Container runtime solutions enable container usage by providing APIs and abstracting technical components. They facilitate the execution of container lifecycle commands against each container instance. Runtime environments couple the configuration files with the actual files that are necessary to execute the application. Companies use these tools to launch applications and manage the container application lifecycles. With container runtimes specifications, companies can specify how file systems are unpacked, built, and configured. They allow developers to reduce system overhead, share resources, and enforce access capabilities.
To qualify for inclusion in the Container Runtime category, a product must:
Define execution specifications
Allow users to set access policies
Allow users to adjust and control isolation layers
Combine container images, configurations, and file systems