Deploy an External Image

This section of the documentation provides guidance on how to deploy an external image within the pipeline.

Deploying an external image directly allows you to bypass application and version configurations, offering flexibility for non-standardized services or third-party containers. The deployment process is straightforward and integrated into the UI.

To summarize, your workflow for deploying an external image is:

Prepare the external image: Ensure it's built and pushed to a container registry accessible by the platform.
Access the New deployment dialog in the UI: Select the option to deploy an external image from the menu.

Provide the external image uri and configure settings: In the dialog, specify the image and adjust settings like resources, replicas, and public access.

External Image Reference

The external image reference specifies the image to deploy. It must include:

The container registry (e.g., DockerHub, AWS ECR, GCR).
The image name.
The tag (e.g., latest, or a specific version like 1.2.3).

Example external image reference:

dockerhub.io/myorg/my-service:1.2.3

Tip

Ensure your external image is accessible from the platform. For private repositories, ensure the correct credentials or access policies are in place.

Deployment Settings for External Images

The deployment settings for external images are similar to application deployments, with slight differences. Below is a description of the main features:

Dialog Item	Description
External Image	The full external image reference, including registry, name, and tag.
Environment Variables	Any environment variables your container needs can be specified here.
Deployment Settings	Configure whether the image runs as a service or a job. Also, set CPU, memory, and replicas for scaling.
Public Access	Configure whether the container is accessible externally via a public URL.
State Management	If state is enabled, a `state` folder is created to persist data across restarts. See state management docs.
Deployment Name	The name of the deployment. You can change it to something descriptive.

Working on the Command Line

To deploy an external image from the command line, modify your quix.yaml file to include the image, then use the following commands:

Sync local changes: Use the quix local pipeline sync --update command. This updates your pipeline in Quix Cloud based on your quix.yaml file.
Sync remote environment: Use the quix envs sync command to synchronize an environment with its project repository.

For more details on CLI usage, see the CLI documentation.