Chainguard Containers reference on

Chainguard Catalog Starter

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 07:52:00 +0200

Chainguard Catalog Starter is a way to try production-grade Chainguard Containers for free, without committing to a full subscription. It lets you choose a set of five container images from the broader Chainguard catalog so you can validate security, performance, and operational fit in your own environment before you buy.

Note: Chainguard Catalog Starter is in beta.

To sign up for Catalog Starter, follow the steps on this page. Once set up, you can start piloting up to five secure container images from the Chainguard catalog.

Chainguard container catalog pricing

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:49:31 +0000

Chainguard offers Catalog Pricing for our library of secure container images, providing access to the full catalog of Chainguard Containers. Catalog Pricing enables you to add individual images from the wider Chainguard catalog to your organization’s repository using the Self-Serve Catalog Experience.

This article highlights the benefits of the Catalog Pricing plan and outlines how you can provision container images through the Self-Serve Experience.

Catalog pricing

The Catalog Pricing model provides a single subscription that grants unlimited access to the full catalog of container images maintained by Chainguard. This model removes the need for per-repository licensing and offers predictable monthly or annual costs. Subscriptions can include FIPS-compliant images, depending on the selected tier.

Package and image name mappings

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 11:07:52 +0200

When migrating to Chainguard Containers, you may notice that some package and image names differ from their upstream counterparts. This guide explains why these mappings exist and provides a comprehensive reference of how Chainguard maps image and package names to our container ecosystem.

Why Chainguard remaps package names

Different Linux distributions often use different names for the same software. For example, Debian calls its C compiler package build-essential, while Alpine calls the equivalent package build-base and Fedora uses gcc and related packages. Chainguard Containers standardize these names to provide consistency regardless of which distribution you’re migrating from.

Using the Tag History API

Fri, 26 May 2023 08:49:31 +0000

Chainguard Containers have automated nightly builds, which ensures our container images are always fresh including any recent patches and updated software. Even though it is important to keep your base images always updated, there will be situations where you’ll want to keep using an older build to make sure nothing will change in your container environment until you feel it’s safe to update.

For cases like this, it is useful to point your Dockerfile to use a specific container image digest as base image.

Unique tags for Chainguard Containers

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:49:31 +0000

Chainguard’s unique tags feature provides unique timestamped tags for every container image build, addressing enterprise requirements for precise version tracking and automated deployment workflows. Many organizations rely on distinct tags to trigger automated deployments and maintain audit trails, making traditional floating tags like ’latest’ unsuitable for production use.

To help with cases like this, Chainguard offers Unique Tags for private registries. Unique Tags are ideal for organizations that require a strict tag per release or update of their images. They benefit teams looking for precise tracking and management of container images.

Requesting new Chainguard resources

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:07:52 +0200

The Chainguard Console includes the Requests section where customers can submit and track requests for resources that Chainguard doesn’t currently offer. This improves transparency around which technologies Chainguard is working to build and helps minimize duplicate build requests.

This guide provides an overview of how to submit a request for a new resource to Chainguard, as well as the limitations on what resources can be built.

Note: The Requests section is in beta.