Unregistry

Unregistry is a lightweight OCI image registry designed to move container images directly from your local Docker environment to remote servers without running or relying on an external registry. It pairs with a Docker CLI plugin command, docker pussh, to transfer images over SSH efficiently by sending only missing layers.

Key Features

• Push images directly to a remote Docker host over SSH using a Docker CLI plugin
• Transfers only missing image layers to speed up deployments and reduce bandwidth
• Runs a temporary unregistry container on the target host and cleans up after the push
• Stores images in containerd’s image store; can integrate best with Docker’s containerd image store mode
• Can be run standalone as a simple local registry backed by containerd

Use Cases

• Deploy locally built images straight to production or staging servers without a registry
• Simplify CI/CD pipelines by pushing images directly to deployment targets
• Distribute container images in homelab or restricted networks where registries are undesirable

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires SSH access and permissions to run Docker commands on the remote host
• Best experience requires enabling Docker’s containerd image store; otherwise images may be duplicated and require an extra pull step
• The remote host must be able to obtain the unregistry image (or you must preload it for restricted environments)

Unregistry is a pragmatic alternative to running a full registry when your main goal is simply getting images from one machine to another quickly and securely. It is especially useful for small fleets, direct server deployments, and workflows that prefer SSH-based operations over maintaining additional infrastructure.