Podman Compose 1 5 0

Podman Compose 1.5.0

Overview

Podman Compose is an implementation of the Compose Specification with a Podman backend. It enables multi-container application orchestration using compose.yaml files, translating Compose directives into native podman commands — no daemon required. The project focuses on rootless operation and a daemon-less process model where podman-compose directly executes podman CLI commands.

It is formed as a single Python file script (Python 3.9+) that can be dropped into your PATH. Dependencies are minimal: podman, the dnsname plugin (for container name resolution on CNI networks), PyYAML, and python-dotenv.

When to Use

• Deploying multi-container applications defined in Compose specification files with Podman instead of Docker
• Migrating from docker-compose to a rootless, daemon-less workflow
• Managing complex container stacks (web apps, databases, caches) on Linux without systemd or Docker socket
• Running compose-based development environments in CI/CD pipelines
• Generating systemd unit files for compose stacks via podman-compose systemd

Core Concepts

Compose file (compose.yaml or compose.yml) defines services, networks, volumes, configs, and secrets. Podman Compose parses this YAML and translates each service into one or more podman commands. Unlike Docker Compose which talks to a daemon API, podman-compose forks podman directly — making it truly daemon-less.

Project name groups all resources (containers, networks, volumes) together. By default derived from the directory containing the compose file. Override with -p flag or top-level name in the compose file. Exposed as COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME for interpolation.

Services are the primary building block — each service maps to one or more containers running identically configured images. Services can depend on each other, share networks, mount volumes, and expose ports.

Podman pods vs containers — Podman Compose can group related containers into a single pod (sharing network namespace and IPC) using the --pod flag or pod: true in service config. This mirrors Docker's default behavior where linked containers share networking.

Installation / Setup

Install from PyPI:

pip3 install podman-compose

Or from package managers:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install podman-compose

# Fedora
sudo dnf install podman-compose

# Homebrew
brew install podman-compose

Manual single-file install:

curl -o /usr/local/bin/podman-compose https://raw.githubusercontent.com/containers/podman-compose/main/podman_compose.py
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/podman-compose

Prerequisites:

• podman (version 3.4+ recommended for full compatibility)
• podman dnsname plugin (podman-plugins or podman-dnsname package) — required for container name resolution on CNI networks. Not needed when using netavark as network backend.
• Python 3.9+
• PyYAML and python-dotenv

Usage Examples

Basic compose file:

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro
    networks:
      - frontend

  db:
    image: postgres:16
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
    volumes:
      - db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - backend

networks:
  frontend:
  backend:

volumes:
  db-data:

Start the stack:

podman-compose up -d

Stop and tear down:

podman-compose down

Build local images then start:

podman-compose up --build

Run a one-off command in a service:

podman-compose run web nginx -v

Execute inside a running container:

podman-compose exec db psql -U postgres

Advanced Topics

Compose Specification: Top-level elements, service configuration, networks, volumes, configs, and secrets → Compose Specification

Podman Compose Commands: Complete reference of all supported CLI commands with flags and options → Commands Reference

Service Configuration: Detailed service-level settings including build, deploy, environment, ports, volumes, healthchecks, and dependencies → Service Configuration

Environment and Variables: Variable interpolation, env_file handling, dotenv integration, and override files → Environment and Variables

Advanced Patterns: Profiles, extends, fragments, multi-compose merge, systemd generation, and migration from docker-compose → Advanced Patterns