blog: Podman and Docker Rootless in DDEV, fixes #453

[stasadev]

The Issue

• Blog: Podman Support for DDEV #453

How This PR Solves The Issue

Adds a blog.

Manual Testing Instructions

https://pr-476.ddev-com-fork-previews.pages.dev/blog/podman-and-docker-rootless/

Automated Testing Overview

Related Issue Link(s)

Release/Deployment Notes

[github-actions]

🌐 Fork Preview for PR #476

https://pr-476.ddev-com-fork-previews.pages.dev

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[rfay]

Just starting on this... Since this will come out before v1.25.0, it should mention the v1.25.0 or HEAD requirement to test, right?

[rfay]

Here's my first visit. Congrats on this milestone.

As mentioned, this should probably discourage people from using these options unless they know they need them. Early on it should have a link to normal setup and say "You don't need this unless you think you want it :) "

Now I'll experiment with the various options.

[rfay]

It's interesting that this is the same classic problem we've had with Docker Desktop for Linux and for a time with virtiofs.

[rfay]

Another comment: One reason people have often requested podman is the belief that it was the only open-source alternative to Docker Desktop. We should clear that up in here, pointing out the there are several other fully open source alternatives on every platform.

[rfay]

This and docs probably need a compatibility table showing all the options and what works etc.

[rfay]

I'm not sure if you already have this in there, but the inability to bind to default ports 80/443 is a pretty significant liability for a web developer.

[tyler36]

Just tried installing rootless podman in a isolated WSL Ubuntu environment:

I got a warning "Problem with your Docker provider: installed Podman version 4.9.3 is not supported, please update to version 5.0 or newer."

But it seem Ubuntu old has older versions available(?)

$ sudo nala search podman
...
podman 4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.2 [Ubuntu/noble universe]
└── tool to manage containers and pods

Install Podman Desktop on windows got a "current" version though:

❯ podman -v
podman version 5.7.0

[stasadev]

Summary of Changes from Original Version

• Added release status clarity: now explicitly states support is in DDEV HEAD with GA planned for v1.25.0.
• Added full platform separation: Linux/WSL2, macOS, and Windows now have dedicated sections.
• Added Open Source alternatives to Docker Desktop (Rancher, Lima, Colima, etc).
• Improved rootless security explanation by distinguishing container user vs daemon privileges.
• Moved subuid/subgid setup into the main Podman Rootless configuration flow (more correct).
• Added Docker Rootless loopback/Xdebug fix using RootlessKit environment override.
• Added a full runtime comparison table with features and recommendations.

Content that was shortened or removed

• Removed the full UID/GID failure error log example and explicit recovery command (podman system migrate).
• Removed the explicit privileged ports error message text (rootlessport cannot expose privileged port 80).
• Removed the Arch Linux-specific pacman example for fuse-overlayfs.

Overall Impact

• Documentation is now broader, more accurate, and more structured.
• One-off deep Linux troubleshooting examples were reduced, but no core setup steps were lost.

[rfay]

I think this should either be targeted at the v1.25.0 release, or alternately promote it earlier and try to get some people to use HEAD.

It's looking good, I added some more suggestions.

Now I'll try some more manual testing.

[rfay]

I got it working fine on macOS and will use it for a while for daily use.

I didn't succeed with Fedora 43. The /mnt/ddev_config was always mounted as root and couldn't be copied at startup time.

I imagine this was something I did wrong.

[stasadev]

I edited the blog:

• Removed DOCKER_HOST
• Added explanation why to install docker CLI
• Removed all the instructions from Podman rootful, but the section remained to show the difference
• Simplified instructions
• Added checks for already applied settings based on what was done on Fedora

I'm not sure that macOS instructions are correct.

[rfay]

I tested on podman rootless and docker rootless, Ubuntu 25.10, WSL2 ARM64 and everything went OK. Minor comments. Congrats on all this.

[rfay]

After podman system reset I was no longer able to docker ps (but after reboot I could)

rfay@ub2510:~/workspace/ddev.com$ podman system reset
WARNING! This will remove:
        - all containers
        - all pods
        - all images
        - all networks
        - all build cache
        - all machines
        - all volumes
        - the graphRoot directory: "/home/rfay/.local/share/containers/storage"
        - the runRoot directory: "/run/user/1000/containers"
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y
 A "/home/rfay/.config/containers/storage.conf" config file exists.
Remove this file if you did not modify the configuration.

[stasadev]

I tested it on Arch Linux, and docker ps worked fine without reboot after podman system reset.

but after reboot I could

Maybe this command can help to do it without reboot:

systemctl --user restart podman.socket

[stasadev]

I updated the instructions for macOS:

https://pr-476.ddev-com-fork-previews.pages.dev/blog/podman-and-docker-rootless/#macos