Installing podman version 4.7 or above in Pop!OS Ubuntu flavored 22.04

[lgonzalezsa]

I've been with Pop!OS since 22.04, the standard podman version included in Ubuntu 22.04 is 3.X; very old for my use cases.
Time ago, the podman instructions were pointing to http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/kubic:/libcontainers:/unstable/xUbuntu_22.04/ as an alternative way to have a more recent version of podman available for Ubuntu LTS users. The podman documentation was updated and no more reference to that source.
The new docs are here https://podman.io/docs/installation#ubuntu

Not sure if Ubuntu LTS 24.04 is addressing the need to have a version greater than 4.7 available.

As end user, what are my alternatives to install podman in my OS?

In addition, the Docker compatibility mode to have /var/run/docker.sock available; not sure if the official procedure is to create the symbolic link manually or could be a similar helper like in macOS where the tool helps to configure. No reference in Linux when we need this for example for compose.

Thank you!

[eriksjolund]

Not sure if Ubuntu LTS 24.04 is addressing the need to have a version greater than 4.7 available.

To find out, I did the following

1. Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_version_history and check the code name of Ubuntu 24.04
   result: noble
2. Go to https://packages.ubuntu.com
3. In the Keyword field, enter podman
4. In the Distribution dropdown list, select noble
5. Click search
   result: A web page is shown that mentions podman 4.9.3

(Ubuntu 24.04 has not yet been released so this is preliminary information)

[afbjorklund]

Something like this: export DOCKER_HOST=unix://$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/podman/podman.sock

https://www.docker.com/blog/how-to-deploy-on-remote-docker-hosts-with-docker-compose/

docker context create podman --docker "host=unix://$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/podman/podman.sock"

docker context use podman

[lgonzalezsa]

Exactly, what are the alternatives to have near to latest version of podman on Ubuntu based OS?
I mean, is good to have the kubic repository because at least am able to use podman 4.6.2 but not sure if similar initiative will be available for 24.04 in the future to at least not be way behind from latest podman versions.

Thanks for the pointer to contexts, will test that for my docker-compose usage.

[afbjorklund]

We talked about alternatives, when it comes to how to run Podman on Linux (as in Ubuntu, or Debian):

• Using Podman Desktop on Linux with newer version in Podman Machine podman-desktop/podman-desktop#5762

1. Use a virtual machine, to make the experience at least more similar to the one on Mac and Windows

2. Compile the newer versions from source, including using containers to make a reproducible build

[afbjorklund]

Maybe I am touching a packaging topic instead of a podman related topic

• How to install podman 4.4 on Ubuntu 22.04? #17362
• Version 4.x not updating with apt update Ubuntu 20.04 #14302

[lgonzalezsa]

Thank you @afbjorklund #14302 helped me find out I can use an alternative approach via homebrew as a third option from your list.

[afbjorklund]

Sounds good, but currently it is mentioned as "Though not recommended, Podman can also be obtained through Homebrew, the package manager". so I think it will be on the same support level as the discontinued Kubic repositories... That is: unsupported*

Since Brew is a community-maintained package manager, we cannot guarantee stability of Brew installs of Podman. Thus, installing via Brew is not recommended.

* But I think that just means that it is not supported by the Podman team?

i.e. Ubuntu is supported by Ubuntu, and Brew is supported by Brew, etc

[afbjorklund]

In the end I think it was just going with some "warning, you are running Ubuntu!"

• Old podman version warning podman-desktop/podman-desktop#4345

[lgonzalezsa]

Confirmed at least Ubuntu daily build has podman 4.9.3