Building a custom devfile registry

Provide your developers a devfile registry so they can access devfile stacks and samples, enabling them to use devfiles to simplify and improve their containerized application development.

To create a devfile registry for your team’s container development:

1. Create a Git repository.

2. Build a devfile registry.

3. Tag and push the registry container image.

Creating a Git repository

Set up a Git repository to store the devfile stacks to package into the devfile registry.

Procedure

1. Fork the devfile/registry repository.

2. Name your forked repository.

3. Add or remove any stacks you need from this repository.

4. Create a stacks/ directory for storing the devfile stacks. Each directory under stacks/ must correspond to a specific stack, for example, stacks/java-wildfly/.

5. To package any external devfile stacks or samples in your devfile registry, go to the root of your repository and create an extraDevfileEntries.yaml file.

6. Add your devfile stacks to your stacks/ directory.

7. Verify every devfile stack contains at least one devfile.yaml file. Add other required files to the stacks. These files can include VSX plug-ins, Dockerfiles, or Kubernetes manifests.

The registry build tool automatically validates your customized registry.

Additional resources

• Example of extraDevfileEntries.yaml.

• To create devfile stacks, see creating a devfile stack.

Building a custom devfile registry

Make your repository into a devfile registry by building a devfile index container image. Deploy the devfile index image to your cloud or cluster to form the devfile registry.

Prerequisites

• Golang 1.18.x or higher

• Docker 17.05 or higher

• Git

Procedure

1. Run ./build_image.sh <path-to-devfile-registry-folder> to build a devfile registry repository.

2. In a multi-stage Docker build, add a Dockerfile to your devfile registry repository. Make sure the Dockerfile contains the following:

   Dockerfile

   FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8/go-toolset:1.18 AS builder
   # Run tasks as root
   USER root
   # Install yq
   RUN curl -sL -O https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/download/v4.9.5/yq_linux_amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/yq && mv ./yq_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/yq && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yq
   # Copy registry contents
   COPY . /registry
   # Download the registry build tools
   RUN git clone https://github.com/devfile/registry-support.git /registry-support
   # Run the registry build tools
   RUN /registry-support/build-tools/build.sh /registry /build
   # Reset user as non-root
   USER 1001
   FROM quay.io/devfile/devfile-index-base:next
   COPY --from=builder /build/index.json /index.json
   COPY --from=builder /build/stacks /stacks
   

3. Run docker build -t devfile-index to build the devfile registry into a container image.

The build script builds the index generator, generates the index.json file from the specified devfile registry, and builds the stacks and index.json into a devfile index container image. The registry build process takes the contents of your devfile registry Git repository and:

1. Packages the content of each devfile stack based on the supported media types for the devfile registry.

2. Validates the content of the devfile registry repository based on the expected registry structure.

3. Generates index.json from the stacks in the repository and from any extra stacks or samples mentioned in the extraDevfileEntries.yaml file.

4. Builds a devfile index container image with the devfile stack contents and index.json.

Additional resources

• For examples on how to add Dockerfiles to your devfile registry, see the devfile/registry repository’s Dockerfile.

• To run the registry build outside a container build, see the devfile registry build tools.

Tagging and pushing a registry container image

Use the devfile index container image to create a container in which you build, run, and deploy your application.

Procedure

1. Choose a container registry.

2. Consult the documentation for your container registry and log in to the registry with the Docker CLI.

3. Push the devfile index container image to your chosen container registry:

   $ docker tag -f devfile-index __<registry-hostname>__/__<registry-username>__/devfile-index:latest
   $ docker push __<registry-hostname>__/__<registry-username>__/devfile-index:latest
   

4. If your container does not build properly, consult the documentation for your container registry.

Additional resources

• For information on deploying the devfile index container image, see deploying a devfile registry.
• For information on deploying to air-gapped environment, see installation of in-cluster offline devfile registry.