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VMware Application Catalog extends support to JFrog Container Registry

VMware Application Catalog (formerly Tanzu Application Catalog) is a catalog of trusted, continuously maintained, and verifiably tested open source images, custom-built to enterprise specifications and privately delivered directly to a customer’s registry of choice.

Until recently, VMware Application Catalog had Google Container Registry, Azure Container Registry, and Harbor as supported registries, but last month we announced support for Amazon Elastic Container Registry. Today we are happy to announce the addition of yet another major container registry to our list, JFrog Container Registry.

Thanks to the additional support for JFrog Container Registry, VMware Application Catalog will now be easier for enterprises running any of the JFrog products supporting Docker Open Container Initiative (OCI) registries to use in their infrastructure (see JFrog Cloud comparison matrix and JFrog self-hosted comparison matrix), as it enables the following use cases: 

  1. Consume artifacts directly from JFrog Artifactory-based Docker OCI registries. 

  1. Build artifacts on top of a customer-owned golden base image hosted in a JFrog Artifactory-based Docker OCI registry.

How to add a JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog 

Adding JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog generally follows the same steps involved with adding any other registry. These steps are listed below: 

  1. On the menu bar of the VMware Application Catalog user interface, click Configure, then Registries

  1. On the Registries page that appears, click the Add Registry tile. 

  1. In the Add Registry dialog, provide the following information and then click Add

  • Provider 

  • Name 

  • Description 

  • Registry URL 

  • Access key ID 

  • Secret access key 

Note: The username and password should identify a user with enough permissions to pull and push artifacts. More info is available on the identity and access page in the JFrog documentation.

VMware Application Catalog will check that the registry can be accessed with the provided credentials before saving the registry. After successful validation, a message appears confirming that your request to add a new registry has been successfully submitted. 

  1. Click OK

Screenshot showing how to add a JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog 

Adding a JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog; modal filled with sample details 

How to build your enterprise catalog on top of a base image hosted in a JFrog Container Registry 

The steps involved in adding a new custom base image hosted in a JFrog Container Registry are listed below:

  1. On the menu bar of the VMware Application Catalog user interface, click Configure, then Base Images. The Base Images page appears. 

  1. On the Add New Image tile, click Add

  1. In the Add Custom Base Image dialog, complete the following and then click Add

  • Provide a name and description for the base image. 

  • Select the JFrog Container Registry that you have added to VMware Application Catalog. 

  • Enter the location or path to the base image in the chosen registry. For example, base-images/debian:buster, or just debian:buster, depending on the registry URL. If you don’t specify a version, VMware Application Catalog automatically considers the latest version. 

  • Select an operating system for the base image. 

The base image you added appears in the My Custom Base Images section. 

 Screenshot showing how to add a custom base image hosted in JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog

Adding a custom base image hosted in JFrog Container Registry to VMware Application Catalog; modal filled with sample details 

Users can then build their customized enterprise catalog on top of the custom base image hosted in their JFrog Container Registry. This can often be beneficial for enterprises looking for more control and strong compliance with security standards.

For more information, check out the VMware Application Catalog documentation.