diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5cc5bfc0002
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+using System.Diagnostics;
+
+namespace Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Lifetime modes for container resources
+/// </summary>
+public enum ContainerLifetimeType
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The default lifetime behavior should apply. This will create the resource when the AppHost starts and dispose of it when the AppHost shuts down.
+    /// </summary>
+    Default,
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The resource is persistent and will not be disposed of when the AppHost shuts down.
+    /// </summary>
+    Persistent,
+}
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Annotation that controls the lifetime of a container resource (default behavior that matches the lifetime of the AppHost or a persistent lifetime across AppHost restarts)
+/// </summary>
+[DebuggerDisplay("Type = {GetType().Name,nq}")]
+public sealed class ContainerLifetimeAnnotation : IResourceAnnotation
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets or sets the lifetime type for the container resource.
+    /// </summary>
+    public required ContainerLifetimeType LifetimeType { get; set; }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ResourceExtensions.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ResourceExtensions.cs
index 6f0f92d18e1..9801d6b1b5f 100644
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ResourceExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ApplicationModel/ResourceExtensions.cs
@@ -84,9 +84,9 @@ public static bool TryGetEnvironmentVariables(this IResource resource, [NotNullW
     /// var container = builder.AddContainer("elasticsearch", "library/elasticsearch", "8.14.0")
     ///  .WithEnvironment("discovery.type", "single-node")
     ///  .WithEnvironment("xpack.security.enabled", "true");
-    /// 
+    ///
     /// var env = await container.Resource.GetEnvironmentVariableValuesAsync();
-    /// 
+    ///
     /// Assert.Collection(env,
     ///     env =>
     ///         {
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ public static IEnumerable<EndpointReference> GetEndpoints(this IResourceWithEndp
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="resource">The <see cref="IResourceWithEndpoints"/> which contains <see cref="EndpointAnnotation"/> annotations.</param>
     /// <param name="endpointName">The name of the endpoint.</param>
-    /// <returns>An <see cref="EndpointReference"/> object representing the endpoint reference 
+    /// <returns>An <see cref="EndpointReference"/> object representing the endpoint reference
     /// for the specified endpoint.</returns>
     public static EndpointReference GetEndpoint(this IResourceWithEndpoints resource, string endpointName)
     {
@@ -233,4 +233,20 @@ public static int GetReplicaCount(this IResource resource)
             return 1;
         }
     }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the lifetime type of the container for the specified resoruce. Defaults to <see cref="ContainerLifetimeType.Default"/> if
+    /// no <see cref="ContainerLifetimeAnnotation"/> is found.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="resource">The resource to the get the ContainerLifetimeType for.</param>
+    /// <returns>The <see cref="ContainerLifetimeType"/> from the <see cref="ContainerLifetimeAnnotation"/> for the resource (if the annotation exists). Defaults to <see cref="ContainerLifetimeType.Default"/> if the annotation is not set.</returns>
+    internal static ContainerLifetimeType GetContainerLifetimeType(this IResource resource)
+    {
+        if (resource.TryGetLastAnnotation<ContainerLifetimeAnnotation>(out var lifetimeAnnotation))
+        {
+            return lifetimeAnnotation.LifetimeType;
+        }
+
+        return ContainerLifetimeType.Default;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting/ContainerResourceBuilderExtensions.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ContainerResourceBuilderExtensions.cs
index 777a757e974..5f6dc2412c0 100644
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting/ContainerResourceBuilderExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting/ContainerResourceBuilderExtensions.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
 // The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 
+using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
 using Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
 using Aspire.Hosting.Utils;
 
@@ -221,6 +222,27 @@ public static IResourceBuilder<T> WithContainerRuntimeArgs<T>(this IResourceBuil
         return builder.WithAnnotation(annotation);
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Sets the lifetime behavior of the container resource.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <typeparam name="T">The resource type.</typeparam>
+    /// <param name="builder">Builder for the container resource.</param>
+    /// <param name="lifetimeType">The lifetime behavior of the container resource (defaults behavior is <see cref="ContainerLifetimeType.Default"/>)</param>
+    /// <returns>The <see cref="IResourceBuilder{T}"/>.</returns>
+    /// <example>
+    /// Marking a container resource to have a <see cref="ContainerLifetimeType.Persistent"/> lifetime.
+    /// <code language="csharp">
+    /// var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
+    /// builder.AddContainer("mycontainer", "myimage")
+    ///        .WithContainerLifetime(ContainerLifetimeType.Persistent);
+    /// </code>
+    /// </example>
+    [Experimental("ASPIRECONTAINERLIFETIME001")]
+    public static IResourceBuilder<T> WithContainerLifetime<T>(this IResourceBuilder<T> builder, ContainerLifetimeType lifetimeType) where T : ContainerResource
+    {
+        return builder.WithAnnotation(new ContainerLifetimeAnnotation { LifetimeType = lifetimeType }, ResourceAnnotationMutationBehavior.Replace);
+    }
+
     private static IResourceBuilder<T> ThrowResourceIsNotContainer<T>(IResourceBuilder<T> builder) where T : ContainerResource
     {
         throw new InvalidOperationException($"The resource '{builder.Resource.Name}' does not have a container image specified. Use WithImage to specify the container image and tag.");
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/ApplicationExecutor.cs b/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/ApplicationExecutor.cs
index e29d5ff2dea..465d06d5c94 100644
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/ApplicationExecutor.cs
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/ApplicationExecutor.cs
@@ -1327,11 +1327,23 @@ private void PrepareContainers()
                 throw new InvalidOperationException();
             }
 
-            var nameSuffix = GetRandomNameSuffix();
+            var nameSuffix = string.Empty;
+
+            if (container.GetContainerLifetimeType() == ContainerLifetimeType.Default)
+            {
+                nameSuffix = GetRandomNameSuffix();
+            }
+
             var containerObjectName = GetObjectNameForResource(container, nameSuffix);
             var ctr = Container.Create(containerObjectName, containerImageName);
 
             ctr.Spec.ContainerName = containerObjectName; // Use the same name for container orchestrator (Docker, Podman) resource and DCP object name.
+
+            if (container.GetContainerLifetimeType() == ContainerLifetimeType.Persistent)
+            {
+                ctr.Spec.Persistent = true;
+            }
+
             ctr.Annotate(CustomResource.ResourceNameAnnotation, container.Name);
             ctr.Annotate(CustomResource.OtelServiceNameAnnotation, container.Name);
             ctr.Annotate(CustomResource.OtelServiceInstanceIdAnnotation, nameSuffix);
diff --git a/src/Aspire.Hosting/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/src/Aspire.Hosting/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index a375d4c358b..111fa6cf9ff 100644
--- a/src/Aspire.Hosting/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/src/Aspire.Hosting/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.BeforeStartEvent
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.BeforeStartEvent.BeforeStartEvent(System.IServiceProvider! services, Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.DistributedApplicationModel! model) -> void
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.BeforeStartEvent.Model.get -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.DistributedApplicationModel!
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.BeforeStartEvent.Services.get -> System.IServiceProvider!
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeAnnotation
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.ContainerLifetimeAnnotation() -> void
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.LifetimeType.get -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeAnnotation.LifetimeType.set -> void
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType.Default = 0 -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType
+Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType.Persistent = 1 -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ResourceNotificationService.ResourceNotificationService(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.ILogger<Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ResourceNotificationService!>! logger, Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.IHostApplicationLifetime! hostApplicationLifetime) -> void
 Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationBuilder.Eventing.get -> Aspire.Hosting.Eventing.IDistributedApplicationEventing!
 Aspire.Hosting.Eventing.DistributedApplicationEventing
@@ -37,6 +44,7 @@ Aspire.Hosting.IDistributedApplicationBuilder.Eventing.get -> Aspire.Hosting.Eve
 static Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ResourceExtensions.GetEnvironmentVariableValuesAsync(this Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.IResourceWithEnvironment! resource, Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationOperation applicationOperation = Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationOperation.Run) -> System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<string!, string!>!>
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ResourceNotificationService.WaitForResourceAsync(string! resourceName, string? targetState = null, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken = default(System.Threading.CancellationToken)) -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task!
 Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ResourceNotificationService.WaitForResourceAsync(string! resourceName, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<string!>! targetStates, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken = default(System.Threading.CancellationToken)) -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<string!>!
+static Aspire.Hosting.ContainerResourceBuilderExtensions.WithContainerLifetime<T>(this Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.IResourceBuilder<T!>! builder, Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ContainerLifetimeType lifetimeType) -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.IResourceBuilder<T!>!
 static Aspire.Hosting.ProjectResourceBuilderExtensions.WithEndpointsInEnvironment(this Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.IResourceBuilder<Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ProjectResource!>! builder, System.Func<Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.EndpointAnnotation!, bool>! filter) -> Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.IResourceBuilder<Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel.ProjectResource!>!
 Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationExecutionContext.DistributedApplicationExecutionContext(Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationExecutionContextOptions! options) -> void
 Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationExecutionContext.ServiceProvider.get -> System.IServiceProvider!