macOS, Podman Desktop and the Podman machine: pay close attention to the Podman version.

Using Podman as the standard tool requested by clients for running local containers outside of a Kubernetes environment, I decided to start the year by installing Podman Desktop on my company MacBook.

Podman Desktop features a user interface (UI) similar to Docker Desktop, making it easier to manage containers and images. It also includes plugin management to extend its functionality (e.g., deploying containers on Kubernetes).

After installing Podman Desktop version 1.15.0, I proceeded with the setup but encountered issues with the Podman machine (the virtual machine dedicated to running containers), which failed to start (no errors, it just hung).

After performing all the necessary checks and finding no logs, I tried the usual troubleshooting steps, including cleaning up and reinstalling. 

This resolved the issue and revealed the cause: my MacBook previously had an older version of Podman installed in the past, that I totally forgot.

podman --version
podman version 4.3.1

Following the new installation of Podman Desktop, since no existing version was detected, the setup prompted me to install a newer version:

podman --version
podman version 5.3.1

At this point, the setup for Podman Desktop identified that the existing Podman machine was incompatible with the current release.

After confirming the removal of the unsupported Podman machine and proceeding with its recreation, the Podman machine started successfully.