ECR Lifecycle Policies

5 minutes 5 Questions

ECR Lifecycle Policies allow users to define and automate the lifecycle of their Amazon ECR images, which helps in managing the image storage and controlling costs efficiently. Users can create policies that specify rules and action parameters, such as the maximum age of an image or the maximum number of images with a specific tag. Amazon ECR will then automatically clean up images that match the defined rules, freeing up storage space and reducing the cost of maintaining unused images.

Guide: Understanding and Leveraging ECR Lifecycle Policies

ECR (Elastic Container Registry) Lifecycle Policies in AWS are an essential tool in managing your container images.
What Are ECR Lifecycle Policies?
These are a set of rules which automatically manage (clean up) your images, by defining a scope and action for your repositories. The scope defines which images the rules apply to, and the action specifies what to do when an image matches the scope.
Why Are They Important?
ECR Lifecycle Policies are critical in ensuring you only retain the necessary images, allowing for better utilization of storage and efficient cost management. They also contribute to maintaining a secure and well-managed environment.
How Do They Work?
ECR Lifecycle Policies work based on the criteria defined in the scope. It could be based on the image's age, count, or status, among others. When an image fulfills these criteria, the action defined in the policy (like expiry or deletion) is executed.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on ECR Lifecycle Policies
Understanding ECR Lifecycle Policies in-depth can prove critical in an examination context:
1. Know how to create and define a lifecycle policy.
2. Understand the different options available in the scope and actions of a policy.
3. Be aware of how images are impacted based on the policy in place.
Remember, every image count and storage is cost, which is why ECR lifecycle policies can play a vital role in saving resources.

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Question 1

Which Lifecycle Policy rule should you use on a Production ECR repository to prevent the removal of images with the 'prod' tag?

Ignore images with 'prod' tag Do not remove image if tag is 'prod' Prevent image removal when tag status is 'prod' Prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'prod'

Correct Answer: Prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'prod'

In an ECR Lifecycle Policy, you would create a rule to prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'prod'. This ensures that images with the 'prod' tag will not be removed. The other options are not valid configurations within an Amazon ECR Lifecycle Policy.

Question 2

An ECR repository has multiple images with different statuses (draft, staging, and production). You want to keep the production images indefinitely while applying a Lifecycle policy to remove draft and staging images older than 7 days. Which combination of rules would you use?

Protect images with 'production' tag, remove images older than 7 days with other imageTagStatus. Exclude 'production' tag from Lifecycle Policy, expunge all other images older than 7 days. Prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'production', expunge images older than 7 days with other imageTagStatus. Preserve images with 'production' tag, delete images older than 7 days with other tags.

Correct Answer: Prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'production', expunge images older than 7 days with other imageTagStatus.

In this scenario, you would create two rules; one rule to prevent image removal when imageTagStatus is 'production', and another rule to expunge images older than 7 days with other imageTagStatus. The other combinations of rules do not provide the desired result.

Question 3

You have an ECR repository with multiple image versions. You want to create a lifecycle policy that only preserves the 5 most recently pushed images. Which Json field and value would you use?

{"keepNewerImages": 5} {"imageCountMoreThan": 5} {"maxImageCount": 5} {"preserveLast": 5}

Correct Answer: {"imageCountMoreThan": 5}

In ECR Lifecycle Policies, 'imageCountMoreThan' is the correct field to use in this scenario, and a value of 5 indicates to just keep the 5 most recently pushed images. The other fields listed are not valid options within an Amazon ECR Lifecycle Policy.

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