21.2. Enabling the Podman API using systemd in rootless mode

Procedure

1. Enable and start the service immediately:

   $ systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket

2. Optional: To enable programs by using Docker to interact with the rootless Podman socket:

   $ export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/<uid>/podman//podman.sock

Verification

1. Check the status of the socket:

   $ systemctl --user status podman.socket
   ● podman.socket - Podman API Socket
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/podman.socket; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (listening) since Mon 2021-08-23 10:37:25 CEST; 9min ago
   Docs: man:podman-system-service(1)
   Listen: /run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock (Stream)
   CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/podman.socket

   The podman.socket is active and is listening at /run/user/<uid>/podman.podman.sock, where <uid> is the user’s ID.

2. Display system information of Podman:

   $ podman-remote info