Configuring Docker Registry Mirrors in China to Overcome Image Pull Failures

During a holiday CTF preparation, the author attempted to deploy the open‑source CTFd platform using Docker but repeatedly failed to pull required images due to the Great Firewall restricting access to foreign Docker registries.

Although many Chinese organizations provide free Docker mirror services (e.g., Alibaba Cloud, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China), none of the tested mirrors worked at first, leading to confusion.

After extensive trial and error, a functional mirror list was discovered, allowing the Docker environment to be set up successfully. The author then shares the currently usable mirror addresses for others facing similar issues.

To apply these mirrors, edit the Docker daemon configuration file /etc/docker/daemon.json (create it if it does not exist) and add the following JSON content:

{
  "registry-mirrors": [
    "https://docker.m.daocloud.io",
    "https://noohub.ru",
    "https://huecker.io",
    "https://dockerhub.timeweb.cloud"
  ]
}

After saving the file, restart the Docker service and retry pulling images; the mirrors should now work. The author notes that these addresses might be blocked in the future, so users should use them while they remain accessible.