Launching Containers using Podman and Libpod

Start Containers with Podman

Podman provides the ability to run containers via the LibPod project. LibPod provides a library for applications looking to use the Container Pod concept popularized by Kubernetes. By using Podman, it's possible to use the same runtime for running containers locally.

podman --help

The CLI for Podman is compatible with Docker, meaning it should feel familiar. The command below will launch a new container.

podman run -d --name http-noports katacoda/docker-http-server:latest

podman ps

Because these containers are not running via Docker, they will not be viewable via the Docker CLI.

docker ps

Libpod containers have the same principals in terms of configuration and security. If we wanted the ports to be accessible then we need to explicitly bind them.

podman run -d --name http -p 80:80 katacoda/docker-http-server:latest

curl localhost

Docker Compatible CLI

The configuration of a container can be outputted via inspect. The output is compatible to the Docker API.

podman inspect http

As we're running a compatible service, it's possible to just set an alias to replace the Docker CLI and have the same experience.

alias docker=podman 🙊

Now when we run Docker ps it will be based on the containers that Podman is running.

docker ps

Podman Container Security

Containers can also be run in the foreground, for example launching an Alpine based shell.

podman run -it alpine sh

Once you have a shell, the security of the container can be tested by using Am I Contained by jessfraz.

wget -O amicontained https://github.com/jessfraz/amicontained/releases/download/v0.3.0/amicontained-linux-amd64; chmod +x amicontained; ./amicontained

cd <directory>	Change directory
ls	List directory
echo 'contents' > <file>	Write contents to a file
cat <file>	Output contents of file

i	In Command Mode	Change into Insert Mode, you can now insert and edit text in the file
esc	In Insert Mode	Change into Command Mode, you can now execute commands
:wq	In Command Mode	Save and Exit

Welcome!

libpod - library for running OCI-based containers in Pods

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You've completed the scenario!

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