## Run a registry on an exe.dev VM 

By default, the [`new` command](/docs/cli-new) assumes that the image you
give it is stored in a public Docker repository. As an alternative, you can run
a Docker registry on exe.dev, and use that registry to store other images
for your VMs.

First, create a VM:

```
$ssh exe.dev new --name private-registry-test
```

Then, run the a Docker container that runs the Docker registry on it:

```
$ssh private-registry-test.exe.xyz docker run -d --name registry -p 8000:5000 registry:2
```

Then, on the registry machine (or elsewhere), build the image:

```
$ cat > Dockerfile <<EOF
FROM alpine:latest
RUN echo exe.dev > /hello.txt
EOF

$ docker build -t localhost:8000/my-image:v1
$ docker push localhost:8000/my-image:v1
```

Finally, create a new VM, <b>using the VM hostname as the registry host</b>.

```
$ssh exe.dev new --image private-registry-test.exe.xyz/my-image:v1
Creating oboe-hydra using image my-image:v1...
```

And observe it working:

```
$ssh oboe-hydra.exe.xyz cat /hello.txt
built-it
```

## Authenticating to an existing registry

If your image already lives in a private registry (ghcr.io, Docker Hub,
GitLab, ECR, ...), pass `--registry-auth=USERNAME:PASSWORD`:

```
new --image=ghcr.io/OWNER/IMAGE:TAG \
    --registry-auth=USERNAME:TOKEN
```

**ghcr.io** requires a [classic Personal Access
Token](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=read:packages&description=exe.dev%20ghcr%20pull)
with `read:packages`.

**Docker Hub** accepts a [personal access
token](https://app.docker.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/create)
with read scope.