Podman Quadlets with Podman Desktop

Summary

Containers are typically deployed in Kubernetes clusters. However, for smaller-scale use cases such as on a single-node server or during development, Kubernetes can be overkill. What’s a more lightweight solution for running autonomous applications with multiple interacting containers? In this blog, we'll dive into what Quadlets are, their benefits, and how to use them within Podman Desktop. What Are Quadlets?​ Podman Quadlets allow you to manage containers declaratively using systemd1. Since version 4.4, Podman can create, start, and manage containers (including pulling images, creating volumes, and managing pods) through systemd. Quadlets are simplified configuration files—recognized by their specific extensions, such as *.container, *.pod, or *.image that are processed during startup or when you reload the daemon using the systemctl daemon-reload command. Quadlets generate the equivalent systemd unit files, streamlining the container management process. Why Use Quadlets?​ Declarative Configuration: Similar to Compose or Kubernetes manifests, Quadlets allow you to declare what you want to run, simplifying the workload setup. Tight System Integration: Quadlets align with Podman’s philosophy of integrating seamlessly with Linux, leveraging systemd’s process management capabilities. Ease of Automation: Quadlets make it simple to configure containers to start at boot, restart on failure, and more. Example: A Quadlet File for Nginx​ Below is an example of an nginx.container Quadlet file, which starts an nginx container at boot: ~/.config/containers/systemd/nginx.container# nginx.container[Container]ContainerName=nginxImage=nginxPublishPort=80:8080[Service]Restart=always This configuration ensures the container restarts automatically if stopped, and exposes port 8080. Using the Podman Quadlet Extension in Podman Desktop​ Managing Quadlets directly on non-Linux platforms can be challenging due to virtualized environments (e.g., WSL or Hyper-V). Fortunately, the Podman De...