Podman Desktop offers free GUI for container management

Podman Desktop is a free GUI for managing containers

Podman Desktop is a free, graphical application for managing containers, pods, and Kubernetes clusters. It is designed as an alternative for users who have migrated from Docker to the open-source container engine Podman.

The app provides a point-and-click interface for tasks typically handled via command line. It is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

What the Podman Desktop app can do

The application's dashboard centralizes management for nearly every aspect of container workflows. Key features include a comprehensive container and image manager, built-in Kubernetes support, and extensions for added functionality.

It also supports several related tools and configurations:

• Kind, for running local Kubernetes clusters.
• Docker Compose.
• Registry and proxy settings.
• Authentication providers.
• Integrated CLI tools.

How to install Podman Desktop on Linux

While macOS and Windows users can download an installer directly, Linux installation is done via Flatpak. This method ensures the app integrates with the desktop menu and auto-updates.

First, verify or install Flatpak on your distribution. Use one of these commands:

• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install flatpak -y
• Fedora: sudo dnf install flatpak -y
• Arch: sudo pacman -S flatpak

Next, add the Flathub repository and install the app. The entire process requires three terminal commands.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub io.podman_desktop.PodmanDesktop

After installation, Podman Desktop will appear in your system's application menu.

Deploying your first containers

Launching the app presents a clean dashboard. A guided tutorial helps users create a simple "Hello" container by clicking "Start your first container" in the Containers section.

For a more practical example, you can deploy a service like Homepage, a dashboard for monitoring self-hosted services. This process involves pulling an image and creating a container with a mounted volume.

Pulling images and running a service

To run a real application, navigate to the Images section and click "Pull." Enter an image name, like ghcr.io/benphelps/homepage:latest, and click "Pull Image."

Once the image is local, go back to Containers, click "Create," and select "Existing Image." Choose the pulled image from the list.

Before starting the container, configure it. For Homepage, you must create a volume by mapping a local directory to a container path. Create the directory first:

mkdir -p ~/docker/homepage

In the container creation screen, add this path as a volume mount. Finally, click Start Container. The service will then be accessible via your machine's IP address and the port you configured.

Managing and inspecting running containers

After a container is running, Podman Desktop offers several management tabs. You can view a summary, check logs, inspect low-level configuration, or access a terminal session directly into the container.

This interface eliminates the need to remember complex command-line arguments for basic operations. Podman Desktop provides a streamlined, graphical layer over Podman's powerful engine, making container management significantly more approachable.