Install your own container registry and cache server

When using the Runner in autoscale mode, it is advised to set up a personal container registry and a cache server.

Install a proxy container registry

  1. Login to a dedicated machine where the container registry proxy will be running
  2. Make sure that Docker Engine is installed on that machine

  3. Create a new container registry: 

    docker run -d -p 6000:5000 \
    -e REGISTRY_PROXY_REMOTEURL=https://registry-1.docker.io \
    --restart always \
    --name registry registry:2

    You can modify the port number (6000) to expose the registry on a different port

  4. Check the IP address of the server: 

    hostname --ip-address

    You should preferably choose the private networking IP address. The private networking is usually the fastest solution for internal communication between machines of a single provider (DigitalOcean, AWS, Azure, etc) Usually the private networking is also not accounted to your monthly bandwidth limit.

  5. Docker registry will be accessible under MY_REGISTRY_IP:6000

You can now proceed and configure config.toml to use the new registry server.

Install your own cache server

If you don’t want to use a SaaS S3 server, you can install your own S3-compatible caching server:

  1. Login to a dedicated machine where the cache server will be running
  2. Make sure that Docker Engine is installed on that machine

  3. Start MinIO, a simple S3-compatible server written in Go: 

    docker run -it --restart always -p 9005:9000 \
        -v /.minio:/root/.minio -v /export:/export \
        --name minio \
        minio/minio:latest server /export

    You can modify the port 9005 to expose the cache server on different port

  4. Check the IP address of the server: 

    hostname --ip-address
  5. Your cache server will be available at MY_CACHE_IP:9005

  6. Create a bucket that will be used by the Runner: 

    sudo mkdir /export/runner

    runner is the name of the bucket in that case. If you choose a different bucket, then it will be different. All caches will be stored in the /export directory.

  7. Read the Access and Secret Key of MinIO and use it to configure the Runner: 

    sudo cat /export/.minio.sys/config/config.json | grep Key

You can now proceed and configure config.toml to use the new cache server.