Install Podman on Ubuntu 24.04 | Best and Rootless Container

Podman is a tool for running and managing containers, similar to Docker but more secure. It works without needing special permissions, making it safer to use on Ubuntu 24.04. With Podman on Ubuntu 24.04, you can easily create, run, and manage containers without extra setup.

You can now proceed to the guide steps below on the Orcacore website to install Podman and use it on your Ubuntu 24.04.

Steps To Install and Configure Podman on Ubuntu 24.04

To complete the Podman setup on Ubuntu 24.04, you must log in to your server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. If you are looking for a guide to create a sudo user, you can check this guide on How To Add a Sudo User on Ubuntu 24.04.

1. Installing Podman with APT Command

The Podman packages are available in the default Ubuntu 24.04 APT repository. So you can easily use APT to install Podman on your Ubuntu 24.04 server. First, run the system update and upgrade with the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Then, run the command below to install Podman:

sudo apt install podman -y

Once your installation is completed, verify it by checking its version:

podman --version

Output
podman version 4.9.3

2. Start and Enable Podman on Ubuntu Linux

After your Podman installation is completed, you must start and enable your service by using the following commands:

# sudo systemctl start podman.socket
# sudo systemctl enable podman.socket

Then, check your Podman service is active and running on Ubuntu 24.04 with the following command:

sudo systemctl status podman.socket

In your output, you should see:

Also, you can get more information about the installed Podman package with the following command:

podman info

In your output, you should see:

3. Configure Podman Container Registries

Podman has a great feature that allows you to search and pull images from any registry. With this option, you can easily edit the registry file and define the list of container registries. The Podman registry file is located in the /etc/containers/registries.conf file.

To define the registries, open the file with your desired text editor like Vi Editor or Nano Editor:

sudo vi /etc/containers/registries.conf

At the end of the file, add the following line which contains RedHat and Docker registries:

unqualified-search-registries = [ 'registry.access.redhat.com', 'registry.redhat.io', 'docker.io']

Once you are done, save and close the file. This will help you t run the podman search or podman pull command, and Podman will contact these registries beginning with the first one in that order.

To apply the changes, you must restart the Podman service with the command below:

sudo systemctl restart podman.socket

4. How To Work with Podman Container Manager?

At this point, we will show you how to search and pull images with Podman and create a container. Follow the steps below to complete the guide setup for Podman on Ubuntu 24.04.

Podman Searching Images

Searching images with Podman is the same as the Docker search command. You can easily use the following command to search for your desired image. For example, we search for Ubuntu image:

podman search ubuntu

Podman Pulling or Downloading Images

Once you are done searching images, you can easily pull the image with the following command:

podman pull ubuntu

Listing Downloaded Podman Images

If you have downloaded multiple images on your server, you can easily list them by using the following command:

podman images

Create a Container with Podman Downloaded Images

At this point, you can easily create a container with your downloaded images. As you saw, we have downloaded the Ubuntu image. To create the container, you can use the following command and give it a name:

podman run -dit --name container1 ubuntu

Then, you can access your container by using the following command:

podman attach container1

You will see that your command prompt changes to your container ID:

To start your container, you can use the command below:

podman start container-id or name

To stop your container, you can use the following command:

podman stop container-id or name

You can also check the official docs page to get Podman commands and their usage.

Conclusion

Podman is a powerful and secure tool for managing containers on Ubuntu 24.04. Unlike Docker, it works without a background service and doesn’t require root access, making it a safer choice. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, Podman provides an easy and efficient way to run containers on your system.

Hope you enjoy using Podman on Ubuntu 24.04. Please subscribe to us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.

Also, you may like to read the following articles:

Docker CE Setup For Ubuntu 24.04

Podman Installation on Fedora 39

Install Podman on Ubuntu 22.04

Installing Podman on Debian 12 Bookworm

FAQs