Mirror Docker Images to Alibaba Cloud with GitHub Actions – A Free, Fast Solution

Background

Since July 2024, developers in mainland China cannot pull images from Docker's official registry, and many domestic mirrors are also inaccessible, causing significant inconvenience for software development.

Solution Overview

The method uses GitHub Actions to copy images from foreign Docker registries (DockerHub, gcr.io, k8s.io, ghcr.io, etc.) into an Alibaba Cloud private registry, providing fast access for domestic servers.

Key Features

Supports any Docker registry such as DockerHub, gcr.io, k8s.io, ghcr.io.

Handles large images up to 40 GB.

Uses Alibaba Cloud's official network for high speed.

Customizable image list via images.txt.

Step 1 – Configure Alibaba Cloud Registry

Log in to the Alibaba Cloud Container Registry console at https://cr.console.aliyun.com/, create a namespace, and set a fixed password. After setting the password, you can log in locally with docker login.

Step 2 – Set GitHub Action Secrets

Create four repository secrets in GitHub using the information obtained in Step 1. Example values:

- ALIYUN_REGISTRY: registry.cn-chengdu.aliyuncs.com <changeme>
- ALIYUN_NAME_SPACE: flyeric <changeme>
- ALIYUN_REGISTRY_USER: amuguelove1991 <changeme>
- ALIYUN_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: xxx <changeme>

Step 3 – Obtain the Source Code

The project flyeric0212/docker-image-mirror is hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/flyeric0212/docker-image-mirror. Fork the repository and edit the images.txt file to list the Docker images you want to mirror.

Step 4 – Run the GitHub Action

Add the desired image names and tags to images.txt, commit the changes, and the GitHub Action will automatically build and push the images to the Alibaba Cloud registry.

Step 5 – Verify Images in Alibaba Cloud

After synchronization, view the list of images and their tags in the Alibaba Cloud console, then pull them directly with docker pull after logging in to the registry.

Reference

[1]

flyeric0212/aliyun-docker-image-mirror (GitHub): https://github.com/flyeric0212/aliyun-docker-image-mirror