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Chapter 2. Configure a Podman machine

While a default Podman machine is created automatically upon installation, you can create a custom machine that allows you to manually define specific configurations:

  • Allocating resources (CPUs, memory, and disk size).
  • Using a custom boot image
  • Setting the machine to use a rootful connection by default
  • On Windows: Enabling user mode networking to route traffic through the host’s network session

Prerequisites

  • You have installed Red Hat build of Podman Desktop and Podman on your machine.
Note

For details about configuration options available for Podman machine creation, refer to the Customize the Podman execution environment section.

Procedure

  1. Go to the Settings > Resources page from the left navigation pane.
  2. In the Podman tile, click Create new. The Create a Podman machine screen opens.

  3. Enter or customize the following details:

    • Name: Enter a descriptive name, such as podman-machine-custom.
    • CPU(s): Select the number of CPUs (recommended: 2-4).
    • Memory: Select memory size in GB (recommended: 4-8 GB).
    • Disk size: Select disk size in GB (recommended: 20-50 GB).
  4. Optional: Provide a bootable image by using the Image Path or Image URL or image reference option.
  5. Customize the Machine with root privileges option to use the rootful or rootless connection.

  6. Additional settings based on your operating system:

    • On Windows: Set the value of the User mode networking and Provider Type configuration options.
    • On macOS: Set the value of the Provider Type configuration option.
  7. Click Create.
  8. After the machine is successfully created, click Go back to resources.

Verification

  • Check that the Podman machine is running in the Podman tile.
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