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Helm registries let you connect external Helm chart repositories to Ankra. Once connected, all charts in the registry become available as add-ons that you can deploy to your clusters through stacks.
Registries you add are available to your organization. Team members can browse and deploy charts from shared registries.

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Supported Registry Types

Ankra supports two types of Helm registries:

HTTP Registries

Traditional Helm repositories served over HTTP/HTTPS.

Examples: ChartMuseum, Harbor, Nexus

OCI Registries

Container registries that support Helm charts as OCI artifacts.

Examples: GHCR, Google Artifact Registry, Amazon ECR

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Adding a Registry

1

Navigate to Charts

Go to Charts in the main navigation, then click the Manage Registries button.
2

Click Add

Click the Add button to open the registry dialog.
3

Enter Registry Details

  • Registry Name: A friendly name for the registry (e.g., my-charts)
  • Registry URL: The full URL to your registry
  • Credential (optional): Select a credential if authentication is required
4

Save

Click Add to connect the registry. Ankra will fetch the chart index and display available charts.

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Registry URL Examples

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OCI Registries

ProviderURL Format
GitHub Container Registryoci://ghcr.io/YOUR_ORG/charts
Google Artifact Registryoci://REGION-docker.pkg.dev/PROJECT/REPO
Amazon ECRoci://ACCOUNT.dkr.ecr.REGION.amazonaws.com/charts
Azure Container Registryoci://YOUR_REGISTRY.azurecr.io/charts
Docker Huboci://registry-1.docker.io/YOUR_ORG

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HTTP Registries

ProviderURL Format
ChartMuseumhttps://charts.example.com
Harborhttps://harbor.example.com/chartrepo/PROJECT
Nexushttps://nexus.example.com/repository/helm-hosted/
JFrog Artifactoryhttps://artifactory.example.com/artifactory/helm-local
OCI registries use the oci:// prefix. Ankra automatically detects the registry type based on the URL.

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Authentication

Many registries require authentication. Create a registry credential first, then select it when adding the registry.

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Creating a Registry Credential

1

Go to Credentials

Navigate to Credentials in the Ankra dashboard.
2

Add New Credential

Click Add and select Registry as the provider.
3

Enter Credentials

  • Name: A name for this credential (e.g., ghcr-auth)
  • Username: Your registry username
  • Password: Your registry password or access token
4

Save

Click Create to save the credential.

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Provider-Specific Authentication

  1. Create a Personal Access Token with read:packages scope
  2. Username: Your GitHub username
  3. Password: The Personal Access Token
  1. Create a service account with Artifact Registry Reader role
  2. Username: _json_key
  3. Password: The JSON key file contents
  1. Get an auth token: aws ecr get-login-password
  2. Username: AWS
  3. Password: The token from the command above
ECR tokens expire after 12 hours. Consider using IAM roles for long-term access.
  1. Create an Access Token in Docker Hub settings
  2. Username: Your Docker Hub username
  3. Password: The Access Token

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Managing Registries

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View Registry Charts

Click on a registry to browse all available charts. Each chart shows:
  • Chart name and description
  • Latest version
  • Last updated timestamp
  • Keywords and maintainers

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Delete a Registry

  1. Go to Charts and click Manage Registries
  2. Click on the registry you want to remove
  3. Click the More menu (⋮) and select Delete
Deleting a registry removes it from Ankra but doesn’t affect deployed add-ons. Existing deployments will continue to work.

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How Registry Sync Works

Ankra automatically syncs your registries to keep chart listings up to date.

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Sync Schedule

  • Default interval: Every 2 minutes
  • Configurable: Set a custom sync interval per registry (10 seconds to 24 hours)
  • Disable sync: Set interval to 0 to disable automatic sync

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Sync Process

1

Check for Updates

Ankra checks the registry’s index.yaml (HTTP) or manifest (OCI) using ETag/Last-Modified headers to avoid unnecessary downloads.
2

Detect New Versions

New chart versions are identified by comparing the index against previously synced versions.
3

Download Charts

New versions are downloaded and stored securely. Ankra extracts README, values.yaml, and JSON schema files.
4

Update Index

The chart browser is updated with new versions available for deployment.

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Version Tracking

Ankra tracks every chart version with:
  • Version number and semantic versioning
  • Digest for integrity verification
  • Created date from the chart metadata
  • Deprecation status if marked in Chart.yaml
Failed version syncs are automatically retried with exponential backoff. Check the registry details page to see sync status.

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Using Registry Charts

Once a registry is connected, its charts appear in the add-on browser:
  1. Create or edit a stack
  2. Click Add Component → Add-on
  3. Browse or search for charts from your registries
  4. Select the chart and configure values
  5. Deploy the stack to your cluster
Charts from your registries work exactly like built-in add-ons-they support custom values, dependencies, and GitOps sync.

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Troubleshooting

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Registry Not Loading

IssueSolution
Connection timeoutCheck the registry URL is accessible from Ankra
Authentication failedVerify credentials are correct and not expired
No charts foundEnsure the registry contains Helm charts, not just container images
OCI not supportedSome registries need OCI support enabled (e.g., Harbor)

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Sync Issues

IssueSolution
Charts not updatingCheck the sync interval hasn’t been disabled (set to 0)
Some versions missingCheck registry details for failed versions and retry
Stale dataRegistry may have an issue serving index.yaml-verify externally

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Common Errors

“invalid reference format”
  • The URL format is incorrect. OCI URLs must start with oci://
“unauthorized: authentication required”
  • Add or update the registry credential
“manifest unknown”
  • The chart doesn’t exist at the specified path. Check the repository structure.