# Creating a custom registry

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** package-manager\
**Created:** [August 26, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007 "2019-08-26T19:29:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ggggggggg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ggggggggg/32/265_2.png) [@ggggggggg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ggggggggg)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/1 "2019-08-26T19:29:17Z")

</div>

I’m trying to create a registry. I’m starting with a simple example before I attempt the real thing. My goal here is to make a registry with two packages `TestB` which depends on `TestA` which is also in the registry. Then I want to install TestB and see that it can find and download `TestA`. I’m using GunnarFarneback’s registrator version which allows the use of registrator for local actions, though I’m not 100% sure I’m using it correctly. I believe I created the two packages and the registry, but I can’t figure out how to make one package depend on the other. Also I haven’t got the the point of putting either package on github.

I’m going to paste the full list of commands I ran with some annotation, and then ask my question.

```julia
(v1.1) pkg> registry status
Registry Status 
 [23338594] General (https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git)
(v1.1) pkg> add https://github.com/GunnarFarneback/Registrator.jl
using Registrator
shell> cd julia
shell> mkdir reg_test
shell> cd reg_test # I'm going to put the registry and both packages in this dir for the test
julia> create_registry("TestRegistry","https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestRegistry")
# make a github repo at that url
shell> cd TestRegistry/
shell> git push -u -f origin master # -f generally not neccesary, I wrote over my first attempt
shell> cd ..
# /Users/user/Julia/reg_test
(v1.1) pkg> generate TestA
(v1.1) pkg> generate TestB
shell> cd TestA
(v1.1) pkg> activate .
julia> using TestA # register requires module as argument, must using TestA 
shell> cd ..
# /Users/user/Julia/reg_test
(TestA) pkg> add TestRegistry # oops... I guess I added the registry as a package? it seems like that should have failed
(TestA) pkg> rm TestRegistry
(TestA) pkg> activate .
(reg_test) pkg> registry add TestRegistry
(TestB) pkg> activate TestB
# at this point I believe TestA exist, and is in TestRegistry, and I have added TestRegistry, so I should be able to find TestA from TestB... but clearly not
(TestB) pkg> add TestA
[ Info: resolving package specifier `TestA` as a directory at `~/Julia/reg_test/TestA`.
   Cloning git-repo `TestA`
ERROR: Git repository not found at 'TestA'
(TestB) pkg> registry status # it knows about TestRegistry, so why doesn't this work?
Registry Status 
 [23338594] General (https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git)
 [0652d6e2] TestRegistry (https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestRegistry)

```

I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I guess it has something to do with where my packages and directories are in my filesystem?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/2 "2019-08-27T14:40:39Z")

</div>

Since nobody with better expertise has replied, here are my 2 cents:

The best guide for creating a registry that I have seen is [here](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-registry/12094).

I have tried this path somewhat unsuccessfully. I ended with a registry and entries in it that looked valid, but led to TOML errors that I could not parse.

When I try to replicate your steps, I get stuck at `create_registry` which has no binding in my setup.

One way of figuring out what may have gone wrong is to simply look at the registry files (that should be located in `.jula/registries`.

Hope this is somewhat helpful and curious to see how this gets resolved.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ggggggggg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ggggggggg/32/265_2.png) [@ggggggggg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ggggggggg)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/3 "2019-08-27T15:06:06Z")

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Thanks for trying to help. I think you may have missed the `using Registrator` step when following my steps.

@GunnarFarneback thanks for the package, do you any insight here?

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**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/4 "2019-08-27T16:33:24Z")

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> [@ggggggggg](#):
>
> at this point I believe TestA exist, and is in TestRegistry, and I have added TestRegistry, so I should be able to find TestA from TestB… but clearly not (

It seems that you forgot the `register` step for `TestA`. The registry is, at this point, empty.

(I managed to get `create_registry` to work. Oddly, it failed a few times in spite of issuing `using Registrator`; I have no idea why).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ggggggggg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ggggggggg/32/265_2.png) [@ggggggggg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ggggggggg)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/5 "2019-08-27T17:13:46Z")

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I did leave out `register` by accident, but it was failing as well because it assumes your package is in a git repo. Once I did `git init` inside `TestA` then I was able to register and get `add TestA` to work inside `TestB`. I’ll try to start from scratch again and see where I end up.

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**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/6 "2019-08-27T17:19:08Z")

</div>

I would be curious about the syntax for `register`. From the source, it is not clear to me what exactly is expected / required.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ggggggggg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ggggggggg/32/265_2.png) [@ggggggggg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ggggggggg)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/7 "2019-08-27T18:06:58Z")

</div>

This works for me!! I wrote it all with function calls so it’s easier to copy/paste. I recommend either making your test repos public, or switching to `git` style urls so you can use ssh and a key. I typed my github login/password MANY times working this out. Also I think you can probably drop the `repo=` keyword arguments, but I’m not sure. I and I think you can drop at least the final `Pkg.update()`. Note that I use `git push -f` for the first round of pushes, since I was restarting this process multiple time.

Also it would be nice to figure out how to add to the registry in `.julia/registries` directly so I don’t need to working copies.

```julia
# make repos TestRegistry, TestA and TestB on github
import Pkg
Pkg.add(Pkg.PackageSpec(url="https://github.com/GunnarFarneback/Registrator.jl"))
import Registrator
mkdir("reg_test")
cd("reg_test")
Registrator.create_registry("TestRegistry","https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestRegistry")
run(`git -C TestRegistry push -u -f origin master`)
Pkg.generate("TestA")
run(`git -C TestA init`)
run(`git -C TestA add --all`)
run(`git -C TestA commit -m 'initial commit'`)
run(`git -C TestA remote add origin https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestA`)
run(`git -C TestA push -u -f origin master`)
Pkg.generate("TestB")
run(`git -C TestB init`)
run(`git -C TestB add --all`)
run(`git -C TestB commit -m 'initial commit'`)
run(`git -C TestB remote add origin https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestB`)
run(`git -C TestB push -u -f origin master`)
run(`git -C TestRegistry push origin master`)
Pkg.Registry.add(Pkg.RegistrySpec(url="https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestRegistry"))
Pkg.activate("TestA")
import TestA
Registrator.register(TestA, "TestRegistry", repo="https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestA")
run(`git -C TestRegistry push origin master`)
Pkg.Registry.update()
Pkg.activate("TestB")
Pkg.add("TestA")
run(`git -C TestB add --all`)
run(`git -C TestB commit -m 'add TestA dep'`)
run(`git -C TestB push origin master`)
import TestB
Registrator.register(TestB, "TestRegistry", repo="https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestB")
run(`git -C TestRegistry push origin master`)
Pkg.Registry.update()

#testing that it works
exit()
cd ~
start julia
import Pkg
Pkg.Registry.add(Pkg.RegistrySpec(url="https://github.com/ggggggggg/TestRegistry")) # would be required on fresh systems
Pkg.add("TestB")

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/8 "2019-08-27T18:14:55Z")

</div>

Thanks! I have been unsuccessfully spending a fair bit of time on this.  
Next step: How to push version updates…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ggggggggg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ggggggggg/32/265_2.png) [@ggggggggg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ggggggggg)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/9 "2019-08-27T18:16:19Z")

</div>

I’m interested in what you figure out.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![haberdashPI](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/haberdashpi/32/26337_2.png) [@haberdashPI](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/haberdashPI)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/10 "2019-08-28T02:53:27Z")

</div>

You have to push them manually: go to the local registry folder and call `git push`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/11 "2019-08-28T13:09:49Z")

</div>

Sorry - that was a bit cryptic for me.

My (untested) understanding is that one simply registers the same package again (after incrementing the version number in Project.toml).

Does your `git push` comment refer to what happens after that?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![haberdashPI](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/haberdashpi/32/26337_2.png) [@haberdashPI](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/haberdashPI)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/12 "2019-08-29T02:15:28Z")

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I think I misunderstood what you meant by your next step. Yes, you can add new versions to the registry the same way you add the first version (by calling `register`) along with an updated version number. My comment about the push was in reference to pushing a new version of the registry itself (e.g. to github). That branch of Registrator can’t do it for you.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hendri54](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hendri54/32/9621_2.png) [@hendri54](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/hendri54)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/13 "2019-08-29T13:49:24Z")

</div>

Thanks - I hope to get around to trying this soon.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![j-fu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/j-fu/32/11373_2.png) [@j-fu](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/j-fu)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/14 "2020-03-23T23:17:21Z")

</div>

For anyone reading this now (Mar 24 2020): GunnarFarneback/Registrator ceases to work with Julia 1.4. Use LocalRegistry.jl instead.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GunnarFarneback](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gunnarfarneback/32/1827_2.png) [@GunnarFarneback](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GunnarFarneback)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/15 "2020-03-24T07:49:33Z")

</div>

Yes, I have discontinued my Registrator fork in favor of the [LocalRegistry](https://github.com/GunnarFarneback/LocalRegistry.jl) package, which is now itself registered in the General registry. Since LocalRegistry is better tested, better documented, and is more convenient to use, I would recommend anyone who is still using my Registrator fork to switch, regardless of what Julia version you are running.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BambOoxX](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/bambooxx/32/22179_2.png) [@BambOoxX](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/BambOoxX)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 8:18am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/16 "2021-05-07T08:18:50Z")

</div>

I am currently trying to use LocalRegistry and managed to

- Create a new registry
- Push it on a local NAS storage
- Register packages into this registry
- Push the modified registry

From there, I wanted to “share” this registry with some of my team members.  
However, upon `registry add <url_to_the_nas_registry_folder>` it did not work at all, returning a git error.

My idea was that my teammates would only need to handle the registry in order to use / develop my packages, is this right or did i miss something ? For instance, is it reguired to use LocalPackageServer too ?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GunnarFarneback](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gunnarfarneback/32/1827_2.png) [@GunnarFarneback](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GunnarFarneback)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 8:38am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/17 "2021-05-07T08:38:54Z")

</div>

> [@BambOoxX](#):
>
> My idea was that my teammates would only need to handle the registry in order to use / develop my packages, is this right or did i miss something ?

Yes, that’s the general idea.

> For instance, is it reguired to use LocalPackageServer too ?

No, that’s not necessary.

From the error message in [GitError(Code:ERROR, Class:Net, Unsupported URL protocol) · Issue #34 · GunnarFarneback/LocalRegistry.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/GunnarFarneback/LocalRegistry.jl/issues/34) I my best guess is that Pkg doesn’t parse

```julia
pkg> registry add \\nas_address\Git\Julia_Registry.git`

```

in the way you expect but I don’t have any Windows box to experiment with. What you could try is to use the functional form of `registry add` and explicitly tell it what path or URL you have.

```julia
help?> Pkg.Registry.add
  Pkg.Registry.add(url::String)
  Pkg.Registry.add(registry::RegistrySpec)

  Add new package registries.

  │ Julia 1.1
  │
  │ Pkg's registry handling requires at least Julia 1.1.

  Examples
  ≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡

  Pkg.Registry.add("General")
  Pkg.Registry.add(RegistrySpec(uuid = "23338594-aafe-5451-b93e-139f81909106"))
  Pkg.Registry.add(RegistrySpec(url = "https://github.com/JuliaRegistries/General.git"))

```

As a meta comment it’s usually better to start a new message/issue with your specific problem than to tag it onto some old conversation.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BambOoxX](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/bambooxx/32/22179_2.png) [@BambOoxX](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/BambOoxX)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 8:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/creating-a-custom-registry/28007/18 "2021-05-07T08:47:27Z")

</div>

> [@GunnarFarneback](#):
>
> As a meta comment it’s usually better to start a new message/issue with your specific problem than to tag it onto some old conversation.

I just figured people would stumble upon this thread (as I did) but I agree I could have started a new conversation. I am used to this on stackexchange, but discourse feels somewhat different…

I will test the functional version right now ! Thanks.

EDIT: The issue in my case was due to the non-logged state of the local user on the hosting NAS server preventing git to push/pull from it.  
The `Pkg.Registry.add(RegistrySpec(url=...))` syntax was also used to avoid any parsing issues.