Introduction

If you’re looking to push a Docker image to Google Container Registry (GCR), this guide will walk you through the entire process. Make sure you have the necessary .dockerignore and .gitignore files in place to optimize your build and deployment process.

1. Build Your Docker Image

Dockerfile: Start by creating a Dockerfile in the root directory of your project. This file will define the steps needed to build your Docker image. Here are the essential components:

Refer to this article

Build Command: Use the following command to build your Docker image:

docker build -t <your-project-name>:<tag> .

Replace <your-project-name> with a descriptive name for your project, and <tag> with a version tag (e.g., latest, v1.0).

2. Authenticate with Google Container Registry

gcloud: Ensure you have the Google Cloud SDK installed and authenticated.

Authentication Command: Run the following command to authenticate:

gcloud auth configure-docker asia-east1-docker.pkg.dev

This command will prompt you to log in to your Google Cloud account.

3. Tag Your Image for GCR

Tag Command: Tag your image with the GCR repository name:

docker tag <your-project-name>:<tag> gcr.io/<your-project-id>/<your-image-name>:<tag>

Example:

docker tag laravel:latest gcr.io/google-project-id/laravel:latest

Replace <your-project-id> with your Google Cloud project ID and <your-image-name> with a name for your image in GCR.

4. Push to GCR

Push Command: Push your tagged image to GCR:

docker push gcr.io/<your-project-id>/<your-image-name>:<tag>

Example:

docker push gcr.io/google-project-id/laravel:latest

Important Considerations

  • .dockerignore: This file is crucial for excluding unnecessary files from your Docker image, helping to keep your image size small and efficient.
  • .gitignore: While this file is for Git version control and doesn’t directly affect Docker builds, it’s good practice to keep sensitive files (like .env files) out of your Git repository.
  • Security: Use a more specific tag than latest for production deployments to prevent accidental overwrites.
  • Deployment: Once your image is in GCR, you can deploy it to a Kubernetes cluster or another container orchestration platform.

Example

Let’s say your project is called “laravel”," your Google Cloud project ID is “google-project-id”," and you want to push an image named “laravel” with the tag “v1.0.”

Step-by-Step Commands:

  1. Build the image:

    docker build -t laravel:v1.0 .

  2. Authenticate with GCR:

    gcloud auth configure-docker asia-east1-docker.pkg.dev

  3. Tag the image for GCR:

    docker tag laravel:v1.0 gcr.io/google-project-id/laravel:v1.0

  4. Push to GCR:

    docker push gcr.io/google-project-id/laravel:v1.0