Podman 5.5: What's New, Release History & EOL Status

What is new in Podman 5.5

Podman 5.5 brings practical new tools for working with OCI artifacts, easier file transfer to Podman machines, and better Quadlet support for systemd integration. It also adds useful options for building images, updating containers, and Kubernetes workflows while improving performance and security in several areas.

In my experience managing container platforms in enterprise environments, these additions make artifact handling and machine management more efficient, especially for teams using Quadlets in production.

Key New Features in Podman 5.5

Quadlet and Systemd Enhancements

Podman 5.5 continues to improve Quadlet support with new configuration keys and smarter dependency handling:

• New keys in .container units: Memory=, ReloadCmd, ReloadSignal.
• Retry and RetryDelay added to .container, .image, and .build units.
• HostName= support in .pod units.
• UpheldBy in the Install section.
• Automatic translation of dependency names (for example, Wants=my.container now works correctly).
• Warnings are now shown for skipped lines in malformed Quadlet files.

Other Notable Improvements

Additional useful changes include:

• New command filter for --filter in many container commands such as podman ps, podman start, and podman stop.
• podman exec now supports --cidfile to read the container ID from a file.
• podman update adds --env and --unsetenv to modify environment variables on running containers.
• New global option --cdi-spec-dir to specify additional CDI specification directories.
• Kubernetes support for the annotation io.podman.annotation.pids-limit/$containername in podman kube generate and podman kube play.
• Podman now generates events when secrets are created or removed.

Changes and Security Notes

Podman 5.5 requires Go 1.23 as the minimum build version. Healthchecks were refactored to reduce database writes and improve performance. A new healthcheck status stopped appears if the container stops before the check finishes.

Containers inside pods now stop in the correct dependency order, with the infra container stopped last. For better security, /proc/interrupts and certain CPU thermal throttle paths are masked by default.

The Windows installer no longer automatically installs WSLv2 or Hyper-V. The default pause image was replaced with a root filesystem using the catatonit binary.

Bug Fixes in Podman 5.5

This release includes many fixes that improve stability:

• Healthchecks no longer run on paused containers.
• Fixed mounting images without CAP_SYS_ADMIN to prevent panics.
• Corrected podman exec additional group handling and network connect/disconnect errors in podman inspect.
• Improved podman kube generate for subpath volume mounts and empty pods.
• Fixed issues with remote client on Windows for volume mounts and path handling.
• podman container clone now properly copies healthcheck settings.
• Resolved negative reclaimable size in podman system df and several Podman machine related problems.

Dependency Updates

Frequently Asked Questions about Podman 5.5

What is the easiest way to copy files into a Podman machine?

Use the new podman machine cp command, which works with running virtual machines.

How can I mount an OCI artifact inside a container?

Use the new mount type with --mount type=artifact,src=artifact-name,dest=/path/in/container.

Does Podman 5.5 improve Quadlet usability?

Yes. New keys for memory, reload behavior, retries, and automatic dependency translation make Quadlet files more powerful and easier to maintain.

Is there any change to healthcheck behavior?

Healthchecks are more efficient and now show a stopped status when the container stops early. They also no longer run on paused containers.

Summary of Podman 5.5

Podman 5.5 strengthens artifact workflows, adds convenient machine and Quadlet features, and delivers many stability improvements. These updates help developers and administrators work more effectively with containers, virtual machines, and systemd-integrated setups.