How to Setup Private Docker Registry on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS?

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Ubuntu 18.04 is no longer supported; this guide uses Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

A private registry stores your own Docker images.

Install Docker Engine (official repository)

Ubuntu 24.04 / Debian 12:

apt install ca-certificates curl
install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")
Components: stable
Architectures: $(dpkg --print-architecture)
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF
apt update
apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

On Debian, use https://download.docker.com/linux/debian in both the key URL and URIs.

AlmaLinux 9 / Rocky Linux 9:

dnf install dnf-plugins-core
dnf config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/rhel/docker-ce.repo
dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
systemctl enable --now docker

Test with docker run hello-world. Compose is available as docker compose.

Run the registry with a password

apt install apache2-utils
mkdir -p /opt/registry/auth
htpasswd -Bbn youruser 'Strong-Password' > /opt/registry/auth/htpasswd
docker run -d --restart=always --name registry -p 127.0.0.1:5000:5000 \
  -v /opt/registry/data:/var/lib/registry -v /opt/registry/auth:/auth \
  -e REGISTRY_AUTH=htpasswd -e REGISTRY_AUTH_HTPASSWD_REALM=Registry \
  -e REGISTRY_AUTH_HTPASSWD_PATH=/auth/htpasswd registry:3

Add HTTPS with Nginx

Proxy registry.example.com to 127.0.0.1:5000 (see the reverse proxy guide), add client_max_body_size 0; for large image layers, and get a certificate with Certbot.

Use it

docker login registry.example.com
docker tag myapp registry.example.com/myapp:1.0
docker push registry.example.com/myapp:1.0

Check the registry

curl -u youruser https://registry.example.com/v2/_catalog          # list repositories
curl -u youruser https://registry.example.com/v2/myapp/tags/list     # list tags

Common problems

• http: server gave HTTP response to HTTPS client: Docker only talks to registries over HTTPS. Use the Nginx proxy with a valid certificate instead of adding an insecure registry.
• 413 Request Entity Too Large: add client_max_body_size 0; to the Nginx server block.
• unauthorized: run docker login registry.example.com again, and check the htpasswd file uses bcrypt (-B).

Tip: Back up /opt/registry/data; it holds all image layers.