Container registry metadata database for new installations

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• Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
• Offering: GitLab Self-Managed

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Enable the container registry metadata database for your instance.

Enable the metadata database

Enable the metadata database for a new container registry.

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{{< tab title="GitLab 18.3 and later" >}}

Prerequisites:

• You must have a new container registry with no images pushed to the registry.

To enable the database:

1. Enable the database by editing /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and setting enabled to true:

   rubyCopy

   registry['database'] = {
     'enabled' => true,
   }
   

2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab.

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{{< tab title="GitLab 17.5 to 18.2" >}}

Prerequisites:

• You must have a new container registry with no images pushed to the registry.
• Create an external database.

To enable the database:

1. Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb by adding your database connection details, but start with the metadata database disabled:

   rubyCopy

   registry['database'] = {
     'enabled' => false,
     'host' => '<registry_database_host_placeholder_change_me>',
     'port' => 5432, # Default, but set to the port of your database instance if it differs.
     'user' => '<registry_database_username_placeholder_change_me>',
     'password' => '<registry_database_placeholder_change_me>',
     'dbname' => '<registry_database_name_placeholder_change_me>',
     'sslmode' => 'require', # See the PostgreSQL documentation for additional information https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/libpq-ssl.html.
     'sslcert' => '</path/to/cert.pem>',
     'sslkey' => '</path/to/private.key>',
     'sslrootcert' => '</path/to/ca.pem>'
   }
   

2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab.

3. Apply database migrations.

4. Enable the database by editing /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and setting enabled to true:

   rubyCopy

   registry['database'] = {
     'enabled' => true,
     'host' => '<registry_database_host_placeholder_change_me>',
     'port' => 5432, # Default, but set to the port of your database instance if it differs.
     'user' => '<registry_database_username_placeholder_change_me>',
     'password' => '<registry_database_placeholder_change_me>',
     'dbname' => '<registry_database_name_placeholder_change_me>',
     'sslmode' => 'require', # See the PostgreSQL documentation for additional information https://www.postgresql.org/docs/16/libpq-ssl.html.
     'sslcert' => '</path/to/cert.pem>',
     'sslkey' => '</path/to/private.key>',
     'sslrootcert' => '</path/to/ca.pem>'
   }
   

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You can now use the metadata database for all operations!