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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 organisation. 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

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HTTP Registries

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

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Sync Issues

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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.