Provided by: podman_3.4.4+ds1-1ubuntu1.22.04.3_amd64 
NAME
podman-generate-systemd - Generate systemd unit file(s) for a container or pod
SYNOPSIS
podman generate systemd [options] container|pod
DESCRIPTION
podman generate systemd will create a systemd unit file that can be used to control a container or pod.
By default, the command will print the content of the unit files to stdout.
_Note: If you use this command with the remote client, you would still have to place the generated units
on the remote system. Moreover, please make sure that the XDG_RUNTIMEDIR environment variable is set.
If unset, you may set it via export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u).
OPTIONS
--files, -f
Generate files instead of printing to stdout. The generated files are named
{container,pod}-{ID,name}.service and will be placed in the current working directory.
Note: On a system with SELinux enabled, the generated files will inherit contexts from the current
working directory. Depending on the SELinux setup, changes to the generated files using restorecon,
chcon, or semanage may be required to allow systemd to access these files. Alternatively, use the -Z
option when running mv or cp.
--format=format
Print the created units in specified format (json). If --files is specified the paths to the created
files will be printed instead of the unit content.
--name, -n
Use the name of the container for the start, stop, and description in the unit file
--new
Using this flag will yield unit files that do not expect containers and pods to exist. Instead, new
containers and pods are created based on their configuration files. The unit files are created best
effort and may need to be further edited; please review the generated files carefully before using them
in production.
Note that --new only works on containers and pods created directly via Podman (i.e., podman [container]
{create,run} or podman pod create). It does not work on containers or pods created via the REST API or
via podman play kube.
--no-header
Do not generate the header including meta data such as the Podman version and the timestamp.
--time, -t=value
Override the default stop timeout for the container with the given value.
--restart-policy=policy
Set the systemd restart policy. The restart-policy must be one of: "no", "on-success", "on-failure",
"on-abnormal", "on-watchdog", "on-abort", or "always". The default policy is on-failure.
--container-prefix=prefix
Set the systemd unit name prefix for containers. The default is container.
--pod-prefix=prefix
Set the systemd unit name prefix for pods. The default is pod.
--separator=separator
Set the systemd unit name separator between the name/id of a container/pod and the prefix. The default is
-.
EXAMPLES
Generate and print a systemd unit file for a container
Generate a systemd unit file for a container running nginx with an always restart policy and 1-second
timeout to stdout. Note that the RequiresMountsFor option in the Unit section ensures that the container
storage for both the GraphRoot and the RunRoot are mounted prior to starting the service. For systems
with container storage on disks like iSCSI or other remote block protocols, this ensures that Podman is
not executed prior to any necessary storage operations coming online.
$ podman create --name nginx nginx:latest
$ podman generate systemd --restart-policy=always -t 1 nginx
# container-de1e3223b1b888bc02d0962dd6cb5855eb00734061013ffdd3479d225abacdc6.service
# autogenerated by Podman 1.8.0
# Wed Mar 09 09:46:45 CEST 2020
[Unit]
Description=Podman container-de1e3223b1b888bc02d0962dd6cb5855eb00734061013ffdd3479d225abacdc6.service
Documentation=man:podman-generate-systemd(1)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
RequiresMountsFor=/var/run/container/storage
[Service]
Restart=always
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman start de1e3223b1b888bc02d0962dd6cb5855eb00734061013ffdd3479d225abacdc6
ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman stop -t 1 de1e3223b1b888bc02d0962dd6cb5855eb00734061013ffdd3479d225abacdc6
KillMode=none
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/user/1000/overlay-containers/de1e3223b1b888bc02d0962dd6cb5855eb00734061013ffdd3479d225abacdc6/userdata/conmon.pid
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Generate systemd unit file for a container with --new flag
The --new flag generates systemd unit files that create and remove containers at service start and stop
commands (see ExecStartPre and ExecStopPost service actions). Such unit files are not tied to a single
machine and can easily be shared and used on other machines.
$ sudo podman generate systemd --new --files --name bb310a0780ae
# container-busy_moser.service
# autogenerated by Podman 1.8.3
# Fri Apr 3 09:40:47 EDT 2020
[Unit]
Description=Podman container-busy_moser.service
Documentation=man:podman-generate-systemd(1)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
RequiresMountsFor=/var/run/container/storage
[Service]
Environment=PODMAN_SYSTEMD_UNIT=%n
Restart=on-failure
ExecStartPre=/bin/rm -f %t/%n-pid %t/%n-cid
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/podman run --conmon-pidfile %t/%n-pid --cidfile %t/%n-cid --cgroups=no-conmon -d -dit alpine
ExecStop=/usr/local/bin/podman stop --ignore --cidfile %t/%n-cid -t 10
ExecStopPost=/usr/local/bin/podman rm --ignore -f --cidfile %t/%n-cid
PIDFile=%t/%n-pid
KillMode=none
Type=forking
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Generate systemd unit files for a pod with two simple alpine containers
Note systemctl should only be used on the pod unit and one should not start or stop containers
individually via systemctl, as they are managed by the pod service along with the internal infra-
container.
You can still use systemctl status or journalctl to examine container or pod unit files.
$ podman pod create --name systemd-pod
$ podman create --pod systemd-pod alpine top
$ podman create --pod systemd-pod alpine top
$ podman generate systemd --files --name systemd-pod
/home/user/pod-systemd-pod.service
/home/user/container-amazing_chandrasekhar.service
/home/user/container-jolly_shtern.service
$ cat pod-systemd-pod.service
# pod-systemd-pod.service
# autogenerated by Podman 1.8.0
# Wed Mar 09 09:52:37 CEST 2020
[Unit]
Description=Podman pod-systemd-pod.service
Documentation=man:podman-generate-systemd(1)
Requires=container-amazing_chandrasekhar.service container-jolly_shtern.service
Before=container-amazing_chandrasekhar.service container-jolly_shtern.service
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
RequiresMountsFor=/var/run/container/storage
[Service]
Restart=on-failure
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman start 77a818221650-infra
ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman stop -t 10 77a818221650-infra
KillMode=none
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/user/1000/overlay-containers/ccfd5c71a088768774ca7bd05888d55cc287698dde06f475c8b02f696a25adcd/userdata/conmon.pid
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
Installation of generated systemd unit files.
Podman-generated unit files include an [Install] section, which carries installation information for the
unit. It is used by the enable and disable commands of systemctl(1) during installation.
Once you have generated the systemd unit file, you can copy the generated systemd file to
/etc/systemd/system for installing as a root user and to $HOME/.config/systemd/user for installing it as
a non-root user. Enable the copied unit file or files using systemctl enable.
Note: Copying unit files to /etc/systemd/system and enabling it marks the unit file to be automatically
started at boot. And similarly, copying a unit file to $HOME/.config/systemd/user and enabling it marks
the unit file to be automatically started on user login.
# Generated systemd files.
$ podman pod create --name systemd-pod
$ podman create --pod systemd-pod alpine top
$ podman generate systemd --files --name systemd-pod
# Copy all the generated files.
$ sudo cp pod-systemd-pod.service container-great_payne.service /etc/systemd/system
$ systemctl enable pod-systemd-pod.service
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/default.target.wants/pod-systemd-pod.service → /etc/systemd/system/pod-systemd-pod.service.
$ systemctl is-enabled pod-systemd-pod.service
enabled
To run the user services placed in $HOME/.config/systemd/user on first login of that user, enable the
service with --user flag.
$ systemctl --user enable <.service>
The systemd user instance is killed after the last session for the user is closed. The systemd user
instance can be kept running ever after the user logs out by enabling lingering using
$ loginctl enable-linger <username>
Use systemctl to perform operations on generated installed unit files.
Create and enable systemd unit files for a pod using the above examples as reference and use systemctl to
perform operations.
Since systemctl defaults to using the root user, all the changes using the systemctl can be seen by
appending sudo to the podman cli commands. To perform systemctl actions as a non-root user use the --user
flag when interacting with systemctl.
Note: If the previously created containers or pods are using shared resources, such as ports, make sure
to remove them before starting the generated systemd units.
$ systemctl --user start pod-systemd-pod.service
$ podman pod ps
POD ID NAME STATUS CREATED # OF CONTAINERS INFRA ID
0815c7b8e7f5 systemd-pod Running 29 minutes ago 2 6c5d116f4bbe
$ sudo podman ps # 0 Number of pods on root.
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
$ systemctl stop pod-systemd-pod.service
$ podman pod ps
POD ID NAME STATUS CREATED # OF CONTAINERS INFRA ID
272d2813c798 systemd-pod Exited 29 minutes ago 2 6c5d116f4bbe
Create a simple alpine container and generate the systemd unit file with --new flag. Enable the service
and control operations using the systemctl commands.
Note: When starting the container using systemctl start rather than altering the already running
container it spins up a "new" container with similar configuration.
# Enable the service.
$ sudo podman ps -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
bb310a0780ae docker.io/library/alpine:latest /bin/sh 2 minutes ago Created busy_moser
$ sudo systemctl start container-busy_moser.service
$ sudo podman ps -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
772df2f8cf3b docker.io/library/alpine:latest /bin/sh 1 second ago Up 1 second ago distracted_albattani
bb310a0780ae docker.io/library/alpine:latest /bin/sh 3 minutes ago Created busy_moser
SEE ALSO
[podman(1)], [podman-container(1)], systemctl(1), systemd.unit(5), systemd.service(5), conmon(8).
HISTORY
April 2020, Updated details and added use case to use generated .service files as root and non-root, by
Sujil Shah (sushah at redhat dot com)
August 2019, Updated with pod support by Valentin Rothberg (rothberg at redhat dot com)
April 2019, Originally compiled by Brent Baude (bbaude at redhat dot com)
podman-generate-systemd(1)()