Install

brew install podman

sudo apt install podman

On Windows you can download the installer from the Downloads page for Podman Desktop.

Initialize

podman machine init

If you get this error:

Error: exec: "qemu-system-x86_64": executable file not found in $PATH

Run:

sudo apt install qemu-system-x86

Based on thread.

Manage the process

podman machine start

podman machine stop

Use as Docker drop-in replacement

Set in your shell config like this based on the CLI output.

export DOCKER_HOST='unix:///var/folders/.../.../.../podman/podman-machine-default-api.sock'

In PowerShell:

Set-Alias -Name docker -Value podman