[Yandex Cloud documentation](../../../index.md) > [Yandex Cloud Registry](../../index.md) > [Concepts](../index.md) > [Artifacts](index.md) > Docker image

# Docker image

A _Docker image_ is a template for creating Docker containers. It is an executable package that comes with everything you need to run an application: code, runtime environment, libraries, environment variables, and configuration files.

A Docker image consists of layers. Each change is written to a new layer.

* When pushing or pulling a Docker image, operations are performed only on the layers that were changed.
 
* The layers of the source Docker image are shared by all its versions and are not duplicated.

## Version control {#version}

Docker image version control is carried out using tags and digests.

A _tag_ is assigned by the user. A tag must be unique within one [registry](../registry.md) and can be edited. If no tag is specified, Docker CLI assigns the **latest tag by default while pushing a Docker image** to the registry.

{% note warning %}

The tag `latest` **doesn't mean** that the Docker image was the latest one pushed.

{% endnote %}

We don't recommend overwriting tags. Use a unique tag for each Docker image version. This way you can use the same Docker image version on all your VMs with identical specifications and more easily identify causes of problems.

A Docker image can have multiple tags. If you push a new version of the Docker image with an existing tag, it is going to be reused by being deleted from the old Docker image version and written to the new one.

A _digest_ is generated automatically, is unique, and identifies the exact Docker image version.

You can access a specific Docker image version in one of the following ways:
* `<registry>/<image_name>:<tag>`
* `<registry>/<image_name>@<digest>`

The Docker image and all its versions are stored in a registry.

#### Useful links {#see-also}

[Supported artifact types](index.md#artifacts)