🚀 How to Push a Docker Image to AWS EKS Without a Pipeline or Docker Hub

No pipeline? No Docker Hub? No problem! Here's how to push your Docker images to AWS EKS using just ECR and your terminal.

May 02, 2025

Introduction

Ever been stuck trying to get a Docker image into AWS EKS, but didn’t want to mess around with a full CI/CD pipeline or push to Docker Hub?
I’ve been there. Sometimes you just want to quickly deploy an app without all the overhead. Whether you’re testing something in a dev environment or just don’t want to deal with extra tools, this simple method will help you push a Docker image directly to AWS EKS using Amazon ECR—and skip the middleman.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of deploying your containerized app to EKS without any external dependencies. Ready? Let’s jump in!

🎯 Why Use This Method?

This is perfect if:

You’re working on a dev or test environment and don’t need the complexity of a full CI/CD pipeline.
You want to keep everything within AWS (no external registries like Docker Hub).
You’re under strict security policies that don’t allow external registries.

With ECR and EKS, you can keep things clean, quick, and all within AWS.

🧰 What You’ll Need

Before we dive into the steps, let’s make sure you’ve got everything set up:

✅ AWS CLI installed and configured (aws configure)
✅ Docker running locally
✅ kubectl configured for your EKS cluster
✅ IAM permissions for ECR and EKS
✅ An existing EKS cluster

🛠️ Step-by-Step: Push a Local Docker Image to EKS

1. Create an ECR Repository

Let’s start by creating a repository in Amazon ECR. This is where we’ll store your Docker image.
Run this command:

aws ecr create-repository --repository-name my-app --region <your-region>

It’ll return a URL for your new repository, something like:

<account-id>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com/my-app

Keep that URL handy—it’s where your Docker image will live!

2. Authenticate Docker with ECR

To push images to ECR, we need Docker to authenticate first. AWS CLI makes it easy with a simple command:

aws ecr get-login-password --region <your-region> | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <account-id>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com

If it says Login Succeeded, you’re ready to go!

3. Build and Tag Your Docker Image

Now, let’s build your Docker image. If you have a Dockerfile ready, you can run this command:

docker build -t my-app .

Once it’s built, tag the image with the ECR repository URI:

docker tag my-app:latest <account-id>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest

Pro Tip: In production, skip latest and use version tags like v1.0.0. It’s way easier to keep track of what’s deployed.

4. Push the Image to ECR

Time to push the image to ECR:

docker push <account-id>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest

You’ll see Docker uploading your image. Once it’s done, your image is now in ECR, ready for EKS to use!

5. Write Your Kubernetes Deployment File

Now, we need to tell EKS how to run your app. This is where the deployment.yaml file comes in. Create a new file called deployment.yaml and paste this in:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: my-app
        image: <account-id>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: my-app-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: my-app
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 80
  type: ClusterIP

Don’t forget to replace <account-id> and <region> with your actual values.

6. Connect kubectl to Your EKS Cluster

Next, we’ll connect kubectl to your EKS cluster:

aws eks update-kubeconfig --region <your-region> --name <cluster-name>

Now, deploy your app to EKS:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

7. Verify Everything’s Running

Let’s check if everything’s up and running:

kubectl get deployments
kubectl get pods

If everything’s working fine, you’ll see your app running in the cluster.
Want to expose it to the outside world? You can do that by adding a LoadBalancer or an Ingress resource to your Kubernetes YAML.

✅ Best Practices & Tips

🔐 IAM Permissions: Make sure your EKS worker nodes have the AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryReadOnly policy so they can pull images from ECR.
🏷 Version Tags: Avoid using latest for production images. Instead, use a version tag like v1.0.0—it makes rollbacks and updates easier.
🛡️ Security: Enable ECR’s built-in vulnerability scanning to make sure your images are secure.
🧹 Cleanup: If you have unused repositories or images, delete them to save costs:

aws ecr delete-repository --repository-name my-app --region <your-region> --force

💬 Why I Love This Approach

Honestly, I love this method because it keeps things simple. A while ago, I was working on a quick internal project. I didn’t want to set up a complicated CI/CD pipeline, and I wasn’t ready to push to Docker Hub.
So, I just ran the commands to push my image to ECR, deployed it to EKS, and boom—it was up and running in no time. This approach saved me hours, and it was perfect for a dev/test scenario.

🔗 Related Posts You Might Like

📈 Track & Improve Your Process

Once you’ve deployed your app, don’t forget to:

✅ Use Google Analytics to track page views and clicks
✅ Test on mobile to ensure your YAMLs and code blocks look good
✅ Invite feedback and iterate on the post if you get helpful comments

🧠 Wrapping Up

Deploying Docker images to EKS without a pipeline is straightforward, and it’s a great solution for testing or quick deployments. By using Amazon ECR and EKS, you keep everything within AWS, saving you time and effort.
If you need more complex setups, consider adding CI/CD or exploring more advanced Kubernetes features like auto-scaling and Ingress. But for now, this simple approach should get your app running quickly!

📣 Share the Love

If you found this helpful, share it with your network!
“Skip the pipeline! 🚀 Deploy Docker images straight from your laptop to AWS EKS with no Docker Hub or CI/CD. #EKS #DevOps #AWS #Docker #CodingTips”

🙋 Got questions or want to share your workflow?

Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear how you’re deploying to EKS!

#Docker #AWSEKS #AmazonEKS #Containerization #Kubernetes #AWS #ECR #DockerImage #CloudComputing #DevOps #TechBlog #SoftwareDevelopment #AWSCloud #ContainerOrchestration #EKSDeployment

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