Installing Podman

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

By Kevin McAleer,    3 Minutes

Page last updated May 24, 2025


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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.

Letโ€™s walk through how to install Podman on your platform of choice.


๐Ÿง Installing Podman on Linux

๐Ÿ“ฆ On Fedora, CentOS, or RHEL

sudo dnf install podman

๐Ÿง On Ubuntu or Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install podman

๐Ÿ—๏ธ On Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S podman

โœ… Tip: Use your systemโ€™s package manager for the latest stable version, or check the Podman GitHub Releases for newer versions.


๐Ÿ Installing Podman on macOS

Step 1: Install Podman via Homebrew

brew install podman

Step 2: Initialize the VM

podman machine init
podman machine start

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Podman on macOS runs inside a lightweight Linux VM (using QEMU or Appleโ€™s Virtualization framework).


๐ŸชŸ Installing Podman on Windows

Option 1: Use the Windows Installer

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

Then inside WSL (Ubuntu):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install podman

๐Ÿงฐ Note: Podman Desktop is available for both macOS and Windows with a GUI interface and built-in machine management.


๐Ÿ“ 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

โœ… Verifying Your Installation

To check that Podman is working:

podman --version
podman info
podman run hello-world

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


๐Ÿ“ฆ Bonus: Installing Podman Compose

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

pip3 install podman-compose

๐Ÿ” 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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