azure page

Next steps

Deploy to Azure

12/1/2023