Installing Podman

Learn how to install Podman on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and verify your setup for development or production use.

Before using Podman, you need to get it installed and configured on your system. Podman supports Linux natively and also runs on macOS and Windows using virtual machines.

Let’s walk through how to install Podman on your platform of choice.

🐧 Installing Podman on Linux

📦 On Fedora, CentOS, or RHEL

sudo dnf install podman

🐧 On Ubuntu or Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install podman

🏗️ On Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S podman

✅ Tip: Use your system’s package manager for the latest stable version, or check the Podman GitHub Releases for newer versions.

🍏 Installing Podman on macOS

Step 1: Install Podman via Homebrew

brew install podman

Step 2: Initialize the VM

podman machine init
podman machine start

🛠️ Podman on macOS runs inside a lightweight Linux VM (using QEMU or Apple’s Virtualization framework).

🪟 Installing Podman on Windows

Option 1: Use the Windows Installer

• Download from https://podman.io
• Includes Podman Machine (QEMU backend)

Option 2: Use WSL2 (Recommended)

wsl --install
wsl --set-default-version 2

Then inside WSL (Ubuntu):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install podman

🧰 Note: Podman Desktop is available for both macOS and Windows with a GUI interface and built-in machine management.

🍓 Install on Raspberry Pi OS

Step 1: Update Your System

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install Podman

sudo apt install -y podman

Step 3: Verify Installation

podman --version

Step 4: Configure Podman for Rootless Use

podman system migrate

Step 5: Start Podman Machine (if using)

podman machine init
podman machine start

✅ Verifying Your Installation

To check that Podman is working:

podman --version
podman info
podman run hello-world

If everything is set up correctly, you’ll see Podman pull the image and run it just like Docker.

📦 Bonus: Installing Podman Compose

If you plan to use docker-compose-style workflows:

pip3 install podman-compose

🔁 Podman Compose is a community-supported tool that interprets Docker Compose files using Podman under the hood.

Next up: CLI Compatibility and Basic Commands

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