Generate a systemd unit file using Podman

Create systemd unit files for existing containers by using the podman generate systemd command. This allows Podman to manage running containers as services, though Quadlets are preferred for new configurations.

Before you begin

  • The container-tools meta-package is installed.

About this task

The podman generate systemd command also helps ensure that you get the latest version of unit files.

Note
Starting with Podman v4.6, you can use the Quadlets that describe how to run a container in a format similar to regular systemd unit files and hides the complexity of running containers under systemd.

Procedure

  1. Create a container (for example myubi): 
    $ podman create --name myubi registry.access.redhat.com/ubi10:latest sleep infinity
     
    0280afe98bb75a5c5e713b28de4b7c5cb49f156f1cce4a208f13fee2f75cb453
  2. Use the container name or ID to generate the systemd unit file and direct it into the ~/.config/systemd/user/container-myubi.service file: 
    $ podman generate systemd --name myubi > ~/.config/systemd/user/container-myubi.service

Results

  • Display the content of generated systemd unit file: 
    $ cat ~/.config/systemd/user/container-myubi.service
     
    # container-myubi.service
# autogenerated by Podman 3.3.1
# Wed Sep  8 20:34:46 CEST 2021

[Unit]
Description=Podman container-myubi.service
Documentation=man:podman-generate-systemd(1)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
RequiresMountsFor=/run/user/1000/containers

[Service]
Environment=PODMAN_SYSTEMD_UNIT=%n
Restart=on-failure
TimeoutStopSec=70
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman start myubi
ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman stop -t 10 myubi
ExecStopPost=/usr/bin/podman stop -t 10 myubi
PIDFile=/run/user/1000/containers/overlay-containers/9683103f58a32192c84801f0be93446cb33c1ee7d9cdda225b78049d7c5deea4/userdata/conmon.pid
Type=forking

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target default.target
    • The Restart=on-failure line sets the restart policy and instructs systemd to restart when the service cannot be started or stopped cleanly, or when the process exits non-zero.
    • The ExecStart line describes how we start the container.
    • The ExecStop line describes how we stop and remove the container.

      For more information, see podman-generate-systemd(1) man page on your system.