How to Install and Use Harbor Private Docker Registry on CentOS (HTTP)

This article provides a concise step‑by‑step guide for setting up the private Docker image registry Harbor (HTTP version) on a CentOS system.

Prerequisites

Required versions:

Docker: 20.10.12
Docker‑compose: 1.29.2
Harbor: 2.4.1

1. Install Docker and Docker Compose

sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager \
    --add-repo \
    https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo
sudo yum install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.29.2/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

2. Install OpenSSL

yum install -y openssl

3. Install Harbor

The official site offers online and offline installers; this guide uses the offline package.

wget https://github.com/goharbor/harbor/releases/download/v2.4.1/harbor-offline-installer-v2.4.1.tgz
tar zxvf harbor-offline-installer-v2.4.1.tgz
cd harbor

Copy the template configuration and edit the necessary fields: cp harbor.yml.tmpl harbor.yml Key modifications in harbor.yml (excerpt):

# Configuration file of Harbor
- hostname: reg.mydomain.com
+ hostname: your.domain.com   # set your own domain
http:
  port: 80
# Disable HTTPS
# https:
#   port: 443
# certificate: /your/certificate/path
# private_key: /your/private_key/path
harbor_admin_password: yourPassword   # set your own password

Run the installer: ./install.sh To enable Helm Chart management, add the --with-chartmuseum flag.

4. Login and Usage

Add the Harbor hostname to /etc/hosts (e.g., 127.0.0.1 your.domain.com) and log in:

docker login -u admin -p yourPassword http://your.domain.com

If you encounter HTTPS connection errors, configure Docker to allow insecure registries:

{
  "insecure-registries": ["your.domain.com:port", "0.0.0.0"]
}

Restart Docker: sudo systemctl restart docker Restart Harbor if needed:

cd harbor
docker-compose down -v
docker-compose up -d

5. Pushing and Pulling Images

# Docker
docker tag SOURCE_IMAGE[:TAG] your.domain.com/PROJECT_NAME/REPOSITORY[:TAG]
docker push your.domain.com/PROJECT_NAME/REPOSITORY[:TAG]
docker pull your.domain.com/PROJECT_NAME/REPOSITORY[:TAG]

# Helm
helm repo add --username admin --password ADMIN_PASSWORD harbor http://your.domain.com/chartrepo/
helm plugin install https://github.com/chartmuseum/helm-push
helm cm-push CHART_PATH --version="CHART_VERSION" harbor
helm repo update
helm search repo CHART_PATH
helm install RELEASE_NAME CHART_NAME

Replace PROJECT_NAME, CHART_PATH, CHART_VERSION, and RELEASE_NAME with your actual values.