Patent ID: 11880703
Assignee: RED HAT, INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method performed by a computing system, the method comprising:
with the computing system, storing a first container image in a repository server, the first container image defined by a first set of layers, the first set of layers including a first set of files;
with the computing system, storing a second container image in the repository server, the second container image defined by a second set of layers, the second set of layers including a second set of files, the first set of files and the second set of files having at least one file in common;
with the computing system, performing an analysis of the first set of layers and the second set of layers, the analysis comparing characteristics of files in the first set of layers and files in the second set of layers, wherein the characteristics comprise a name of the file, a file size, a creation date, and a creation time;
with the computing system, and based on the analysis comparing characteristics, identifying one or more files in the first set of layers that are identical to one or more files in the second set of layers;
with the computing system, creating a new set of layers in the repository server such that both the first container image and the second container image can be derived from the new set of layers, the new set of layers comprising at least one new layer that includes at least one of the one or more identical files from layers of both the first container image and the second container image and wherein the creation of the new set of layers includes switching at least one file of the first set of files or the second set of files located in a first layer within the first set of layers or the second set of layers to a second layer within the new set of layers, the second layer being different from the first layer;
with the computing system, providing a first copy of the first container image in the repository server using a first subset of the new set of layers, the first copy including an indication of a hierarchal structure of the files of the new set of layers; and
with the computing system, providing a second copy of the second container image in the repository server using a second subset of the new layers, the second subset being different than the first subset, and the second copy including the indication of a hierarchal structure of the files of the new set of layers.