Install Project Quay Using Podman on Oracle Linux

Introduction

Project Quay is an open-source repository that stores and manages artifacts such as containers for use on cloud-native platforms. Project Quay also offers additional functionality such as (in no particular order):

Registry - High availability
Security - Vulnerability scanning, Logging & Auditing, Notifications & Alerts
Access Control - Role-based access control (RBAC)
Integration - OAuth support
Build Automation - Git/GitHub/GitLab integration

It can be deployed on a Kubernetes cluster using an Operator or as a standalone container or high-availability cluster on Podman.

Objectives

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to:

Install and run Project Quay using Podman
Verify basic Quay functionality is working

Note: The steps provided do not include configuring the registry using certificates. Therefore, it's recommended for non-production purposes or an internal/air-gapped environment.

Prerequisites

Minimum of a single Oracle Linux system
Each system should have Oracle Linux installed and configured with:
- A non-root user account with sudo access
- Podman and cURL packages
- Access to the Internet

Deploy Oracle Linux

Note: If running in your own tenancy, read the linux-virt-labs GitHub project README.md and complete the prerequisites before deploying the lab environment.

Open a terminal on the Luna Desktop.

Clone the linux-virt-labs GitHub project.

git clone https://github.com/oracle-devrel/linux-virt-labs.git

Change into the working directory.
```
cd linux-virt-labs/ol
```

Install the required collections.

ansible-galaxy collection install -r requirements.yml

Deploy the lab environment.
```
ansible-playbook create_instance.yml -e localhost_python_interpreter="/usr/bin/python3.6" -e use_podman=true -e update_all=true
```
The free lab environment requires the extra variable local_python_interpreter, which sets ansible_python_interpreter for plays running on localhost. This variable is needed because the environment installs the RPM package for the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure SDK for Python, located under the python3.6 modules.
The default deployment shape uses the AMD CPU and Oracle Linux 8. To use an Intel CPU or Oracle Linux 9, add -e instance_shape="VM.Standard3.Flex" or -e os_version="9" to the deployment command.
Important: Wait for the playbook to run successfully and reach the pause task. At this stage of the playbook, the installation of Oracle Cloud Native Environment is complete, and the instances are ready. Take note of the previous play, which prints the public and private IP addresses of the nodes it deploys and any other deployment information needed while running the lab.

Confirm Podman Works

The container-tools package in Oracle Linux provides the latest versions of Podman, Buildah, Skopeo, and associated dependencies.

Open a terminal and connect via SSH to the ol-node-01 instance.
```
ssh oracle@<ip_address_of_instance>
```

Confirm the Podman CLI is working.

podman run quay.io/podman/hello

Example Output:

[oracle@ol-server ~]$ podman run quay.io/podman/hello
Trying to pull quay.io/podman/hello:latest...
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob f82b04e85914 done  
Copying config dbd85e09a1 done  
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
!... Hello Podman World ...!

         .--"--.           
       / -     - \         
      / (O)   (O) \        
   ~~~| -=(,Y,)=- |         
    .---. /`  \   |~~      
 ~/  o  o \~~~~.----. ~~   
  | =(X)= |~  / (O (O) \   
   ~~~~~~~  ~| =(Y_)=-  |   
  ~~~~    ~~~|   U      |~~ 

Project:   https://github.com/containers/podman
Website:   https://podman.io
Documents: https://docs.podman.io
Twitter:   @Podman_io

Configure Networking

Set Firewall Rules

Edit the system's firewall rules to open the ports Project Quay requires.

Update Firewall Rules
```
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5432/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=6379/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
```
The deployment uses these ports in the following manner:
- Ports 80 and 443: default webui listeners for the Quay container
- Port 5432: default database listener port for the PostgreSQL container
- Port 6379: default port for the client-server communication into the Redis container

Setup Host File

You can configure the Project Quay container's network communication in several ways. For more details, see the Project Quay documentation .

One of these options is to ensure the Oracle Linux system's hostname is resolvable. If deploying in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, this requirement is handled during deployment by updating the instances /etc/hosts file and through OCI DNS service.

Check the current content of the /etc/hosts file.
```
cat /etc/hosts
```
The output shows the instance's IP address pointing to its hostname and fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

(Optional) Install the PostgreSQL Client

This step allows access to the PostgreSQL database from the command line outside the container. It is not required to configure and set up the container.

Install the PostgreSQL client.
```
sudo dnf -y install postgresql
```

Setup the Project Quay Datastore

Project Quay uses a database to store metadata. This tutorial uses PostgreSQL as the default option. Users can also use MySQL as an alternative, but it is outside this tutorial's scope.

Create the directory for the database container data storage.
```
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/pgsql/data
```

Set the correct permissions on the data storage.

sudo chmod 0755 /var/lib/pgsql/data

sudo setfacl -m u:26:-wx /var/lib/pgsql/data

Define the environment variables.
These define the PostgreSQL variables that Podman uses to start the container.
```
export POSTGRESQL_CONTAINER_NAME=postgres
export POSTGRESQL_DB=quay
export POSTGRESQL_USER=quayuser
export POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD=quay-test
```
- POSTGRESQL_CONTAINER_NAME: refers to the name used by the PostgreSQL container.
- POSTGRESSQL_DB, POSTGRES_USER, and POSTGRES_PASSWORD: refer to PostgreSQL specific values.

Start the PostgreSQL container specifying details such as the User Name, Password, Database name, Port #, and the Volume mount point for the database datastore.

sudo podman run --detach --name ${POSTGRESQL_CONTAINER_NAME} \
  --env POSTGRES_USER=${POSTGRESQL_USER} \
  --env POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD} \
  --env POSTGRES_DB=${POSTGRESQL_DB} \
  --publish 5432:5432 \
  --volume /var/lib/pgsql/data:/var/lib/postgresql/data:Z \
  docker.io/library/postgres:latest

The :Z at the end of the --volume setting enables the storage volume to work with SELinux enabled, which Oracle Linux enables by default.

Add the Trigram Module to PostgreSQL

(Optional) Use the PostgreSQL Client

Skip this step if you choose not to perform the optional installation of the PostgreSQL client packages.

Connect to the database.
```
psql -h $(hostname -i) quay quayuser
```
The password for user quayuser is quay-test, as defined in the export and container creation above.
Create the trigram module.
```
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm;
```
Exit the PostgreSQL client by typing \q and then the RETURN key.

Run Directly in the Container

Create the trigram module.

sudo podman exec -it postgres /bin/bash -c 'echo "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm" | psql -d quay -U quayuser'

Verify the PostgreSQL Container Status

Confirm the database has started.

sudo podman ps

Example Output:

[oracle@ol-server ~]$ sudo podman ps
CONTAINER ID  IMAGE                             COMMAND               CREATED         STATUS             PORTS                   NAMES
1ec4a57b792d  docker.io/library/postgres:latesy  postgres              55 seconds ago  Up 55 seconds ago  0.0.0.0:5432->5432/tcp  postgresql

Check the container logs.
```
sudo podman logs -f postgres
```
The los should display that the database system is ready to accept connections.
Use CTRL+C to return to the command prompt.
Get the IP address of the PostgreSQL container, as we'll use it later.
```
sudo podman inspect -f "{{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}" postgres
```
The container name used here should match the --name value you use in the Podman command to create the PostgreSQL container.
Alternatively, you can use grep to get the IP address.
```
sudo podman inspect postgres | grep IPAddress
```

Setup Redis

Project Quay requires Redis to store ephemeral information.

Create the directory for the Redis container's data storage.
```
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/redis
```
Set the permissions.
```
sudo chmod 0755 /var/lib/redis
```

Start the Redis container.

sudo podman run --detach --name redis \
  --restart=always \
  --publish 6379:6379 \
  --privileged=true \
  --volume /var/lib/redis:/var/lib/redis:Z \
  docker.io/library/redis:latest

Confirm the Redis container is running.
```
sudo podman ps
```
Check the Redis container's logs.
```
sudo podman logs -f redis
```
Type CTRL+C to return to the command prompt.

Get the IP address for the Redis container.

sudo podman inspect -f "{{.NetworkSettings.IPAddress}}" redis

Configure Project Quay

Project Quay includes a web-based tool for entering details to set up the PostgreSQL database and generate the Quay configuration files. The Quay configuration files are generated as a tar/zipped YAML file that needs to be expanded after being moved.

Launch the Project Quay ConfigTool.

sudo podman run -d --name quay-config -p 80:8080 -p 443:8443 quay.io/projectquay/quay config secret-pass

This process pulls the latest quay image and runs the config script.

Open a new terminal and connect using SSH to the ol-node-01 instance to configure an SSH tunnel.
```
ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 oracle@<ip_address_of_instance>
```
An SSH tunnel is required when securely accessing a non-SSL WebUI running on a headless remote system. In the SSH tunnel, port 8080 is opened on your local machine, and port 80 is on the remote system. In this specific case, port 80 is the externally mapped port for the Project Quay container.
Open a new browser and enter the URL http://localhost:8080 to open the Project Quay ConfigTool.
Log in to the Quay Configuration editor using the provided values.
- Username - quayconfig
- Password - secret-pass (Note: This matches the last parameter passed when starting the Quay config container.)

Enter Quay Configuration Information

The following steps involve entering new details, while others use some of the information collected/noted in the earlier steps to set up PostgreSQL, Redis, etc.

If not visible after logging in, scroll down to the Basic Configuration section. Notice you have the ability to populate several fields.
- Registry Title
- Registry Title Short
- Enterprise Logo URL
- Contact Information
We'll not make any changes as part of this tutorial.
Scroll down to the Server Configuration section and enter the server's hostname (as seen earlier in the /etc/hosts file).
- Server Hostname: ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com
Next, scroll down to the Database section.
Click on the drop-down box next to the Database Type field and select Postgres.
We select the PostgreSQL database type to allow us to choose the Clair scanning tool later in this tutorial. The Clair scanning tool currently does not work with a MySQL Quay database.
Enter the details into the PostgreSQL-specific fields.
- Database Server: Choose either the $HOSTNAME or FQDN as entered in the /etc/hosts file or the container's IP address
- Uername: quayuser
- Password: quay-test
- Database Name: quay
All of these values MUST match those you used when starting the PostgreSQL container.
Continue scrolling down to the Redis section.
Enter the IP address of the Redis container.
Notice a floating dialogue box labeled Validate Configuration Changesat the bottom of the browser screen.
Click on the floating dialogue box.
This action confirms you've met the minimum requirements for the Project Quay server to function.
Click on the button to Download the quay-config.tar.gz configuration file.
The file downloads to your local systems ~/Downloads directory where you run the browser.
Open a new terminal and verify the configuration file exists.
```
ls -lsa ~/Downloads
```
The output should display the quay-config tar file.
Copy the file to the ol-node-01 server where the Project Quay container runs.
```
scp ~/Downloads/quay-config.tar.gz oracle@<ip_address_of_instance>:~
```
The ~ at the end of the command indicates that we're copying the file to the home directory on the ol-node-01 instance.
Close the terminal window you used to copy the quay-config.tar.gz file by typing exit.
Switch to the terminal window used to open the SSH tunnel.
Close the SSH tunnel by typing CTRL-C.
Keep the terminal window open, as we'll use it again in upcoming steps.
NOTE: Closing the SSH tunnel session is required because the connected container session on port 80 has been closed.
Switch to the original terminal window we used to connect to the ol-node-01 instance.
Check for the quay-config.tar.gz file in the Oracle user's home directory.
```
ls ~
```
Stop the Project Quay configuration container process.
```
sudo podman stop quay-config
```
Confirm the quay-config container has stopped.
```
sudo podman ps
```

Prepare to Start Quay

You can alter the location of the Project Quay config and storage directories as needed as long as the correct permissions are applied and the directories are accessible.

Using the original terminal window connected to ol-node-01, create a location to hold the Project Quay configuration.
```
mkdir -p ~/quay/config
```
Create a location where Project Quay can store its artifacts.
```
mkdir -p ~/quay/storage
```
Expand the gzipped tar file into the Quay configuration directory.
```
tar -xzvf quay-config.tar.gz -C ~/quay/config/
```
Update the Quay configuration file.
These changes are required to resolve a startup problem related to the keepalivescount setting. The following sed command clears out the DB_CONNECTION_ARGS section.
```
sed -in "s/DB_CONNECTION_ARGS:/DB_CONNECTION_ARGS: {}/g" ~/quay/config/config.yaml
sed -ine '/\s\s\skeepalives/,/\s\s\stcpusertimeout/d' ~/quay/config/config.yaml
```
Confirm the YAML configuration file exists.
```
cat ~/quay/config/config.yaml
```
Grant root read access to the Project Quay config directory.
```
sudo setfacl -R -m u:1001:r ~/quay/config
```
Grant root read, write, and execute access to the Project Quay storage directory.
```
sudo setfacl -R -m u:1001:rwx ~/quay/storage
```

Start Project Quay

Start the Project Quay server.

sudo podman run --name quay \
--restart=always \
--publish 443:8443 \
--publish 80:8080 \
--privileged=true \
--volume ~/quay/config:/conf/stack:Z \
--volume ~/quay/storage:/datastorage:Z \
--detach quay.io/projectquay/quay:latest

Confirm it started.
```
sudo podman ps
```
Check the Project Quay logs.
Note: Getting log output can take 15-20 minutes to complete the first time Project Quay starts.
```
sudo podman logs -f quay
```
Switch to the terminal window previously used to configure an SSH tunnel and reestablish the SSH tunnel.
```
ssh -L 8080:localhost:80 oracle@<ip_address_of_instance>
```
Open a Browser window and connect to the Project Quay registry login screen using http://localhost:8080.
Note: If the browser window returns an error message (often indicating an inability to load config), the Project Quay server is still configuring itself for this initial startup. Please wait and retry in a few minutes.

The first step is to create a new user. At the Quay login screen, click the Create Account link below the Username and Password fields.
The Create New Account page will display, allowing you to enter your credentials.
- Username - This will be the username displayed within the Quay Registry.
- E-mail Address - This should be a valid e-mail address (not used in this tutorial for verification)
- Password - Enter a password that's a minimum of 8 characters long
Note: The fields will display a red background if any field contains an unexpected or invalid value. A green background indicates the entered values are valid.
Important: How to create a super user is documented here . A super user is a normal user with extended privileges, which include the ability to perform the following actions:
- Manage Users
- Manage Organizations
- Query Usage logs
- View the Change log
Once all the entry fields have a green background, click the Create Account button. Project Quay creates the new account and logs in automatically.
With the first user able to log in, that confirms Project Quay is running.

Create a New Project Quay Registry Repository

A repository in Project Quay is usually named the same as the container image that will be stored or pushed to it once it is set up. This naming convention makes locating container images from this locally hosted container registry much more straightforward. However, the tutorial steps are not required to comply with this, hence why the screenshots show the repository name as test01.

Click on the Create New Repository link in the top right corner of the Repositories panel to display the Create New Repository panel.
Input the required values.
- Repository Name - Repository names must match [a-z0-9][.a-z0-9_-](/[a-z0-9][.a-z0-9_-])* (Note: Capital letters are invalid)
- Repostory Description - This is optional.
- Choose to make the Repository Public or Private depending on the intended purpose.
You can alter both the Repository Description and Public/Private settings later.
Click the Create Repository button to create the new repository.
The button will contain either Private or Public depending upon which repository type you select.
The user interface shows the newly created repository.
At this point, the Project Quay registry has been started, a new user has been created and logged in, and a new repository has been created within the container registry. The next step is to return to the command line and upload a container to this newly created container registry.

Using Project Quay

These steps demonstrate pulling an image from an external registry, then tagging it, logging on to the newly created Project Quay registry, and finally pushing the image into the freshly created test01 repository.

Note: Because we did not configure this install of Project Quay using SSL certificates, the log in and push operations need to use the --tls-verify=false flag; otherwise, they will fail. It's recommended that Project Quay be configured with proper SSL certificates in a production environment.

From an existing terminal already connected to the ol-node-01 instance, pull the Oracle Linux 9 image.
```
podman pull ghcr.io/oracle/oraclelinux:9
```
Tag the pulled image with destination details of the newly created Project Quay registry.
The tag used can be any value preferred, such as latest.
```
podman tag ghcr.io/oracle/oraclelinux:9 ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01:latest
```
Where user01 is the name of your username in the registry, and test01 is the name of the registry.

podman login --tls-verify=false ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01

Note: Use the Username and Password values used when creating the Project Quay user in the previous steps.

Example Output:

[oracle@ol-server ~]$ podman login --tls-verify=false ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01
Username: user01
Password: 
Login Succeeded!

Push the image.

podman push --tls-verify=false ghcr.io/oracle/oraclelinux:9 ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01:latest

Switch to the open browser and navigate to the Repository Tags section of the user-1/test01 repository.
The tagged image should appear in the list.
Delete the local copy of the test01 image.
We must perform this step before testing the ability to pull the image from the Project Quay registry.
```
podman rmi ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01:latest
podman rmi ghcr.io/oracle/oraclelinux:9
```

Pull the test01 image from the Project Quay registry.

podman pull --tls-verify=false ol-node-01.lv.vcn.oraclevcn.com/user01/test01:latest

Summary

This final step confirms that the local Project Quay registry can store and serve container images kept within its repositories.

Although we've completed this tutorial, Project Quay has many more features and abilities, as shown below:

Deploy for High Availability (via Podman or Kubernetes)
Deploy to Kubernetes via an Operator or Helm
Can be integrated with OAuth & Email systems
Support for Repository mirroring
Enable Clair-based image security scanning
Support for Dockerfile builds

In the meantime, many thanks for taking the time to try this Lab.

Install Project Quay Using Podman on Oracle Linux

Introduction

Objectives

Prerequisites

Deploy Oracle Linux

Confirm Podman Works

Configure Networking

Set Firewall Rules

Setup Host File

(Optional) Install the PostgreSQL Client

Setup the Project Quay Datastore

Add the Trigram Module to PostgreSQL

(Optional) Use the PostgreSQL Client

Run Directly in the Container

Verify the PostgreSQL Container Status

Setup Redis

Configure Project Quay

Enter Quay Configuration Information

Prepare to Start Quay

Start Project Quay

Create a New Project Quay User and Login

Create a New Project Quay Registry Repository

Using Project Quay

Summary

For More Information