Podman for DevOps: Build secure, rootless containers, and integrate them into real DevOps and AI workflows

Learn to build, manage, and deploy containers on Linux using Podman, Buildah, and Skopeo, and integrate them with Kubernetes and systemd, while running AI models locally through the Podman Desktop interface

Key Features

Create containers from scratch using Buildah and move images securely with Skopeo

Harden your container environment with rootless Podman, SELinux, and signed images

Manage Kubernetes resources and streamline AI workflows with Podman Desktop

Book DescriptionContainers are transforming how modern applications are built, deployed, and scaled. Podman offers a powerful, secure alternative to Docker by eliminating the daemon and embracing rootless container execution. If you're ready to move beyond legacy workflows and gain full control over container management, this practical guide is for you.

You’ll begin with container fundamentals and a side-by-side comparison of Docker and Podman to ease the transition. Then, you'll run your first container, manage its lifecycle, and use Buildah to build images from scratch. Skopeo helps you transfer and inspect images across registries. As you progress, you’ll secure your environment with rootless containers, signed images, and SELinux policies. You’ll also configure container networking, integrate workloads with systemd services, and troubleshoot issues using native Linux tools. The final chapters focus on modern developer workflows, showing how to migrate existing Docker workloads, manage containers and Kubernetes resources visually using Podman Desktop, and leverage Podman AI Lab to experiment with, run, and manage AI/ML models locally in a containerized environment.

By the end of this book, you’ll be able to build, run, and secure containers, automate workflows, and confidently manage deployments across DevOps and AI-powered environments.What you will learn

Understand the fundamentals and history of container technology

Compare Podman and Docker to choose the right container engine

Run and manage containers on various Linux environments using Podman

Build containers from scratch using Buildah and manage them with Skopeo

Secure containers using rootless execution, SELinux, and image signing

Troubleshoot and monitor containers using system tools and Podman CLI

Connect containers with advanced networking and integrate them with systemd

Manage containers and explore AI/ML use cases with Podman Desktop

Who this book is forThe book is for cloud developers looking to learn how to build and package applications inside containers and system administrators who want to deploy, manage, and integrate them with system services and orchestration solutions. This book provides a detailed comparison between Docker and Podman to aid you in learning Podman quickly. Basic Linux skills are assumed. Familiarity with Docker, container concepts, and cloud environments is helpful but not required, as concepts are introduced progressively.