Create a Podman container

Install Podman

Podman is an easy and safe way for running containers. In Ubuntu or Debian it can be installed with:

sudo apt install podman

Create the container

podman run -d \
    --name linux-cli --hostname linux-cli \
    docker.io/dashohoxha/linux-cli:latest

podman ps

note

The command above is downloading a pre-made image from docker hub: docker.io/dashohoxha/linux-cli:latest

If you want, you can build the image yourself (although it may take longer).

How to build your own image:

Download the Dockerfile, or copy/paste it from here:

Dockerfile

FROM ubuntu:24.04

### install systemd
RUN apt update && \
    apt upgrade --yes && \
    apt install --yes systemd && \
    systemctl set-default multi-user.target

CMD ["/sbin/init"]

RUN yes | unminimize

RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
    apt install --yes \
        task-mate-desktop \
        ubuntu-mate-core \
        task-ssh-server

RUN apt install --yes \
        mandoc less info plocate bash-completion \
        wbritish highlight elinks ncal tree \
        nano jed vim emacs netcat-openbsd ftp \
        iputils-ping traceroute iputils-tracepath \
        rsync aspell lynx highlight git tmux m4

### enable dark background for vim
RUN sed -i /etc/vim/vimrc -e 's/^"set background=dark/set background=dark/'

### set a better prompt for the root
RUN PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;31m\]\u\[\033[01;33m\]@\[\033[01;36m\]\h \[\033[01;33m\]\w \[\033[01;35m\]\$ \[\033[00m\]' && \
    echo "PS1='$PS1'" >> /root/.bashrc

### add user (user1, pass1) and improve its prompt
RUN useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G sudo user1 && \
    echo user1:pass1 | chpasswd && \
    PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;33m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ \[\033[01;32m\]' && \
    echo "PS1='$PS1'" >> /home/user1/.bashrc && \
    x='"\033[00m"' && echo "trap 'echo -ne $x' DEBUG" >> /home/user1/.bashrc

Build the image:

podman build --rm -t localhost/linux-cli:latest .

Create and start the container:

podman run -d \
    --name linux-cli --hostname linux-cli \
    localhost/linux-cli:latest

Using the container

To get a shell as user1 inside the container, use this command:

podman exec -it -u user1 -w /home/user1 linux-cli bash

For convenience, create an alias like this:
```
alias linux-cli='podman exec -it -u user1 -w /home/user1 linux-cli bash'
```
Now, whenever you type linux-cli you will get a shell inside the container.

note
Append this alias to ~/.bashrc to make it persistent.

info

Inside the container, use sudo su to get root access. The default password of user1 is pass1.
If you need to recreate the container, you should remove the existing one first:
```
podman rm -fi linux-cli
```

Install Podman​

Create the container​

Using the container​

Install Podman

Create the container

Using the container