Podman

How to set up Podman

1. Quick Environment Setup

mkdir -p /podman/$USER/run
cd /podman/$USER
mkdir podman-lab

2. Create your Containerfile

Now you’ll define a container that serves files over HTTP using Python’s built-in server as an example

a. Enter your podman directory

cd podman-lab

b. Create a new Containerfile

nano Containerfile

c. Paste this into the file

FROM python:3.11-slim
WORKDIR /srv
EXPOSE 8000
CMD ["python", "-m", "http.server", "8000"]

Save and exit (in nano, press Ctrl + O, then Enter, then Ctrl + X).

 

3. Build and Run Your Container

Now it’s time to turn your Containerfile into a container image and run it.

a. Build the Container Image

podman build -t python-httpd .

-t python-httpd: gives your image a name or tag

.: tells Podman to use the current directory

c. Run the container

podman run -d --name mypythonhttpd -p 8000:8000 python-httpd

-d: Run in detached (background) mode

--name: Assigns a name to the container

-p: Maps host port 8000 to container port 8000

d. Curl (test your container)

curl 127.0.0.1:8080

You can test your container by making a request directly to your host’s loopback address (127.0.0.1) and the port you mapped. You can use this for all the containers you build just make sure to change the port to whichever one you are using (e.g 8080 or 8000).

4. Run External Container Images

Using an exisiting container is usually more common. Podman can also run pre-built images from online registries like Docker Hub or Red Hat Registries

a. Example: Run an image directly from Docker Hub

podman run -it alpine sh

alpine: The image name (a minimal Linux distribution).

-it: Runs the container interactively with a shell.

sh: Starts a shell inside the container.

b. Example: Run a web server using NGINX

podman run -d --name mynginx -p 8080:80 nginx

-d: Runs in the background (detached).

--name: Assigns a name to the container.

-p 8080:80: Maps your host port 8080 to the container’s port 80.