Methods, systems, and computer storage media for providing a universal flat file set in a synthetic image that can be mounted as a container (i.e., a synthetic container) to support isolation and
interoperability of computing resources. A synthetic image
file system engine provides container management for a container
management system, the synthetic image
file system engine performing synthetic operations to support
resource isolation and
operating system (OS)
virtualization functionality. In particular, a
layout manager operates with a synthetic engine interface to support generating a synthetic image with an optimized configuration (i.e., pre-alignment of
executable files and pre-computed hashes thereof). In operation, a plurality of files are accessed for generating a synthetic image. The synthetic image is generated for the plurality of files while pre-
processing executable files, where pre-
processing one or more files includes pre-aligning
executable files in the synthetic image or pre-computing hashes of executable files in the synthetic image.