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What is unregistry?

unregistry is a lightweight container image registry created by Pasha Sviderski that stores and serves images directly from your Docker daemon's storage. The included docker pussh command lets you push images straight to remote Docker servers over SSH, transferring only missing layers for maximum efficiency.

😤 Docker Deployment Pain Points:

Docker Hub/GHCR: Your code becomes public or you pay for private repos
Self-hosted registry: Another service to maintain, secure, and pay for
Save/Load: Transfers entire image even if 90% already exists on server
Remote rebuild: Wastes time and server resources, debugging production builds

✅ The unregistry Solution: docker pussh myapp:latest user@server - That's it! Your image is on the remote server with no registry setup, no subscription, no intermediate storage, just direct transfer of missing layers over SSH.

            🚀 Why Latest Versions Matter: unregistry is actively developed with frequent releases containing performance improvements, enhanced SSH handling, better containerd integration, and new deployment features. The latest versions include improved layer deduplication and enhanced multi-platform support.
        

⚡ Key Features of unregistry

🚀 Direct Transfer

Push images directly to remote servers over SSH. No intermediate registry, no exposed ports, just efficient point-to-point transfer.

📦 Layer Deduplication

Transfers only missing layers, like rsync for Docker images. If 90% of your image exists remotely, only 10% gets transferred.

🔒 Secure by Design

Uses SSH for authentication and transport. No exposed registry ports, no additional security configuration needed.

⚡ Zero Setup

No registry infrastructure to maintain. Works with any server that has Docker and SSH access.

🏗️ CI/CD Ready

Perfect for deployment pipelines. Build locally or in CI, push directly to production servers without registry complexity.

🌐 Multi-Platform

Supports multi-platform images with containerd image store. Deploy ARM and x86 images efficiently.

🆕 What's New in unregistry 0.2.1+

Enhanced SSH Handling: Better SSH connection management and error handling
Improved Performance: Faster layer transfer and reduced overhead
Containerd Integration: Better containerd image store support and configuration
Multi-Platform Support: Enhanced support for ARM and x86 architectures
Error Recovery: Better handling of network interruptions and transfer failures
Documentation: Improved setup guides and troubleshooting information

📦 Installation from debian.griffo.io

Step 1: Add Repository

curl -sS https://debian.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/debian.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb https://debian.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.griffo.io.list
sudo apt update
                

curl -sS https://debian.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/debian.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb https://debian.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.griffo.io.list
apt update
                

Step 2: Install unregistry

# Install unregistry and docker-pussh
sudo apt install unregistry docker-pussh

# Verify installation
docker pussh --version
                

# Install unregistry and docker-pussh
apt install unregistry docker-pussh

# Verify installation
docker pussh --version
                

🎯 Basic Usage Examples

Simple image push:

# Build image locally
docker build -t myapp:latest .

# Push directly to remote server
docker pussh myapp:latest user@server.example.com

# That's it! Image is now available on remote server
        

Advanced usage:

# Push with SSH key
docker pussh myapp:latest ubuntu@192.168.1.100 -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa

# Custom SSH port
docker pussh myapp:latest user@server:2222

# Specific platform for multi-arch images
docker pussh myapp:latest user@server --platform linux/amd64

# Use in deployment script
docker pussh myapp:$VERSION deploy@prod-server
ssh deploy@prod-server docker run -d myapp:$VERSION
        

CI/CD integration:

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Build and deploy
  run: |
    docker build -t myapp:${{ github.sha }} .
    docker pussh myapp:${{ github.sha }} deploy@staging-server
        

🚀 Why Choose debian.griffo.io?

📊 Installation Comparison:

Official Debian: Not available in official repositories
Manual Script: Requires manual updates and dependency management
Homebrew: Limited to specific platforms
debian.griffo.io: Latest version (0.2.1+) with automatic updates

✅ Latest Features: Get newest Docker and SSH integration improvements
✅ Complete Package: Both unregistry and docker-pussh included
✅ Automatic Updates: Packages updated within hours of upstream releases
✅ Proper Integration: Correctly configured as Docker CLI plugin
✅ Multi-Distribution: Works on Bookworm, Trixie, and Sid
✅ Easy Maintenance: Standard apt commands for updates

📦 Package Build Repository

The Debian packages are automatically built and maintained in this GitHub repository:

📠 unregistry-debian - Latest release builds
📡 docker-pussh-debian - Latest release builds

🔗 Related Packages

Also available from debian.griffo.io:

lazydocker - Terminal UI for Docker management
uncloud - Multi-server container deployment
fzf Fuzzy Finder - Enhanced command searching

            🎯 Perfect for: DevOps engineers deploying containers, developers who want simple image distribution, teams avoiding registry complexity, homelab enthusiasts, and anyone needing efficient Docker image transfers.
        

🐳 Install Latest unregistry on Debian