Docker has once again favoured the open source world and released the code of its core container runtime functionality. This has been integrated into a standalone component and emerged as Containerd.
To meet the needs and requirements of developers, Docker’s Containerd is designed as an embedded solution that can be a part of a larger system. This means that the latest offering can be used as an extensible base for building solutions around containers. It performs container execution and supervision as well as functions like network interfaces management, local storage support and native plumbing level API among others.
“This is the latest chapter in a multi-year effort to break up the Docker platform into a more modular architecture of loosely coupled components,” said Solomon Hykes, founder and CTO of Docker, in a blog post.
Docker has partnered with companies like Alibaba, AWS, Google, IBM and Microsoft to start testing the functionality of Containerd. It can be deployed for systems such as AWS ECS, Microsoft ACS and Kubernetes as a primary container runtime. Furtherover, the open source platform can exist on any of your existing Linux or Windows device and helps you manage the complete container lifecycle.
Unlocker of new phase
Hykes considers that Containerd will expand the adoption of Docker containers and take the whole container ecosystem to a new level. “We think Containerd will unlock a whole new phase of innovation and growth across the entire container ecosystem, which in turn will benefit every Docker developer and customer,” he said.
Developers can access the API definitions and source code of Containerd from a GitHub repository. A special summit has also been scheduled for February next year to spread the awareness for the latest development and encourage contributions from the open source world.
