Podman is a containerization platform that provides a lightweight and secure alternative to Docker. In this post, we’ll cover how to install Podman, run a basic container, and compare it to Docker.
Installation
Podman is available for a variety of Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, Fedora, and CentOS. The installation process may vary depending on your distribution, but the following steps should work for most distributions:
- Update your package manager: sudo apt update (for Ubuntu) or sudo dnf update (for Fedora)
- Install Podman: sudo apt install podman (for Ubuntu) or sudo dnf install podman (for Fedora)
- Verify the installation: podman version
Running a basic container
Once Podman is installed, you can run a basic container using the following command:
podman run –rm -it ubuntu bash
This command starts a new container based on the Ubuntu image and runs the bash shell inside the container. The –rm flag tells Podman to remove the container when it exits, and the -it flag tells Podman to run the container interactively with a terminal.
You can then run commands inside the container, just like you would in a regular Ubuntu terminal:
root@9f7c8b1d05c7:/ # echo “Hello, World!”
Hello, World!
root@9f7c8b1d05c7:/ # exit
Comparison with Docker
Podman and Docker are both containerization platforms that allow users to create, deploy, and manage containers. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms:
- Architecture: Podman is based on a daemonless architecture, while Docker relies on a client-server architecture. This means that Podman does not require a separate daemon process to manage containers, making it more lightweight and secure.
- Rootless containers: Podman allows users to run containers as non-root users, while Docker requires root access to manage containers. This improves the security of Podman, as it reduces the attack surface of containers.
- Image and container management: Podman and Docker both use the same container image format, but Podman uses the Open Container Initiative (OCI) runtime specification for container management, while Docker uses its own runtime. This means that Podman is more compatible with other container management tools that use the OCI runtime.
- Networking and storage: Podman supports the same networking and storage drivers as Docker, but it also includes support for additional drivers, such as the CNI network driver and the GlusterFS storage driver.
- Compatibility: Docker is more widely used and has a larger ecosystem of tools and plugins, while Podman is a newer platform with a smaller ecosystem. However, Podman is compatible with Docker images and can be used as a drop-in replacement for Docker.
In summary, Podman provides a lightweight and secure alternative to Docker, with a similar set of features and functionality. Whether you choose to use Podman or Docker will depend on your specific needs and requirements.