podman(1)
Podman is a tool for managing containers and container images using Open Container Initiative (OCI) standards, providing a Docker-compatible command interface.
Synopsis
podman [OPTIONS] COMMANDDescription
Podman (Pod Manager) is a daemonless container engine that manages containers, images, and pods. Unlike Docker, Podman does not require a running daemon process and can run containers as unprivileged users. It is fully compatible with OCI container specifications and provides a Docker-like CLI.
Podman can manage both individual containers and pods (groups of containers sharing network namespace). It supports both rootless and privileged container execution, making it suitable for development, testing, and production environments.
Common options
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
-H, --host | Connect to a remote Podman socket or daemon (e.g., ssh://user@host/run/podman/podman.sock) |
-r, --remote | Access a remote Podman service via SSH |
--version | Display Podman version information |
--help | Show help text for podman or a subcommand |
--log-level | Set logging level (debug, info, warn, error) |
--cgroup-manager | Choose cgroup manager: systemd (default) or cgroupfs |
Examples
Create and run an interactive container from Ubuntu image with a bash shell
podman run -it --name myapp ubuntu:22.04 /bin/bashList all containers (running and stopped)
podman ps -aDisplay all locally available container images
podman imagesBuild a container image from a Dockerfile in the current directory
podman build -t myimage:1.0 .Download an image from a registry (Docker Hub)
podman pull docker.io/library/nginx:latestExecute a shell command inside a running container
podman exec -it myapp /bin/shCreate a pod and run a container within it
podman pod create --name mypod && podman run -d --pod mypod nginxStop a running container and remove it
podman stop myapp && podman rm myapp