Deprecating the Distribution of Microsoft Container Images via Docker Hub

Microsoft recently announced Deprecating the Distribution of Microsoft Container Images via Docker Hub. This issue describes the plan to deprecate .NET images on Docker Hub.

This change applies to:

• .NET Core users who rely on container images on Docker Hub.
• .NET Framework users who rely on container images on Docker Hub.

.NET Core and .NET Framework have been published to MCR since 2019. Most .NET container users have transitioned to pulling .NET images from MCR. It is critical that everyone relying on Docker Hub transition to using MCR now.

This change doesn't apply to the Docker Hub search and browsing experience for .NET images. The .NET image pages on Docker Hub will remain present and be continually updated.

Impact on .NET Core

.NET Core 2.1 was the last .NET release that was published to Docker Hub. .NET Core 3.0 and later releases were/are exclusively pushed to MCR, and are unaffected by this deprecation plan.

We will start deleting Microsoft-owned .NET repos on Docker Hub starting on July 1st, 2021. This process will end on August 21st, 2021, which is the same date that NET Core 2.1 will reach end of support.

If you are using .NET Core 2.1 or an earlier unsupported version, please upgrade to .NET Core 3.1 or a later version. You will need to use newer .NET images from MCR.

If you cannot upgrade your .NET Core 2.1 app to .NET Core 3.1 (or a later version) by August 21st, then you need to switch your Docker Hub references to MCR ones, or your docker build and docker pull operations will start failing on August 21st, which is the .NET Core 2.1 end of support date.

Impact on .NET Framework

.NET Framework releases have been pushed to Docker Hub since November 2016, and like .NET Core have been pushed to MCR since 2019. .NET Framework images will no longer be pushed to Docker Hub and only MCR.

If your .NET Framework app relies on Docker Hub images, please switch to pulling images from MCR as soon as possible.

.NET container repos on MCR

.NET Core 2.1, .NET Core 3.1, .NET 5, and .NET 6 container images are all hosted on MCR, at: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/

The following .NET Core and .NET image types are available on MCR:

• .NET Runtime dependencies: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime-deps
• .NET Runtime: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime
• ASP.NET: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet
• SDK: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk

For example, the (default) tag for .NET Core 3.1 ASP.NET images is: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:3.1

.NET Framework 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, and 4.8 container images are all hosted on MCR, at: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/

The following .NET Framework image types are available on MCR:

• .NET Runtime: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/runtime
• ASP.NET: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/aspnet
• WCF: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/wcf
• SDK: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/sdk

For example, the (default) tag for .NET Framework 4.8 ASP.NET images is: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/aspnet:4.8

If you are pulling .NET images from Docker Hub, you should switch to using MCR instead, to avoid any interruption in service.

.NET image deprecation plan on Docker Hub

The recent deprecation post outlines a general timeline. The following timeline is the one we'll be using for .NET images.

• [May 1] Stop syndication of nightly images to Docker Hub.
  • microsoft/aspnetcore-nightly
  • microsoft/dotnet-nightly
• [July 1] Delete Docker Hub nightly repos.
  • microsoft/aspnetcore-nightly
  • microsoft/dotnet-nightly
• [July 1] Delete Docker Hub repos that only contain unsupported versions (like .NET Core 1.x):
  • microsoft/aspnetcore
  • microsoft/aspnetcore-nightly
  • microsoft/aspnetcore-build
  • microsoft/aspnetcore-build-nightly
  • microsoft/dotnet-buildtools-prereqs
  • microsoft/dotnet-framework-samples
  • microsoft/dotnet-framework-build
  • microsoft/dotnet-samples
• [July 1] Delete .NET Framework repo
  • microsoft/aspnet
  • microsoft/dotnet-framework
  • microsoft/wcf
• [August 21] Delete remaining .NET Core 2.1 repositories
  • microsoft/dotnet

Note: .NET Core 2.1 will reach end of support on August 21st, 2021.