IMAGE ASSEMBLY

1 . A computer-implemented method for assembling an executable image file for execution as a software container element, comprising the steps of:

assembling an executable image file, for execution as a software container element, from a plurality of predefined modular image files, each predefined modular image file comprising at least one layer defining executable instructions.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

assembling the executable image file from at least one first predefined modular image file of said a plurality of predefined modular image files and at least one second predefined modular image file of said a plurality of predefined modular image files,

whereby at least one of or each said first predefined modular image file comprises at least one layer defining executable instructions that cannot be executed as the software container element without executable instructions defined by at least one layer of at least one said second predefined modular image file.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising:

providing the at least one first predefined modular image file as at least one peripheral device driver image file; and

providing the at least one second predefined modular image file as at least one base operating system image file and at least one software dependencies image file.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising:

providing the at least one peripheral device driver image file as a scanner driver image file and/or a printer driver image file and/or a scale driver image file and/or a laser scanner driver image file.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising:

providing the software dependencies image file as an image file comprising a driver layer and/or a common layer and/or a utilities layer.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to executing the executable image file, providing the software container element as an element that contains executable software defined by the executable image file and that is executable on one or more processors of a computing device.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:

providing the executable software as software that is executable independent of computing environment.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising:

via the software container element, executing the executable software in an isolated computing environment.

9 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the assembling, via a container engine element that is configured to execute executable image files, requesting an executable image file for execution as the software container element.

10 . The method as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising:

transmitting the request for the executable image file to a container image registry or to a proxy that is configured to communicate with the container runtime element and the container image registry.

11 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the container image registry and/or the proxy is stored in local memory on a computing device and/or on at least one server.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, at the container engine element, a container image manifest that defines each predefined modular image file to be included within the executable image file.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving the container image manifest from a proxy that is configured to communicate with the container engine element and the container image registry.

14 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

responsive to receiving the container image manifest, via the container engine element, assembling the executable image file.

15 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

at the container engine element, receiving each predefined modular image file needed to assemble the executable image file from a container image registry; and

assembling the executable image file.

16 . A computing device comprising one or more processors configured to execute executable software, wherein the executable software, when executed, is configured to:

assemble an executable image file, for execution as a software container element, from a plurality of predefined modular image files, each predefined modular image file comprising at least one layer defining executable instructions.

17 . The computing device as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the computing device is a point of sale terminal or a self-service terminal.

18 . A computer-implemented method for assembling an executable image file for execution as a software container element, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for an executable image file from a container engine element that is configured to execute executable image files; and

responsive to determining that each of a plurality of predefined modular image files usable to assemble the executable image file is accessible in memory, providing a container image manifest, that defines each predefined modular image file to be included within the executable image file, to the container engine element for assembly of the executable image file.

19 . A computing device comprising one or more processors configured to execute executable software, wherein the executable software, when executed, is configured to:

receive a request for an executable image file from a container engine element that is configured to execute executable image files; and

responsive to determining that each of a plurality of predefined modular image files usable to assemble the executable image file is accessible in memory, provide a container image manifest, that defines each predefined modular image file to be included within the executable image file, to the container engine element for assembly of the executable image file.