Podman Desktop: A Practical GUI for Containers and Kubernetes
Working with containers usually means using the command line, but Podman Desktop offers a graphical interface that makes managing containers and Kubernetes easier. This tool bridges the gap between CLI commands and a visual workflow, allowing developers to focus on building and deploying applications.
According to the Podman Desktop website, “Podman Desktop is an open-source graphical tool enabling you to seamlessly work with containers and Kubernetes from your local environment.” This makes it ideal for both Podman and Docker users.
Podman Desktop Prerequisites
Before diving in, ensure you have:
- Basic Linux knowledge; Ubuntu 22.04 is recommended
- Familiarity with Podman commands
- Podman version 3.4.4 (used in this guide; latest stable is 4.6.0)
Having these prerequisites will make installation and usage much smoother.
Installing Podman Desktop
First, download Podman Desktop from the official downloads page. You can choose a Flatpak file or a tar.gz file. Flatpak allows cross-distribution installation but requires Flatpak to be installed. For this guide, we will use the tar.gz file.
$ sudo tar -xvf podman-desktop-1.2.1.tar.gz -C /opt/
To start the application, simply double-click the podman-desktop executable. The Get Started with Podman Desktop screen will appear. Click Go to Podman Desktop to access the main interface.
Podman Desktop automatically detects running Podman and Docker instances. A Docker Compatibility warning may appear, indicating limited Docker functionality, which can be resolved with minor configuration adjustments.
The left-hand menu includes:
- Dashboard
- Containers
- Pods
- Images
- Volumes
Building a Container Image
You can build a container image from a Spring Boot application. Download the pre-built .jar file into the target directory of the repository.
- Navigate to the Images tab.
- Click Build an Image and configure:
- Containerfile path:
podman-desktop/1-Dockerfile - Build context directory: Root of repository
- Image Name:
docker.io/mydeveloperplanet/mypodmanplanet:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT - Container Engine: Podman
Building via Podman Desktop may throw an HTTP 500 error due to UID/GID limitations. Instead, use the CLI:
$ podman build . --tag docker.io/mydeveloperplanet/mypodmanplanet:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT -f podman-desktop/1-Dockerfile
The image will build successfully without errors. This limitation in the GUI is expected and has been reported by the community.
Starting Containers
To start a container via Podman Desktop:
- Open the Containers tab
- Select Create a Container
- Choose the existing image
If the GUI fails, run it via CLI:
$ podman run -p 8080:8080 --name mypodmanplanet -d docker.io/mydeveloperplanet/mypodmanplanet:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT
The container will now appear in Podman Desktop, and you can test the endpoint:
$ curl http://localhost:8080/hello
Hello Podman!
The Actions menu in Podman provides useful features:
- View container logs
- Inspect container details
- Generate Kubernetes YAML
- Access a terminal inside the container
- Stop, restart, or remove containers
Volume Management
You can mount a volume to manage configuration files. For example, mount an application.properties file:
$ podman run -p 8080:8082 --volume ./properties/application.properties:/opt/app/application.properties:ro --name mypodmanplanet -d docker.io/mydeveloperplanet/mypodmanplanet:0.0.1-SNAPSHOT
The container starts successfully, but Podman may display errors or fail to show anonymous volumes. Volumes can always be managed via CLI:
$ podman volume create myFirstVolume
$ podman volume ls
$ podman volume rm myFirstVolume
Creating Pods
Podman Desktop allows you to create pods with multiple containers. Use the Play Kubernetes YAML option and select a YAML file, e.g., Dockerfiles/hello-pod-2-with-env.yaml.
Once started, verify endpoints:
$ curl http://localhost:8080/hello
$ curl http://localhost:8081/hello
Pods can be stopped or deleted from the GUI, though restarting Podman may be necessary if the application becomes unresponsive.
Conclusion
Podman Desktop provides a user-friendly GUI for containers and Kubernetes. Although some bugs exist in the current version, it offers logs, inspection, and pod management that improve developer efficiency.
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For additional reference, consult the official Podman documentation.
