Podman From Source Installer

This repository provides a Bash script to build and install a recent Podman release from source on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, along with its networking stack (netavark + aardvark-dns) and supporting tools.

The script is designed for repeatable server setups where you want a newer Podman than the Ubuntu archive provides, but still want a lean runtime environment afterward.

Features

• Builds Podman from source on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 with configurable version (default: v5.8.3).
• Builds and installs:
  • conmon (container monitor)
  • passt / pasta (for user-mode networking)
  • netavark (container network stack)
  • aardvark-dns (DNS server for container A/AAAA records)
• Step-level caching with .state files so reruns resume from the last successful step instead of starting over.
• --dry-run mode to preview all actions without making changes.
• Optional cleanup of build-time dependencies, toolchains, and workspace after a successful build.
• Flags to keep Go and/or Rust toolchains if you also use them for development on the host.
• Interactive or fully non-interactive modes for CI and automation.

Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy) or 24.04 (Noble) host.
• sudo access for installing packages and placing binaries under /usr and /usr/local/libexec/podman.
• Network access to fetch sources from GitHub and install toolchains.

Script overview

The main script (for example install-podman-from-source.sh) performs these steps:

1. Verifies the OS is Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04.
2. Installs build dependencies via apt-get (compiler, headers, dev libraries, etc.).
3. Installs Go (configurable version) using a helper installer script.
4. Clones and builds:
   • passt
   • conmon
   • podman at the requested tag
   • netavark
   • aardvark-dns
5. Installs Podman under /usr, and networking helpers under /usr/local/libexec/podman.
6. Installs /etc/containers/registries.conf and /etc/containers/policy.json.
7. Installs the Rust toolchain via rustup and sets stable as the default toolchain (for netavark and aardvark-dns builds).
8. Optionally cleans up build deps, toolchains, and the workspace.

Each major step writes a .done marker under ${WORKDIR}/.state only on success, so rerunning the script will skip completed steps unless you explicitly disable caching.

Installation

curl -fsSL https://bit.ly/podman-install | bash

Or clone this repository and make the script executable:

git clone https://github.com/ffuad13/install-podman-from-source.git
cd install-podman-from-source
chmod +x ./install-podman-from-source.sh

Usage

Basic install

Run interactively:

./install-podman-from-source.sh

The script will show a plan and ask for confirmation before proceeding.

Run non-interactively:

./install-podman-from-source.sh -y

Dry run

Preview everything without making changes:

./install-podman-from-source.sh --dry-run

Override versions and workspace

PODMAN_VERSION=v5.9.0 \
GO_VERSION=1.22.4 \
WORKDIR="$HOME/src/podman-src" \
  ./install-podman-from-source.sh -y

Cleanup options

You can use the built-in cleanup logic to remove build-time dependencies, toolchains, and the working directory once Podman is installed.

• Run a full build and then clean up:

./install-podman-from-source.sh -y --cleanup-after

• Only run cleanup (no build steps):

./install-podman-from-source.sh --cleanup-only

Keeping Go or Rust

By default, cleanup will remove:

• Build-time apt packages.
• Go toolchain and caches (/usr/local/go, ~/.go, $GOPATH).
• Rust toolchain and caches (~/.rustup, ~/.cargo).
• Go / Rust environment entries in ~/.bashrc and ~/.zshrc:
  • export GOROOT=/home/ubuntu/.go
  • export PATH=$GOROOT/bin:$PATH
  • export GOPATH=/home/ubuntu/go
  • export PATH=$GOPATH/bin:$PATH
  • . "$HOME/.cargo/env"

Use these flags to keep one or both toolchains and their shell configuration:

• Keep Go only:

./install-podman-from-source.sh --cleanup-only --keep-go

• Keep Rust only:

./install-podman-from-source.sh --cleanup-only --keep-rust

• Keep both Go and Rust:

./install-podman-from-source.sh --cleanup-only --keep-go --keep-rust

Caching and rebuilds

• To resume after a failed step, just rerun:

./install-podman-from-source.sh -y

• To force all steps to re-run but reuse cloned repos:

./install-podman-from-source.sh -y --no-cache

• To completely reset the workspace before running:

./install-podman-from-source.sh -y --clean-workdir

Script options summary

Run ./install-podman-from-source.sh --help to see the latest usage, but the key options are:

• --dry-run, -n
  Print what would be done, but do not execute.

• --yes, -y
  Non-interactive; assume "yes" to prompts.

• --podman-version=VAL
  Podman git tag to build (default: v5.8.3).

• --go-version=VAL
  Go version for the helper installer (default: 1.26.4).

• --no-cache, --force
  Ignore cached step state and re-run all steps.

• --clean-workdir
  Remove the entire WORKDIR before running.

• --cleanup-after
  Run cleanup of build deps/toolchains after a successful build.

• --cleanup-only
  Only run cleanup (no build or install steps).

• --keep-go
  Keep Go toolchain and Go env config during cleanup.

• --keep-rust
  Keep Rust toolchain and Rust env config during cleanup.

Caveats

• This script specifically targets Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04; use on other distributions or releases is not supported.
• It makes system-wide changes (apt-get, /usr, /usr/local/libexec, /etc/containers), so you should review it before running in production.
• Podman, netavark, and aardvark-dns are actively developed; you may need to adjust default versions or build flags over time.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.