Install Podman on Ubuntu: APT, Versions & Rootless Setup

On Ubuntu, Podman installs from the default archives with two commands. The catch is which major version your release ships — Ubuntu 22.04 still carries Podman 3.4.x while 26.04 LTS ships 5.7.x. Check that before copying flags from a tutorial written for Fedora or upstream docs.

Quick install Podman on Ubuntu

Refresh package indexes first — the apt command needs current metadata before it can resolve podman:

sudo apt update

Install Podman from the universe repository:

sudo apt install podman

Confirm the client version immediately:

podman --version

Sample output on Ubuntu 24.04 after install:

podman version 4.9.3

If that version line prints, the package and its runtime dependencies are on the PATH. Continue with podman info and the hello container below.

Podman versions available on Ubuntu

Ubuntu pins one Podman branch per release. The exact Debian revision changes with security updates, but the major.minor is what matters for feature compatibility.

Why this table matters:

• Ubuntu 22.04 lacks many Podman 4.x and 5.x defaults you see in current documentation.
• Ubuntu 24.04 adds netavark and modern rootless tooling, but still trails Fedora and RHEL on the latest 5.8 minor.
• Ubuntu 26.04 closes much of that gap with a 5.7.x package.

For Quadlet feature gates by Podman version, see Install Podman on RHEL.

Ask APT what your host would install:

apt-cache policy podman

Sample output on Ubuntu 24.04:

podman:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.2
  Version table:
     4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.2 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 Packages
     4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.1 500
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security/universe amd64 Packages

The Candidate line is the version apt install podman selects from enabled repositories.

Check whether Podman is available

If apt install podman reports the package cannot be found, the universe component may be disabled or your indexes are stale.

Inspect what APT knows about the package:

apt-cache policy podman

When the Candidate line is missing or (none), enable universe on desktop and server images (it is on by default on most Ubuntu installs) and refresh:

sudo apt update

Retry the install command from the quick-start section. On the Ubuntu releases covered by this guide, Podman is available from the Universe component.

Install Podman

Run the install transaction on your Ubuntu host:

sudo apt install podman

Sample output (trimmed) from the Ubuntu 24.04 lab install:

Setting up conmon (2.1.10+ds1-1build2) ...
Setting up netavark (1.4.0-4) ...
Setting up aardvark-dns (1.4.0-5) ...
Setting up crun (1.14.1-1) ...
Setting up fuse-overlayfs (1.13-1) ...
Setting up uidmap (1:4.13+dfsg1-4ubuntu3.2) ...
Setting up podman (4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.2) ...
Created symlink ... /usr/lib/systemd/system/podman.socket

APT pulls the runtime stack automatically on a normal install:

• conmon — per-container supervisor
• crun — OCI runtime
• netavark and aardvark-dns — networking and embedded DNS
• fuse-overlayfs — rootless-friendly storage
• uidmap — subordinate ID tools for rootless mode (recommended package; installed by default unless you pass --no-install-recommends)

You do not need to install those packages manually on a normal Ubuntu 24.04 install.

Verify the Podman installation

Check the client version:

podman --version

Sample output:

podman version 4.9.3

Inspect the runtime stack with podman info:

podman info

Read these fields in the output (trimmed from Ubuntu 24.04):

version:
    Version: 4.9.3
  cgroupVersion: v2
  networkBackend: netavark
  ociRuntime:
    name: crun
  graphDriverName: overlay

Verify rootless Podman on Ubuntu

Rootless Podman runs as your login user without sudo. A normal apt install podman also installs the recommended rootless helper packages such as uidmap on supported Ubuntu releases. You still need subordinate ranges for that user.

Verify uidmap is present if you used --no-install-recommends or rootless setup fails:

dpkg -l uidmap

Check UID delegation:

grep "^$(id -un):" /etc/subuid

Sample output for user poddemo on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 install:

poddemo:165536:65536

Check GID delegation the same way:

grep "^$(id -un):" /etc/subgid

Sample output:

poddemo:165536:65536

As that user (not root), confirm Podman reports rootless mode:

podman info --format 'rootless={{.Host.Security.Rootless}}'

Sample output:

rootless=true

If ranges are missing or pulls fail with ID-mapping errors, follow Rootless Podman — this install guide only confirms the smoke test.

Run your first Podman container

Pull and run the hello image to exercise registry access, storage, the OCI runtime, and conmon:

podman run --rm quay.io/podman/hello

Sample output:

!... Hello Podman World ...!

The ASCII greeting means the full path worked: image pull, overlay storage, crun, and container teardown with --rm.

Next lesson: Run containers with podman run for detach mode, ports, and environment variables.

Optional Podman packages on Ubuntu

Install these only when you need them. Versions below are from Ubuntu 24.04 archive metadata:

Query availability on your release before installing:

apt-cache policy podman-docker buildah skopeo

Why is Ubuntu's Podman older than upstream?

Upstream Podman releases new minors frequently. Ubuntu maintains one package branch per release so LTS systems receive security backports without surprise behavior changes.

An older podman --version is not a failed install — it is the trade-off for stability. Commands such as podman artifact or Quadlet .artifact units require newer majors than Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 provide.

When a tutorial assumes Podman 5.8 flags, compare your podman --version output to the feature matrix on Install Podman on RHEL instead of replacing Ubuntu’s package with unofficial binaries.

Update Podman on Ubuntu

Use the normal APT upgrade path:

sudo apt update

Upgrade the package when a security or bugfix revision appears:

sudo apt upgrade podman

Inspect candidates before upgrading automation hosts:

apt-cache policy podman

Re-run podman --version after upgrades. Ubuntu rarely jumps major versions on an existing LTS — you get revision bumps such as 4.9.3+ds1-1ubuntu0.1 → ...0.2.

Uninstall Podman from Ubuntu

Remove the package when you no longer need containers on the host:

sudo apt remove podman

Drop configuration files as well when you want a cleaner removal:

sudo apt purge podman

Removing the package does not delete images, containers, or volumes. Rootful storage often remains under /var/lib/containers; rootless users keep ~/.local/share/containers/. Delete those directories only when you intentionally want a full wipe.

Do not treat podman system reset --force as a routine uninstall step — it destroys all local Podman data in one command.

Common Podman installation problems on Ubuntu

References

• Podman installation documentation
• Ubuntu packages — podman

Summary

Installing Podman on Ubuntu is sudo apt update followed by sudo apt install podman. The lab install on Ubuntu 24.04 placed Podman 4.9.3 on the PATH with crun, conmon, and netavark pulled in automatically — no manual dependency hunting.

Before you follow newer tutorials, compare your release against the version table: 22.04 still ships 3.4.x, 24.04 ships 4.9.x, and 26.04 LTS ships 5.7.x in current archives. apt-cache policy podman shows the candidate on your host; podman info confirms cgroup v2, overlay storage, and the network backend.

Rootless mode worked once subuid ranges existed for the test user (rootless=true). The hello image proved registry and runtime integration. For Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux paths, see Install Podman on Rocky Linux; for Debian, see Install Podman on Debian; for day-to-day container commands, open the podman run lesson next.