Azure Container Registry
Beyond Container Images

https://github.com/rstropek/rust-request-bin

Introduction

Rainer Stropek

  • Passionate developer since 25+ years
     
  • Microsoft MVP, Regional Director
     
  • Trainer, Teacher, Mentor
     
  • 💕 community

https://rainerstropek.me

ACR

Some Basics...

What's ACR and why would you need it?

  • Managed Docker registry service
    • Based on OSS Docker Registry 2.0
    • Supports OCI Image Format Spec, OCI Distribution Spec 🔗
  • Avoid Docker Hub download rate limits 🔗
  • Network-close storage of container images to deployments
    • Including geo-replication
  • Secured by AAD
    • Public images are supported, too 🔗
  • Advanced security features
    • Image tag signing
    • VNet integration
    • Image scanning by Defender for cloud
  • Run CI/CD processes as ACR Tasks

Demo
Time!

Webhooks

Webhooks 🔗

  • Inform systems about events in Container Registry
  • Registry-level or scoped-down
  • az acr webhook ... 🔗

  • Works nicely with Azure App Service CI/CD
    scenarios 🔗

Demo

# Create Azure Container Registry
# Assumption: Name of ACR is acrbeyondimages

# Setup webhook to https://acr-beyond-images.azurewebsites.net/bin

docker pull alpine:latest
docker pull rust:alpine
docker tag alpine:latest acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/alpine:latest
docker tag rust:alpine acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/rust:alpine
docker push acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/alpine:latest
docker push acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/rust:alpine

# Show webhook call
# Show webhook log in portal
# Ping webhook interactively

Demo
Time!

Tasks

Quick Recap

Multi-step Dockerfiles

Quick Tasks

  • Replace docker build with az acr build

    • Runs your build task in Azure instead of on your computer

    • Build context is automatically sent to ACR

    • No need to change Dockerfile

  • Pushes resulting image automatically in ACR

  • Note: Set default registry with az config set defaults.acr=myregistry

# Usual command:
docker build \
    --build-arg BASE=acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/rust:alpine \
    -t acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/request-bin \
    .

# ACR Quick Task:
az acr build \
    --registry acrbeyondimages \
    --build-arg BASE=acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/rust:alpine \
    -t acrbeyondimages.azurecr.io/request-bin \
    .

Demo
Time!

Quick Tasks - Why?

Examples:

  • Security
    • Cloud servers are more trustworthy than dev desktop
  • BYOD
    • Dev does not have Docker daemon
  • Network distance
    • Pulling/pushing is fast
  • OSs/architectures
    • Build for environments that you don't have locally 🔗

Agent Pools (Preview) 🔗

  • Run ACR tasks in dedicated compute environment
    • VMs managed by Microsoft
    • No updating/patching required
  • Currently in preview
    • Only Linux
    • Limited regional availability
  • Why?
    • Scale as needed (horizontally, vertically)
    • VNet support

Multi-Step
ACR Tasks

Multi-step ACR Tasks

  • Automate more complex container update tasks
  • Fully cloud-based
    • Sourcecode read from Git
    • Controlled by yaml file
  • Task definition 🔗
    • build
    • cmd
    • push
    • Secrects, volumes, networks

Task Triggers 🔗

  • Manually triggered ("quick tasks")

  • Source code update (Github/Azure DevOps webhooks)

    • ​Needs PAT for setting-up webhook

  • Base image update

    • ​Base images from ACRs, Docker Hub, publish MS registries

    • Note: No running of tasks on updates of intermediate images
      (e.g. build steps in multi-stage Dockerfiles)

    • Note: Consider importing base images from Docker Hub into ACR
      (az acr import) and use them as base images

  • Schedule

Demo
Time!

Create GH Task

# Run quicktask
just build-image-acr-cloud

# Create ACR Task
az acr task create \
    --registry acrbeyondimages \
    --name request-bin-gh \
    --image request-bin-gh:{{.Run.ID}} \
    --context https://github.com/rstropek/rust-request-bin.git#main \
    --file Dockerfile \
    --git-access-token $GIT_PAT

Pricing

Azure ACR Pricing

Summary

  • ACR is much more than just a place to store container images
  • Can cover many aspects of CI/CD
  • Advantages
    • Purely based on container technology
    • Standardized, no-ops build environment
    • Auto-triggered particularly on base image updates

ACR - Beyond Container Images

By Rainer Stropek

ACR - Beyond Container Images

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