Podman for DevOps: Build secure, rootless containers, and integrate them into real DevOps and AI workflows

Learn to build, manage, and deploy containers on Linux using Podman, Buildah, and Skopeo, and integrate them with Kubernetes and systemd, while running AI models locally through the Podman Desktop interface

Key Features

• Create containers from scratch using Buildah and move images securely with Skopeo
• Harden your container environment with rootless Podman, SELinux, and signed images
• Manage Kubernetes resources and streamline AI workflows with Podman Desktop

Book Description

Containers are transforming how modern applications are built, deployed, and scaled. Podman offers a powerful, secure alternative to Docker by eliminating the daemon and embracing rootless container execution. If you're ready to move beyond legacy workflows and gain full control over container management, this practical guide is for you.

You’ll begin with container fundamentals and a side-by-side comparison of Docker and Podman to ease the transition. Then, you'll run your first container, manage its lifecycle, and use Buildah to build images from scratch. Skopeo helps you transfer and inspect images across registries. As you progress, you’ll secure your environment with rootless containers, signed images, and SELinux policies. You’ll also configure container networking, integrate workloads with systemd services, and troubleshoot issues using native Linux tools. The final chapters focus on modern developer workflows, showing how to migrate existing Docker workloads, manage containers and Kubernetes resources visually using Podman Desktop, and leverage Podman AI Lab to experiment with, run, and manage AI/ML models locally in a containerized environment.

By the end of this book, you’ll be able to build, run, and secure containers, automate workflows, and confidently manage deployments across DevOps and AI-powered environments.

What you will learn

• Understand the fundamentals and history of container technology
• Compare Podman and Docker to choose the right container engine
• Run and manage containers on various Linux environments using Podman
• Build containers from scratch using Buildah and manage them with Skopeo
• Secure containers using rootless execution, SELinux, and image signing
• Troubleshoot and monitor containers using system tools and Podman CLI
• Connect containers with advanced networking and integrate them with systemd
• Manage containers and explore AI/ML use cases with Podman Desktop

Who this book is for

The book is for cloud developers looking to learn how to build and package applications inside containers and system administrators who want to deploy, manage, and integrate them with system services and orchestration solutions. This book provides a detailed comparison between Docker and Podman to aid you in learning Podman quickly. Basic Linux skills are assumed. Familiarity with Docker, container concepts, and cloud environments is helpful but not required, as concepts are introduced progressively.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Container technology
2. Comparing Podman and Docker
3. Running the First Container
4. Managing Running Containers
5. Implementing Storage for the Container's Data
6. Meet Buildah – Building Containers from Scratch
7. Integrating with Existing Application Build Processes
8. Choosing the Container Base Image
9. Pushing Images to a Container Registry
10. Securing Containers
11. Troubleshooting and Monitoring Containers
12. Implementing Container Networking Concepts
13. Docker Migration Tips and Tricks
14. Interacting with systemd and Kubernetes
15. Managing Your Container, Kubernetes, and AI Workloads from a Graphical Interface

Alessandro Arrichiello is a senior specialist solution architect at Red Hat, within the EMEA Telco Center of Excellence. A dedicated free and open source software (FOSS) enthusiast, his journey with GNU/Linux systems began at the age of 14, evolving into a career focused on designing and architecting complex enterprise systems. With over a decade of experience at Red Hat, Alessandro has held various roles, from platform consultant to solution architect, specializing in OpenShift, Kubernetes, and AppDev for major telecommunications accounts. Alessandro is a prolific contributor to the open source community, regularly authoring articles on container architecture and technology for the Red Hat Developer blog. He is a seasoned public speaker who has presented at major industry events, including Devconf.cz, on topics such as OpenShift security and hybrid cloud management.

Gianni Salinetti is an associate principal account solution architect at Red Hat, specializing in cloud-native computing and hybrid cloud strategies. Since beginning his journey with GNU/Linux in 2001, Gianni has built a career rooted in a deep passion for open source software. His current expertise spans cloud-native applications, automation, platform engineering, and systems performance tuning, with a dedicated focus on the evolving field of AI infrastructure design. A former award-winning Red Hat instructor, Gianni was recognized as the best EMEA instructor for DevOps, cloud, and middleware. He has trained hundreds of professionals on Ansible, Kubernetes, and Red Hat OpenShift. Beyond architecture, Gianni has contributed to the Red Hat Developer blog and is a regular speaker at webinars and industry events, where he shares insights on the future of platform engineering.