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Knowledge Base
How Containers Work: The Role of Docker and Container Runtimes
TOPICS
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The Nexqloud Advantage Benefits of Containerization
How Containers Work: The Role of Docker and Container Runtimes
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Your Foundation for Cloud-Native Success
Knowledge Base
How Containers Work: The Role of Docker and Container Runtimes

How Containers Work: The Role of Docker and Container Runtimes

The container ecosystem is built on open standards, with Docker being the most common technology that popularized the modern container format.

  • Dockerfile: A text file containing instructions for building a container image (e.g., which base OS to use, which files to copy, which commands to run).‍
  • Container Image: An immutable, static file built from the Dockerfile, which is a snapshot of the application and its environment.‍
  • Container Runtime: The software that executes the container image, creating a running container instance. Examples include containerd and CRI-O .‍
  • Container Registry: A repository for storing and distributing container images (e.g., Nexqloud Container Registry, Docker Hub).