TIL: Running Containers Without Docker With Podman

Docker Desktop changed its licensing. Podman runs the same OCI containers without a daemon or subscription.

podman run -it --rm ubuntu:22.04 /bin/bash

Same syntax as docker run. Podman runs the container rootless by default, no sudo required.

alias docker=podman

Most Docker commands work with Podman unchanged. The alias lets existing scripts and docs keep using docker while running Podman underneath.

podman build -t my-app .
podman push my-app ghcr.io/username/my-app

Build and push container images. Podman supports the same OCI image format as Docker.

Does Podman work with Docker Compose?

Podman supports docker-compose.yml with podman-compose or the podman generate kube command for Kubernetes YAML output.

Can I run Docker and Podman side by side?

Yes. They coexist. The container storage is separate unless you configure Podman to use the Docker storage directory.