Distr Launch Week: The Distr Artifact Registry is GA
Today, we are happy to announce that the Distr artifact registry is now Generally Available (GA).
Manage and distribute container images, Helm charts, and other OCI artifacts with license-based access control, audit logs, and a visual UI that makes self-managed software distribution pretty darn simple if we do say so ourselves, built for both you and your customers.
Why we built a registry into Distr
Distr was originally built to help vendors manage software distribution in agent based assisted self-managed environments. But as end customers increasingly requested full control over their deployments, vendors needed a way to offer a fully self-managed model as well. Other third-party registries lacked the fine-grained access controls and visibility these scenarios call for, so that's why we built an OCI-compliant registry directly into Distr, enabling both assisted and fully self-managed distribution, with features like tag-based access control and detailed download logs.
Why is Self-Managed artifact distribution hard?
In case you are unsure whether this is a feature you need, consider this.
Let’s say a new customer is ready to deploy your self-managed solution. Contracts signed. Excitement is high. But then you get a flurry of messages from your end customers along the lines of…
"We can't access your registry."
"Is our firewall blocking the pull?"
"Which version are we supposed to use?"
Sound familiar?
Vendors often don’t have a standard way to set up credentials, provide pull instructions, and troubleshoot artifact access issues. Customers get frustrated. Deployment stalls.
With Distr's built-in registry, those problems are largely mitigated and planned for in advance.
Sign up and explore Distr
Distr is a battle tested software distribution platform that helps you scale from your first self-managed customers to dozens and even thousands.
Meet the Distr Artifact Registry
Built for software vendors who serve end-customer with different deployment appetites, our registry brings OCI-compliant artifact distribution natively integrated into Distr.
Here are a few of its key features:
OCI-compliant & format-flexible
The registry supports any OCI artifact, including:
- Docker images
- Helm charts
- WASM modules
- Anything else that follows the OCI spec
License-based access control
Vendors can restrict access by using Artifacts licenses. Grant or revoke permissions to one or many artifacts at the tag level. Update instantly when entitlements change.
Visual management
Use any OCI compliant CLI for pushing and pulling, and use the Distr Registry UI to:
- View artifact versions or tags
- See which customer pulled what, and when
- Track deployment status across environments
General Artifact UI
Deployment tracking UI
The Downloads page gives granular artifact consumption logs
Download audit logs UI
What's next for the Registry?
We’re just getting started, here’s what’s coming soon:
- Integrated CVE scanning for registry artifacts
- Download history query & export
- Visual indicators and download for SBOM & image signature layers
Give it a try today
The Distr container registry has already distributed thousands of artifact versions to end customers. Often completely white-labeled, with a custom CNAME DNS record, as part of a vendors software supply distribution stack.
The registry is available now in all Distr accounts. Just head to the Artifacts tab in the dashboard to get started.
We are excited to hear your thoughts on the registry and open to your feedback to further shape the product to make it as useful as possible for vendors and end-customers alike.
Sign up and explore Distr
Distr is a battle tested software distribution platform that helps you scale from your first self-managed customers to dozens and even thousands.