1. A method for creating a virtual image, the method comprising: receiving a selection of at least one composable software bundle, wherein the at least one composable software bundle comprises a first set of metadata and a first set of artifacts comprising a first set of executable instructions associated with a first set of operations; receiving a selection of a virtual image asset, wherein the virtual image asset comprises one or more virtual image disks, a second set of metadata, and a second set of artifacts comprising a second set of executable instructions associated with a second set of operations, wherein the at least one composable software bundle is independent of a target environment, is separate and distinct from the virtual image asset, and is installed on the virtual image asset as part of creating a new virtual image asset based on the at least one composable software bundle and the virtual image asset; and creating a new virtual image asset based on the at least one composable software bundle and the virtual image asset, the new virtual image asset comprising a set of software modules installed by the at least one composable software bundle on the virtual image asset, the new virtual image asset comprising a third set of metadata that is based on the first set of metadata from the at least one composable software bundle and the second set of metadata from the virtual image asset, the new virtual image asset further comprising a third set of artifacts comprising a third set of executable instructions associated with a third set of operations that is based on the first set of artifacts from the at least one composable software bundle and the second set of artifacts from the virtual image asset, and wherein each operation in at least the third set of operations is associated with a virtual image life-cycle phase in a set of virtual image life-cycle phases, wherein each executable instruction in the third set of executable instructions being executed at the virtual image life-cycle phase associated with an operation in the third set of operations that is associated with the each executable instruction in the third set of executable instructions; and wherein the first set of metadata comprises a semantic representation of a first set of software modules associated with the at least one composable software bundle, and a functional representation of a first set of operations to be performed on the first set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle phase in the set of virtual image life-cycle phases, wherein the second set of metadata comprises a semantic representation of a second set of software modules residing in the virtual image asset, and a functional representation of a second set of operations that are performed on the second set of software modules during at least one virtual image life-cycle stage in the set of virtual image life-cycle stages, and wherein the third set of metadata comprises a semantic representation of a third set of software modules based on the first set of software modules and the second set of software modules, and a functional representation of a third set of operations based on the first set of operations and the second set of operations.