Harbor

Harbor is an open-source, self-hosted cloud native registry that stores, signs, and scans container images and Helm charts. It extends the open source Docker Distribution by adding layers for security, identity, and management to ensure secure deployments within cloud native environments. The software functions as a centralized repository for artifacts used by container runtimes and orchestration platforms.

The software is deployed as a server and can be installed via Docker Compose, Helm charts, or a Harbor Operator. It is designed to sit close to build and run environments to increase image transfer efficiency. By hosting the registry locally or within a specific cloud region, organizations can reduce latency and improve the speed of image pulls during the deployment process.

Key features

• Role based access control for managing permissions of images and charts within projects
• Policy based replication to synchronize content between multiple registry instances
• Vulnerability scanning with policy checks to block the deployment of insecure images
• LDAP and Active Directory integration for enterprise user authentication
• OpenID Connect support for identity verification and single sign-on
• Image signing via Notary to guarantee authenticity and provenance
• Automated garbage collection to delete dangling manifests and unreferenced blobs
• RESTful API with an embedded Swagger UI for programmatic administrative operations
• Graphical user portal for browsing repositories and managing projects

Harbor is hosted by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and is built for organizations requiring advanced control over their container artifacts. Its architecture supports multi-datacenter deployments in hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios through the use of replication filters based on repositories, tags, and labels. The system tracks all repository operations through detailed audit logs and provides a structured way to manage access via project-based isolation, ensuring that users only access the specific images or charts they are authorized to use.

It serves as a secure management layer for container images and Helm charts in cloud native infrastructures.