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Container Registry

Image lazy loading

Creating conversion rules for image lazy loading

You can use image lazy loading to convert images to the Nydus format. This enables containers to start without downloading the entire image and to load only the data actually used on demand. This can reduce container startup time to seconds. After you create a conversion rule, the system can automatically convert a pushed image to the Nydus format. This topic describes how to create an image conversion rule in CR for image lazy loading.

warning

This operation is only applicable to Standard Edition instances.

Images larger than or equal to 60 GiB cannot be automatically converted via conversion rules. Manually convert such images offline, and then push them to CR for use.

For the manual conversion method, see Manually converting images to Nydus format.

For instructions on pushing images, see Getting Started.

Using this feature incurs additional image storage costs.

Converting images for lazy loading takes time. We recommend configuring the conversion policy in advance and allowing sufficient time for the conversion to avoid affecting the service release date. For example, converting a 40 GiB image takes approximately 30 minutes.

Prerequisites

You have created an instance. For instructions, see Creating Standard instances or Creating proxy cache registries.

Procedure

This topic describes how to create a conversion rule for image lazy loading based on Container Registry. For other operations related to lazy loading, see Lazy loading usage procedure.

Select the target region in the top navigation bar.

In the left navigation pane, click Instance list. Select an entry point depending on your instance type:

Standard instance: Click Standard instance. Find the target instance and click Enter instance.

Proxy repository: Click Proxy cache. Click the target domain name to enter the instance details page.

On the Standard Edition instance details page, select Distribution acceleration > Image lazy loading in the left navigation bar.

On the Image lazy loading page, click Create image lazy loading conversion rule.

Configure the parameters of the image lazy loading conversion rule.

Basic information

Parameter
Description
Name
A custom name of the image lazy loading conversion rule.
Description
A custom description of the image lazy loading conversion rule.

Acceleration rule

warning

OCI artifact types that do not support conversion will not be converted even if they match a conversion rule. For example, Helm Chart is of the Nydus type, so conversion is not supported.

Parameter	Description
Instance	The name of the selected instance, which cannot be modified.
Rule dimension	Supports filtering target images by namespace and OCI artifact repository. Namespace: Filters images by namespace, including all OCI artifact repositories within the selected namespace. OCI artifact repository: Filters images by OCI artifact repository.
Namespace	Select the namespace where the target images reside.
OCI artifact repository	Select the OCI artifact repository where the target image is located. This is supported only when the Rule dimension is OCI artifact repository.
Tag rule	Configure the rule for filtering image tags. All: Selects all images that match the filter rule. Regex matching: Selects images that match the regular expression. For examples of commonly used regular expressions, see Regular expression matching examples.
Rule state	Whether to enable the conversion rule. If this feature is enabled, the system automatically generates a Nydus image replica when an image matching the rule is pushed to CR.

Click Confirm to complete creation.

Results

After creation is complete, you can view the generated conversion rule records on the Image lazy loading page.

After a conversion task is complete, you can view the converted Nydus image in the OCI artifact repository.

Last updated: 2026.09.23 14:37:23

Parameter	Description
Name	A custom name of the image lazy loading conversion rule.
Description	A custom description of the image lazy loading conversion rule.