This post has been updated to reflect new dates for the Codefresh container registry deprecation. We have extended the timeline from May 1st to July 15th.
Update: The new enhancements can now be enabled in the migration dashboard for Codefresh admins.
Today we are announcing a number of improvements to our integrations with external container registries and announcing the removal of the built-in container registry that comes with Codefresh accounts. The registry will become read-only on July 1st, 2020 and we’re aiming to remove it completely July 15th, 2020.
We believe you are best served by choosing best-in-class tools, and we want to remain focused on building the best-in-class CI/CD platform. We have integrations with every source code provider, deployment environment, and now have even tighter integrations with external registries.
Improvements
- Unified image view will no longer be limited to the built in registry and will work with all connected registries
- Set any external registry as the default at the account level
- Traceability from external registries, previously only possible with the Codefresh registry
- Better integrations for the Codefresh Runner working with behind-the-firewall registries
You can read more details in the other blog post regarding our Roadmap for Docker registries.
What is announced today?
The built-in Codefresh registry that is available to all accounts (even free ones) will be removed on July 15th, 2020.
What is the Codefresh container registry?
The Codefresh Registry is a built-in container registry that is included on all Codefresh accounts. It is a standard Docker registry that can be used for pushing/pulling images from Codefresh UI, the CLI, or even plain Docker commands.
Why is the Codefresh container registry being removed?
When we added a Docker registry to our offering it was a fully-featured registry that did everything our customers expected. Since then, we’ve focused heavily on expanding our core offering with deeper integrations into Kubernetes, better support for legacy applications, pipelines breakpoints for debugging, and of course the Codefresh runner for managing runtimes across clouds and environments. During this period, more and more of our customers have chosen to add and use external registries to manage their images. So we’re faced with a choice, do we invest a lot of engineering time to expand and improve our registry, or do we put that engineering time towards our core offering. After reviewing usage patterns and discussing with many of our customers, we’ve made the decision that we should focus on the core features that made you choose Codefresh in the first place.
What are the dates I need to remember as a customer?
The registry will become read-only (i.e. pull only) on July 1st, 2020 and will be disabled completely on July 15th, 2020.
Why now?
Two reasons, first our current infrastructure around the registry is inadequate and would need to be migrated if we were to keep it longer. At the same time, the vast majority of our users do not use this registry to house production images. Our customer success team will be engaging with customers across the board to make sure migration goes as smoothly as possible.
Will this impact the performance of my pipelines?
No, the removal of the registry will not affect performance. Docker image/layer caching will still work with external registries.
As a customer what do I need to do and when?
There is a detailed timeline for migration tasks in our documentation page. Important dates to remember are July 1st (pushes to the registry are disabled) and July 15th, 2020 (registry is disabled completely)
What will happen with all the unique features of this registry (docker caching, auto-push)?
These features will continue to exist but for external registries. Customers with Hybrid installations will need to add an external registry as well. We are also taking this opportunity to add several new features to how Codefresh handles Docker images. The next section of this announcement has more details.
Will Codefresh help me with the migration from the Codefresh registry to an external one?
Yes we will. We are preparing detailed documentation on the migration process and we will offer dedicated support to all customers for the transition period.
Does Codefresh suggest any specific external registry as a replacement?
Codefresh works with all external registries that are compliant with the registry API. There are many available Docker registry services today that you can use. For performance reasons, we recommend using a registry provided by your hosting provider, or located near the infrastructure for where you run services. Azure’s ACR, Google’s GCR, and AWS ECR are all great options in the cloud as well as JFrog’s cloud service. Of course, Codefresh can work with any compliant Docker registry.
Why doesn’t Codefresh find another replacement service for this registry?
We explored several options (more details are in the next section of this document) but ultimately we decided that we should focus our efforts on creating new features instead of replacing the container registry.
Where can I find all the technical details regarding the migration period?
We have a dedicated documentation page that explains more information for the removal of the Codefresh Registry.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or concerns. We are here to help. Feel free to contact our special deprecation team at [email protected] or your designated Codefresh account manager for more information.