Pushing docker image through Git Hub enterprise runner to aws ECR private repo

It sounds like you're encountering an authentication issue when trying to push Docker images from your GitHub Enterprise runner to an AWS ECR private repository. The "403 access forbidden" error suggests that while you're able to authenticate to ECR, you don't have the necessary permissions to push the image. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve this issue:

1. Ensure proper IAM permissions: The IAM user or role associated with your GitHub Enterprise runner needs the correct permissions to push images to ECR. You should have a policy that includes permissions like ecr:CompleteLayerUpload, ecr:UploadLayerPart, ecr:InitiateLayerUpload, ecr:BatchCheckLayerAvailability, ecr:PutImage, and ecr:GetAuthorizationToken. You can create a custom IAM policy or use the AWS managed policy AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryFullAccess for full access to ECR.

2. Verify authentication: Make sure you're properly authenticating to ECR before attempting to push the image. Use the AWS CLI command aws ecr get-login-password to retrieve the authentication token, and then use it with the docker login command.

3. Check network connectivity: If your GitHub Enterprise runner is in a private network, ensure it has the necessary network access to reach the ECR endpoint. You might need to configure appropriate network rules or use a VPC endpoint for ECR if your runner is in a VPC.

4. Confirm repository existence and naming: Verify that the ECR repository you're trying to push to actually exists and that you're using the correct repository name in your push command.

5. Review GitHub Actions workflow: If you're using GitHub Actions, make sure your workflow is correctly configured to use the appropriate AWS credentials and region.

6. Use AWS credentials properly: Ensure you're securely managing and providing AWS credentials to your GitHub Enterprise runner. You can use GitHub Secrets to store sensitive information like AWS access keys.

7. Check image tagging: Ensure your Docker image is correctly tagged with the full ECR repository URI before pushing.

If you've verified all these points and are still encountering issues, you may need to review your network configuration or consult with your network administrator to ensure there are no firewall rules or other network policies blocking the connection between your GitHub Enterprise runner and the ECR service.

Remember to follow security best practices when handling AWS credentials and configuring access to your ECR repositories.

Sources
IAM permissions for pushing an image to an Amazon ECR private repository - Amazon ECR
Docker push to ECR time out | AWS re:Post
Pushing a Docker image to an Amazon ECR private repository - Amazon ECR

Thanks alot for the detailing, the Git hub runner in not running in private , but ecr repo in private . Would that matter ?