Setup Podman on Chrome OS Flex and Crostini

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Actual versions for this guide:

• Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
• Kernel: Linux 6.1.64-09049-g010fe86d9eae
• Architecture: x86-64
• Podman: v1.7.1

Installation

1. Install Podman:

sudo apt install podman

2. Verify installation:

$ podman --version 
podman version 4.3.1

3. Install Podman Desktop:

• Download the .tar.gz archive from https://podman-desktop.io/downloads (actual download URL at the moment of writing this guide: https://github.com/containers/podman-desktop/releases/download/v1.7.1/podman-desktop-1.7.1.tar.gz)
• Extract the archive:

sudo tar xvf podman-desktop-1.7.1.tar.gz --directory=/opt 

4. Create desktop shortcut for ChromeOS: [1]

• Create the applications directory if it not exists yet:

mkdir ~/.local/share/applications 

• Create Podman.desktop file using nvim (sudo apt install neovim):

nvim ~/.local/share/applications/Podman.desktop

• Paste the following content (adjust icon path if needed):

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Podman Desktop
Exec=/opt/podman-desktop-1.7.1/podman-desktop %u
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=/home/<put-your-username-here>/Images/podman.png 

• If there is no icon, download a custom one. I am using this: https://www.justinleegrant.com/assets/img/2021/podman.png

• Wait a few seconds or reboot Crostini/ChromeOS and icon should appear in the app launcher

5. Test Installation

• Create a PostgreSQL container:

podman run -p 5432:5432 --name <your-container-name> -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres -d docker.io/postgres

• Open Podman Desktop and you will see your container (restart the app if there are no info)

Troubleshooting

Error: cannot find UID/GID for user [2]:

1. In Chrome, open crosh shell (Ctrl + Alt + T)

$ vsh termina
$ lxc exec penguin -- /bin/sh -c "printf '%s\n' '1000:100000:65536' | tee /etc/subuid /etc/subgid"

Error: potentially insufficient UIDs or GIDs [3]:

podman system migrate

References

1. https://support.google.com/pixelbook/thread/708306/how-do-i-add-linux-apps-to-the-home-screen?hl=en
2. https://ntk.me/2021/05/14/podman-in-crostini/
3. containers/podman#12715

This was really helpful, thanks!