How long is a container lifecycle?

The lifecycle of a container is tied to the lifecycle of the application it contains. When a container is created, it encapsulates everything needed to run a specific application, including libraries, dependencies, and configurations. Thus, the lifecycle starts when the application starts running within the container and ends when the application is terminated.

This concept highlights that a container is a lightweight, standalone executable package, and its existence is inherently linked to the application it runs. When the application code is updated or modified, it may result in a new container being created from the image that constitutes the application. Therefore, the duration of a container's lifecycle directly correlates with the operation of the application, making this understanding crucial for effective container management and orchestration.

The other options highlight misconceptions about the elements that initiate or terminate a container’s lifecycle, focusing on system components like Docker, the host OS, or hypervisors instead of the application itself, which is the key focus in containerization.