How to use this image

All examples in this guide use the public image. If you've mirrored the repository for your own use (for example, to your Docker Hub namespace), update your commands to reference the mirrored image instead of the public one.

For example:

• Public image: dhi.io/<repository>:<tag>
• Mirrored image: <your-namespace>/dhi-<repository>:<tag>

For the examples, you must first use docker login dhi.io to authenticate to the registry to pull the images.

Start a postgres-operator instance

Postgres Operator is a Kubernetes controller: it needs a Kubernetes API endpoint and a service account with the permissions granted by the Helm chart to do anything useful, so it is not meant to be run as a standalone container. Running the image directly with -h prints the supported flags without requiring cluster access.

Run the following command and replace <tag> with the image variant you want to run.

docker run --rm dhi.io/postgres-operator:<tag> -h

Common postgres-operator use cases

Deploy with Helm to Kubernetes

The supported way to run Postgres Operator is with the official Helm chart in a Kubernetes cluster. First, follow the authentication instructions for DHI in Kubernetes⁠.

Add the official Postgres Operator Helm chart repository:

helm repo add postgres-operator-charts https://opensource.zalando.com/postgres-operator/charts/postgres-operator

Install the chart with the Docker Hardened Image:

helm upgrade --install postgres-operator postgres-operator-charts/postgres-operator \
  --version <helm_chart_version> \
  --set image.registry=dhi.io \
  --set image.repository=postgres-operator \
  --set image.tag=<tag> \
  --set "imagePullSecrets[0].name=registry-credentials"

The chart's version tracks the operator's version 1:1 upstream, so use --version 2.0.2 for the 2.0.2 image tags.

The operator only manages PostgreSQL clusters; it schedules the actual database pods using the Spilo⁠ image configured via the chart's configGeneral.docker_image value, which is a separate image.

Non-hardened images vs. Docker Hardened Images

This Docker Hardened Image differs from the upstream image in the following ways:

• Base image: Available on Alpine 3.24 and Debian 13. Upstream publishes a single Alpine-based image.
• User: Runs as UID/GID 65532:65532 (nonroot) by default; upstream runs as UID 1000.
• Entrypoint path: postgres-operator is on PATH at /usr/bin/postgres-operator; /postgres-operator is kept as a symlink to it so manifests built against upstream's own image keep working unmodified.
• Runtime packages: Ships only the operator binary, TLS certificates, and tzdata. Upstream's image also includes curl; use the -dev variant or a custom build stage if you need it.

Image variants

Docker Hardened Images come in different variants depending on their intended use. Image variants are identified by their tag.

• Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:

  • Run as a nonroot user
  • Do not include a shell or a package manager
  • Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app

• Build-time variants typically include dev in the tag name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:

  • Run as the root user
  • Include a shell and package manager
  • Are used to build or compile applications

• FIPS variants include fips in the variant name and tag. They come in both runtime and build-time variants. These variants use cryptographic modules that have been validated under FIPS 140, a U.S. government standard for secure cryptographic operations. For example, usage of MD5 fails in FIPS variants.

To view the image variants and get more information about them, select the Tags tab for this repository, and then select a tag.

Migrate to a Docker Hardened Image

To migrate your application to a Docker Hardened Image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Docker Hardened Image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

1. Find hardened images for your app.

   A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.

2. Update the base image in your Dockerfile.

   Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.

3. For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.

   To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.

4. Install additional packages

   Docker Hardened Images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.

   Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.

   For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Docker Hardened Images is to use Docker Debug⁠ to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

Privileged ports

Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container, even if you map it to a lower port on the host. For example, docker run -p 80:8080 my-image will work because the port inside the container is 8080, and docker run -p 80:81 my-image won't work because the port inside the container is 81.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Docker Hardened Images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Docker Hardened Images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.