Seamlessly run WebAssembly/Wasm binaries on macOS and Windows

You might have heard excitement recently about Wasm and WASI. Imagine a world where you can effortlessly run Wasm binaries and distribute them using Open Container Initiative (OCI) container images – a singular image deployable across multiple architectures.

Though the concept seemed straightforward, accomplishing this task proved to be quite challenging, particularly on macOS and Windows. The complexity comes from the additional virtual machine running Linux. This machine needs all of the dependencies and prerequisites correctly setup.

The wait is over. Our blog post unveils the solution, guiding you through the process of enabling Wasm workloads on both macOS and Windows.

Podman Desktop 1.4 Release! 🎉

This is essentially a bug-fix release to fix various issues in UI, but as usual we also added a few new features.

• Podman 4.6.2: Podman 4.6.2 included with Podman Desktop 1.4
• Windows Arm64: Native Windows on Arm64 installers and binaries
• Port range mapping: Start containers and map a range of ports
• Terminal UX Improvement: Persistent terminal sessions when SSH'ing in a container
• Volume Creation: Create volume from the Volumes page
• Bash support: Terminals are now using bash if available.

Podman Desktop 1.4 is now available. Click here to download it!

Release Details​

Port range mapping #3654​

When starting a new container, you can now map a port range between host and container. If the range is not valid between host and container, an error is raised.

Terminal lifetime #3725​

When a terminal is opened for a container, it can now be reused after you switched to another part of the Podman Desktop UI.

Create volume #3742​

The Volumes tab now has a Create volume button. The Create volume UI has a single field for the volume name.

bash support #3750​

When a terminal is opened for a container, if bash is available within the container, it will be used. Otherwise, sh will be used.

Notable Bug Fixes​

• Reduce API calls when listing containers by @benoitf #3489
• Removing a connection(podman machine) should redirect to previous page by @benoitf #3576
• Enhance error message when image is not there by @benoitf #3587
• Dispose kind install button when extension is deactivated (#3586) by @lstocchi #3610
• Replace backslash/slash on windows when building image (#3465) by @lstocchi #3618
• Handle null value in container command (#3620) by @lstocchi #3625
• Add maximum activation time for extensions by @benoitf #3446
• Handle single non-spread arguments by @benoitf #3641
• Grab usage data of volumes only on-demand by @benoitf #3635
• Add arm64 binaries for Windows by @benoitf #3643
• Include right airgap file for Windows and arm64 by @benoitf #3651
• Redirect to previous page when removing a kubernetes connection by @benoitf #3650
• Support port ranges when starting a container (#3204) by @lstocchi #3654
• Add a strict undefined check to messagebox result (#3692) by @lstocchi #3699
• Only restart if a machine is running by @cdrage #3491
• Session to the terminal is reused by @benoitf #3725
• Disable next button and show try again when onboarding failed (#3616) by @lstocchi #3711
• Add podman in PATH after updating process environment PATH (#3729) by @lstocchi #3730
• Allow to create a volume by @benoitf #3742
• Using bash if available otherwise sh in terminal by @axel7083 #3750
• Allow to embed existing component to onboarding (#3755) by @lstocchi #3763
• Some containers never return logs, do not wait for them by @dgolovin #3784
• Remove cancel button when on final onboarding step (#3771) by @lstocchi #3802
• Onboarding add link micromark for commands by @cdrage #3747
• Mounts can be null when using older podman by @afbjorklund #3806
• Remove redundant step completion check when onboarding gets started by @lstocchi #3798
• Ability to click enter in pull image name input by @deboer-tim #3850
• Set proxy environment variable when launching process by @jeffmaury #3838
• The socket location was moved for new podman by @afbjorklund #3853
• Don't log console errors when activating lima extension by @afbjorklund #3852

Community Thank You​

🎉 We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make Podman Desktop even better.

A warm welcome to @tomgoren, @Julian, @Gelob and @cedricclyburn who made their first contribution to the project in this release.

Final Notes​

The complete list of issues fixed in this release is available here.

Get the latest release from the Downloads section of the website and boost your development journey with Podman Desktop. Additionally, visit the GitHub repository and see how you can help us make Podman Desktop better.

Podman Desktop 1.3 Release! 🎉

This is essentially a bug-fix release to fix various issues in UI, extension engine and featured extensions, but as usual we also added a few new features.

• Podman 4.6.1: Podman 4.6.1 included in Windows and Mac installers
• Podman user-mode networking support to Windows/WSL: A new switch `User mode networking' is available when creating Podman machine on Windows for Podman 4.6.0+ to configure podman to work in certain VPN setups and other specialized networking configurations
• Compose group new UI elements: You can now see summary, inspect, deploy to kubernetes, generate kube yaml and view logs
• Extension packs and extension dependencies: Install group of extensions in one click
• Resource details page update: See summary and log for resource
• Create Kind cluster form update: A new Node's container image field can be used to specify the Kubernetes version used for the control-planed
• Support Docker Desktop extensions using a backend: When loading Docker Desktop extension the containers are created in the backend as described in the vm section of extension's descriptor
• Podman Initial Onboarding (preview): Install and configure podman using included installer

Podman Desktop 1.3 is now available. Click here to download it!

Release Details​

Compose group Logs tab #3176​

When clicking on the group of containers, you can now view the logs of the entire group of compose containers and don't need to open log for every component individually.

Podman user-mode networking support to Windows/WSL #3251​

Certain VPN setups or other specialized networking configs will block traffic from the virtual WSL networking device, resulting in the podman WSL backend from being unable to contact systems on the VPN, and potentially losing internet access altogether. The new switch allows you to create a podman VM machine configured to work correctly in mentioned above networking environments.

Compose group Summary tab #3317,​

Compose group Summary tab shows all containers in the group and let you navigate to Details page for specific container.

Compose group Inspect tab #3316​

Compose group Inspect tab shows an array of "container inspect" from docker / podman.

Deploy to kubernetes in compose actions #3299​

A button to deploy to kubernetes added to Compose group.

Generate Kube in Compose actions and Kube tab in compose details #3253​

Generate Kube item added to Compose actions and "Kube" tab is now available in Compose details view.

Install multiple extensions using extension pack #3150​

An Extension pack introduced in Extension engine is a way to declare set of extensions to install them all at once.

Customize icons from extension #3131​

Extensions now can customize icons for list elements using when clause.

Resource details page update #1923​

If you click on the arrow icon next to a resource name it will open up a details page (similarly to how clicking on a container in the container list opens up a details page).

Node's container image field added to Create a Kind cluster form #3508​

The new Node's container image field can be used to specify the Kubernetes version used for the control-planed.

Support Docker Desktop extensions using a backend #3435​

Podman Desktop now loads the containers in the backend as described in the vm section of extension descriptor the same way as Docker Desktop does.

Initial onboarding implementation for podman (experimental) #3308​

This is the initial implementation for the onboarding feature. It only covers a simple onboarding for podman. Check system requirements -> install podman -> yay! Done!

Notable Bug Fixes​

• Updating videos to be adaptive for mobile by @mairin #3229
• Consistent max width and padding in settings by @deboer-tim #3232
• Settings navigation bar resizing by @deboer-tim in #3231
• Move new registry button to header by @deboer-tim #3245
• Bigger lima logo by @afbjorklund #3248
• Horizontal docker logo by @afbjorklund #3236
• Respect LIMA_HOME environment variable by @afbjorklund #3254
• Add check before writing to terminal by @lstocchi #3263
• Wait until remote side has fully initialized the extensions by @benoitf #3257
• Fix loader not centered horizontally by @benoitf #3270
• Troubleshooting still waiting after failure by @deboer-tim #3354
• Store error for build by @cdrage #3365
• Missing checkbox tooltips by @deboer-tim #3380
• Load compose logs async not await by @cdrage #3377
• Set rootful connection when starting rootful machine by @lstocchi #3364
• Default last page by @deboer-tim #3388
• Avoid dashboard displaying providers starting while they don't by @benoitf #3451
• Do not use extensionInfo until it is defined by @benoitf #V
• Allow BASIC authentication (all caps) by @cdrage #3471
• Allow single domain registry such as localhost:5000 by @cdrage #3468
• Create /usr/local/bin directory if it does not exist on binary install by @cdrage #3425
• Only delete selected pods by @deboer-tim #
• Add back 'Done' text on the button by @benoitf #3487
• Do not wait for more than 5s when checking for podman ping by @benoitf #3497
• Add proxy support for extension using patching get and request approach by @dgolovin #2825
• Refresh component when field is updated by @benoitf #3525
• Higher-res icons for featured extensions list by @mairin #3511
• Main nav selection by @deboer-tim #3510
• kube event error when switching context by @jeffmaury #3494
• Reset error message each time we pull image by @benoitf #3550

Community Thank You​

🎉 We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make Podman Desktop even better.

A warm welcome to @rostalan and @axel7083 who made their first contribution to the project in this release.

Final Notes​

The complete list of issues fixed in this release is available here.

Get the latest release from the Downloads section of the website and boost your development journey with Podman Desktop. Additionally, visit the GitHub repository and see how you can help us make Podman Desktop better.

Podman Desktop 1.2 Release! 🎉

We're excited to announce the release of Podman Desktop version 1.2.0! This release includes many new features (Kubernetes, Compose and extension support!), bug fixes, and improvements to enhance your container management experience. Here's a summary of the key changes in this release:

• Added start/stop/delete/restart buttons for Compose: You can now make changes to an entire Compose group of containers
• Kubernetes context on the status bar: Choose from multiple Kubernetes contexts more easily all from the status bar
• Rename images: Rename an image with a click of a button
• Protocol handler support: Added support for protocol handlers such as open podman-desktop:extension/redhat.openshift-local
• Troubleshooting page: A troubleshooting page for helping diagnose Podman Desktop related development issues

Podman Desktop 1.2 is now available. Click here to download it!

Release Details​

Added start/stop/delete/restart buttons for Compose​

In the last month we've been addind support for more Compose features. Before you were only able to control a group of containers if they were in a Pod. Now we have added the ability to control a group of Compose containers. You can now start, stop, delete and restart a group of containers launched by either docker-compose or podman-compose.

Stay tuned as we add even more features to Compose! If you have any feedback or feature requests, feel free to open an issue or start a discussion on GitHub.

Kubernetes context on the status bar​

With Kubernetes context on the status bar, you can switch from one context to another in just a couple of clicks. Easily switch to a different cluster all together. If there are multiple contexts available, you can now click and pick which one to use.

Rename images​

Deployed an image but now you need to rename it / add a new tag? Podman Desktop allows you to edit an image now. Thanks to an awesome contributor @tuckerrc who added the new feature.

Troubleshooting page​

Developing an extension for Podman Desktop? Want to view the logs of Podman Desktop as well as ping your container connection? We now have a troubleshooting page!

Click on the lightbulb button on the bottom right to access the page.

Protocol handler support​

Podman Desktop now supports protocol handling when using the terminal! Want to access your favourite extension directly from a script or the terminal? If you type in open podman-desktop:extension/redhat.openshift-local in the terminal, Podman Desktop will automatically load up to the correct extension.

Other Notable Features​

• Background colors and FormPage (PR #2977)
• Add ability to add insecure registry / skipping cert verify (PR #2896)
• Add support for icon contribution (PR #2984)
• Add warning dialog message that virtual machine has low memory limit (PR #2822)
• Propose indexed name for new pod (PR #3028)
• Add restart button after enabling / disabling mac os compatibility (PR #2841)
• Add environment related helper constants (PR #3079)
• Allow entrypoint and cmd when starting container (PR #3031)
• Add a way to debug stores in troubleshooting page (PR #3121)
• Add custompick component (#2855) (PR #3012)
• Dynamic breadcrumbs (PR #3119)
• Icons on form pages (PR #3155)
• Switch more pages to formpage (PR #3162)
• Add rename image button (PR #2588)
• Fixed headers, improved scrollbars (PR #2863)
• Reports warnings on failed kube deploy, fixes error out (PR #3050)
• Kube context on statusbar (PR #2755)
• Install provider if not installed when clicking on create new button (#2706) (PR #2817)
• Add tag and authenticated push capacity to the extension API (PR #2876)
• Add navigation bar e2e tests (PR #2950)

Documentation Updates​

• Fix documentation for building image of extensions (PR #2873)
• Add Minikube install docs (PR #2824)
• Add Minikube documentation (PR #2694)
• Updated Building an image procedure (PR #2964)
• Starting a container (PR #2958)
• Pulling an image (PR #2956)
• Updated selecting containers to run in a pod (PR #2970)
• Pushing an image to a registry (PR #2969)
• How to add an insecure registry (PR #2953)
• Add documentation for lima (PR #2995)
• Replace broken link to podman.io (PR #2994)
• Authenticating to a pre-configured registry (PR #2965)
• Lima is not a container engine (PR #3051)
• Using the Troubleshooting page (PR #3083)
• View and select your current Kubernetes context in the status bar (PR #3090)

Notable Bug Fixes​

• Deleting a running pod generates an error (PR #2827)
• If kubeconfig is empty, does not try to do things, cancel (PR #2874)
• Async telemetry startup (PR #2885)
• Do not block startup while waiting for kube resource refresh (PR #2884)
• Images list too wide (PR #2918)
• Compose deactivate function never called (PR #2922)
• Auto-scrolling on form pages, layout issues (PR #2927)
• Show current context in quick pick (PR #2920)
• Remove sticky position of loader in dashboard UI (#2535) (PR #2959)
• Undo change that broke the website (PR #2992)
• Detailspage, resizing & consistency (PR #2987)
• Quick pick click to close and over nav bar (PR #2758)
• Only show empty screen when no pods (PR #2929)
• Do not redirect to /pods when deleting pod in containerlist (PR #2963)
• Bulk delete on pods should call the pod deletion (PR #2979)
• Update nodejs version to 18 in .nvmrc to fix yarn install failure (PR #2989)
• Website check targets (PR #2996)
• Don't show exception to user (PR #3034)
• Interpret arguments given to info command for example (PR #3015)
• Change defaults for Podman machine (PR #3061)
• Normalize development/production folders path (PR #3113)
• Calculate machine socket path for linux (PR #3070)
• Replace backslash with slash so to support rendering on Windows (#3120) (PR #3122)
• Keep stdout and stderr in the error object for Docker Desktop extensions (PR #3014)
• Mark task completed if there's a failure (PR #3016)
• Handle invalid kubeconfig file (PR #3129)
• Do not remove registries when podman extension is stopping (PR #3136)
• Warning should be amber (PR #3153)
• Load user extensions from plugins as removable (PR #3152)
• Images with spaces in entrypoints or commands fail to start (PR #3161)
• Scrolling offscreen when clicking checkbox (PR #3178)
• Avoid messagebox expanding offscreen (PR #2778)
• Release-notes-generator run failure (PR #2752)
• Unable to do a new build if the previous one failed (PR #2721)

Community Thank You​

🎉 We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make Podman Desktop even better.

A big shoutout to @afbjorklund, @tuckerrc and @evanshortiss who contributed to this release!

Final notes​

The complete list of issues fixed in this release is available here and here.

Get the latest release from the Downloads section of the website and boost your development journey with Podman Desktop. Additionally, visit the GitHub repository and see how you can help us make Podman Desktop better.

Podman Desktop 1.1 Release! 🎉

This is primarily a bug-fix release to fix a few important issues, but we've managed to squeeze in a few enhancements along the way.

• Podman 4.5.1: Podman 4.5.1 now included in Windows and Mac installers.
• Extensions: Update extensions from within Podman Desktop.
• Lima Support: Choose engine type and override its name from the settings.
• UX and UI Improvements: New loading screen.

Podman Desktop 1.1 is now available. Click here to download it!

Podman Desktop 1.0 Release! 🎉

We still have many things planned, but with a little polish and a few more bug fixes we felt we've reached a level of maturity and it is now time to declare our 1.0 release.

Thank you to everyone who has been with us on this journey so far! Please keep the feedback coming!

• Highlighting Featured Extensions: Easily find and install new extensions.
• Featured Extensions: Two new extensions supporting OpenShift.
• Podman Machine as Root: Ability to run a Podman machine as root.
• UX and UI Improvements: Opening external websites, editing numbers, and tooltips.

Podman Desktop 1.0 is now available. Click here to download it!

Podman Desktop 0.15 - Cleanliness is next to Podliness!

It has only been two weeks since our last release, but we really wanted to complete a few scenarios, fix a few bugs, and show off several design updates and UI improvements that we have been working on.

• Podman Version: Podman 4.5 now included in Windows and Mac installers.
• Kind Ingress: Creating an ingress to expose services outside the Kind cluster.
• Podliness: Ability to choose external ports when podifying containers.
• Cleanliness: New navigation bar, dialog, and palette update.
• UX and UI Improvements: Markdown support for extensions.

Podman Desktop 0.15 is now available. Click here to download it!

In this blog post you will learn to use Podman Desktop to run the Kubernetes documentation example: Deploying PHP Guestbook application with Redis.

On the agenda:

1. Installing Podman Desktop.
2. Installing and initializing your container engine: Podman.
3. Installing and starting your local Kubernetes provider: Kind.
4. Starting the Redis leader.
5. Starting and scaling the Redis followers.
6. Starting and exposing the Guestbook frontend.

Podman Desktop 0.14 - Our Kind-est release yet!

We have been working on a Kind extension for a while now, and decided it is time to promote it into a release just in time for KubeCon and CloudNativeCon Europe!

We're especially excited about releasing Kind because it finally shows the full purpose of Podman Desktop: not just local container engines, but Kubernetes too. More importantly, providing tools that allow you to manage both environments and seamlessly move between them.

Some of these features were available in development mode over the last few releases, but since they are now in the release build, we will do a full roundup and talk about all the Kind features.

• Kind Installation: Install Kind from the status bar
• Manage Kind Clusters: Create and manage Kind clusters from Settings > Resources
• Using Kind: Deploying YAML and sharing images to a cluster
• Kind Ingress: Install a Contour ingress controller
• UX and UI Improvements: Updated preferences and telemetry prompt

Podman Desktop 0.14 is now available. Click here to download it!

This release note covers Podman Desktop 0.13 release changes.

• Podman Version: Podman 4.4.4 now included in Windows and Mac installers.
• Compose: Support for installing Docker Compose.
• Extensions: Improved extension support for Podman Desktop with additional capabilities.
• UX and UI Improvements: Welcome page, task manager, resources, and update alerts.

Podman Desktop 0.13 is now available. Click here to download it!

The 5 things to know being a Docker user by using Podman Desktop:

• Use a single UI: Podman Desktop works with several container engines, including Docker.
• The compatibility mode: How to ensure tools are working with Podman instead of Docker.
• Compose support: How to work with Compose files and Podman.
• Kubernetes support: How to use Kubernetes with Podman.
• Security: Use rootless mode or containers without root privileges.

This release note covers Podman Desktop 0.12 release changes.

• Podman Version: Podman 4.4.1 now included in Windows and Mac installers.
• Containers Configuration: Configure port mappings for an image without exported ports.
• Windows Home Support: Podman Desktop now supports Windows Home Edition.
• Start minimized: Option to start Podman Desktop minimized to system tray.
• UX and UI Improvements: Consistent actions, placeholder for logs, unified icons and others.

Podman Desktop 0.12 is now available. Click here to download it!

This release note covers Podman Desktop 0.11 release changes.

• Air-Gapped Installation: New all-in-one binaries for air-gapped installation.
• Feedback: Submit feedback directly from Podman Desktop.
• Docker Compatibility Mode: Information about the Docker compatibility mode.
• Proxy Setting: Toggle on/off the proxy setting.
• Deploy to Kubernetes: Select the namespace to deploy to Kubernetes.
• Registry Configuration: Simplified registry configuration for well known registries.
• UX/UI Improvements: View pod's container logs, better visual feedback, configurable editor font size, and more.

Podman Desktop 0.11 is now available. Click here to download it!

This release note covers Podman Desktop 0.10 release changes.

• Containers Configuration: Container creation wizzard allowing to define environment variables, networking and more configuration options.
• Kubernetes Improvements: Play Kubernetes YAML, custom Kubeconfig path support, reload of kube context.
• Registries Configuration: Revamped registries configuration UI.
• Podman Version: Podman 4.3.1 now included in Windows and Mac installers.
• UX/UI Improvements: Improved lists, better contrast, and more.

Podman Desktop 0.10 is now available. Click here to download it!

GitHub announced last week that Codespaces is available for everyone and it includes free minutes.

Let see how we can use a Development Container having all the tools to build and run Podman Desktop. The Development Container works locally using Visual Studio Code but in this blog post we will see how it works directly with a simple click from GitHub.

The challenges are to run a desktop tool (Podman Desktop) and running a container engine (Podman) inside this Development Container without using too many memory !