# Containerization Recall that there is a third way by which we handle package management on Luria: containerization. Similar to Environment Modules and Conda environments, containerization is a way of packaging an environment into a container such that it contains the absolute bare minimum needed to run a specific set of software. Containers can be thought of as a very stripped down operating systems packaged into a little box, although that is not what they are. Containers have their own filesystem where the software runs, and it is a snapshot of the filesystem needed for a piece of software to run. Therefore, if a container can run a piece of software now, it should be able to do so always. Since a containerized application contains everything it needs in order to run, it is very easy to share containers with people so that they can easily run software. Container pros: * Portable * Shareable * Consistent Popular container engines: * Docker * Singularity --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://igb.mit.edu/mini-courses/advanced-utilization-of-igb-computational-resources/containerization.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.