CLI Compatibility and Basic Commands

Learn how to use Podman with Docker-compatible commands and explore its CLI for managing containers, images, and volumes.

One of Podman’s strongest features is its Docker CLI compatibility. In most cases, you can use the exact same commands — often by simply replacing the word docker with podman.

This makes switching from Docker to Podman easier than you might expect.

🧪 Try It: Podman vs Docker Commands

🧠 Tip: You can even create an alias:

alias docker=podman

🔍 What’s the Same?

• Most of the Docker CLI commands
• Image management using pull, push, build
• Container lifecycle management (run, exec, rm, stop, logs)
• Volume and network handling

🔄 What’s Different?

🔧 No Daemon

Podman commands run directly without a background service. This affects:

• How containers are started and monitored
• How logs and container state are handled

🛠 Rootless by Default

Most Podman installations use rootless mode:

• Your containers run as your user (no sudo needed)
• Files created by containers belong to your user

📁 Volumes and files created in containers are owned by the current user, not root, in rootless mode.

🧰 System Commands

Some Docker-style commands (e.g., docker system prune) may behave differently or be absent in Podman. Podman provides alternatives like:

podman image prune
podman container prune

🧪 Try It Yourself

Start a container and explore the CLI:

podman run -it --rm alpine

Inside the container:

apk add curl

Then exit and try listing and removing the container:

podman ps -a

🔐 Rootless vs Rootful Mode

You can choose to run Podman in root mode if needed:

sudo podman run ...

But in most cases, rootless mode is safer and preferred — especially for development.

Next up: Podman Features Docker Doesn’t Have

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