Managing Docker projects on Amazon Inc.’s cloud will become a lot easier for development teams after they return to work from the holiday thanks to the launch of a new service that promises to automate the handling of software components. The EC2 Container Registry can be used to store everything from low-level building blocks like operating systems and middleware to the application code itself.

Adding a new item is a simple matter of firing up the Amazon Web Services command line tool on the machine where the file is located, inputting a few brief commands to package it into a Docker instance and shipping off the container to the desired folder in the registry. Native access controls allow usage restrictions to be individually set for every repository in order to block unauthorized submissions and other potentially harmful activity. The feature should prove particularly useful in large projects with multiple teams working side by side, which also stand to benefit from the user directory integration that tops off the service’s security capabilities.

The fact that its free makes the EC2 Container Registry an attractive alternative to setting up a self-managed image management system, which requires implementing all of that functionality from scratch. Such an undertaking not only takes up person-hours better spent elsewhere but creates more opportunities for human error as well that can expose projects to unnecessary risk. And that’s the last thing CIOs want, especially those working at the kind of savvy organizations building Docker applications in the cloud, where source-code is typically considered nothing short of a trade secret.

Amazon allows the native authorization capabilities of EC2 Container Registry to be augmented with the third party security service of Twistlock Ltd. to help provide an added layer of protection for projects that fall into that category. The ability for customers to store even their most sensitive software on its platform is a major selling point that will only become more important as Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. likewise work to improve Docker support in their rivaling public clouds. 

Photo via giografiche