I've been struggling for a couple of hours with what I thought was a broken Docker setup, but it turns out there's something much stranger happening. I'm trying to pull Docker images like `ubuntu:latest`, but it just hangs at `Pulling fs layer`. I get occasional retries that lead to `unexpected EOF`, and there's zero download progress happening. Basic checks like using `curl` on the Docker registry return a 401 (which is normal), the DNS is working fine, and the Docker daemon appears healthy. Logging in and out doesn't resolve anything either.
While it seemed like a Docker issue at first glance, I've since found that the connection is actually being dropped or throttled when it tries to download layers from Cloudflare's CDN. Apparently, some ISPs in Spain are blocking or messing with Cloudflare traffic during football matches due to court orders aimed at preventing piracy. So Docker works as a setup, but the layer downloads get blackholed, leading to a ton of frustration, especially on weekends.
I've even discovered a thread on Hacker News about this. Anyone else in Spain facing this issue? And how about those using CI runners or production environments? This situation feels pretty outrageous if it's really impacting people's ability to work during crucial times!
7 Answers
In Spain, this isn't too surprising. Given the frequency of these kinds of disruptions, I’d recommend setting up a local registry or using a mirror. That way, you'd be unaffected by these ISP shenanigans during matches.
You know, even a local harbor pull-through cache is super useful to avoid Docker Hub rate limits. These ISP blocks are just an extra layer of annoyance.
If you're dealing with this regularly in Spain, setting up a local registry won't take long and it saves you from needing to rely on upstream pulls. Just point your Docker configuration to it after the first pull, and you're all set!
I’m really new to this whole thing, but I was working on a project and faced connectivity issues because of these Blockades. Do VPNs really help with this? I wasn’t sure if they could bypass ISP restrictions.
Yes, they actually do help! The ISP will only see the connection to your VPN, not the blocked content.
Spain just seems to be plagued with tech issues related to political maneuvering. It's wild how court orders to block piracy end up disrupting legitimate services.
Haha, this is like a bad comedy! So frustrating to deal with.
Others have mentioned this, but anyone else finding it comic how this ISP mess impacts so many? There's a whole world of services disrupted just because of these football event orders.
Exactly! It’s not just about football, it's a violation of internet freedoms.
I ran into this issue yesterday. I’m aware of the blocking measures due to La Liga but I never thought it would affect Docker. Dealing with this right now feels insane.
It’s ridiculous. I hope things change because these blocks are just getting in the way.
Exactly! If you mirror the packages you need into a local registry, you can avoid these problems easily. I'm currently exploring lightweight alternatives to Harbor that can help with cleanup too. Image size and eviction management are tricky aspects!