Podman Cheat Sheet 2026 — Quick Command Reference

Podman Cheat Sheet is the complete quick-reference of Podman commands grouped by function. Copy any command with one click and find what you need with Ctrl+F in under 3 seconds.

Podman Containers & Images

Action	Command	Useful flags
List all containers (both running and stopped)	`podman ps --all`	`--all`
Create a container from an image, with a custom name	`podman run --name <container_name> <image>`	`--name`
Start or stop an existing container	`podman <start\|stop> <container_name>`
Pull an image from a registry (defaults to Docker Hub)	`podman pull <image>`
Display the list of already downloaded images	`podman images`
Open a shell inside an already running container	`podman exec --interactive --tty <container_name> <sh>`	`--interactive --tty`
Remove a stopped container	`podman rm <container_name>`
Display the logs of one or more containers and follow log output	`podman logs --follow <container_name_or_id1 container_name_or_id2 ...>`	`--follow`

⚠️ Dangerous / Destructive Commands

These commands are irreversible. Verify your environment (dev/staging vs prod) before running them.

Action	Command	Warning
⚠️ Destroy ⚠️	`terraform destroy -auto-approve`	Irreversible — verify the target before running
⚠️ Delete	`kubectl delete namespace production`	Irreversible — verify the target before running
⚠️ Prune ⚠️	`docker system prune -af --volumes`	Irreversible — verify the target before running
⚠️ Delete	`pvesh delete /nodes/{node}/qemu/{vmid}`	Irreversible — verify the target before running
⚠️ Delete	`az group delete --name MyResourceGroup --yes`	Irreversible — verify the target before running

FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Podman Containers & Images and the other groups?

Each group in this Podman cheat sheet covers a distinct area. Podman Containers & Images focuses on its specific scope, while the other groups and the remaining groups cover networking, storage, security and diagnostics respectively.

How do I check the installed Podman version?

Run the version command (usually podman version or podman --version). The output shows the client and, when applicable, the server version.

Why does Podman return ‘permission denied’?

A ‘permission denied’ error in Podman usually means the current user lacks sufficient privileges or credentials are not configured. Check: (1) assigned IAM/RBAC roles, (2) an active authentication context via the corresponding login command.

How do I filter Podman output by status or name?

Use flags such as --filter, --selector or --query depending on the tool. You can also pipe into grep or jq to process JSON:

podman list | grep RUNNING

What is the fastest way to debug a Podman error?

Add the verbose flag (--verbose, -v or --debug) to the failing command. This reveals the underlying HTTP/API calls and the full error response body.

Official sources & references

Commands cross-checked against vendor documentation and high-authority repositories:

raw.githubusercontent.com