podman-machine(1) General Commands Manual podman-machine(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

podman-machine - Manage Podman's virtual machine

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**podman machine** *subcommand*

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**podman machine** is a set of subcommands that manage Podman's virtual machine.

Podman on MacOS and Windows requires a virtual machine. This is because containers are Linux - containers do not run on any other OS because containers' core functionality are tied to the Linux kernel. Podman machine must be used to manage MacOS and Windows machines, but can be optionally used on Linux.

All **podman machine** commands are rootless only.

NOTE: The podman-machine configuration file is managed under the **$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/containers/podman/machine/** directory. Changing the **$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME** environment variable while the machines are running can lead to unexpected behavior.

Podman machine behaviour can be modified via the \[machine] section in the [containers.conf(5)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/containers.conf.5) file.

# [SUBCOMMANDS](#SUBCOMMANDS)

**Command** **Man Page** **Description** cp [podman-machine-cp(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-cp.1) Securely copy contents between the host and the virtual machine info [podman-machine-info(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-info.1) Display machine host info init [podman-machine-init(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-init.1) Initialize a new virtual machine inspect [podman-machine-inspect(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-inspect.1) Inspect one or more virtual machines list [podman-machine-list(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-list.1) List virtual machines os [podman-machine-os(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-os.1) Manage a Podman virtual machine's OS reset [podman-machine-reset(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-reset.1) Reset Podman machines and environment rm [podman-machine-rm(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-rm.1) Remove a virtual machine set [podman-machine-set(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-set.1) Set a virtual machine setting ssh [podman-machine-ssh(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-ssh.1) SSH into a virtual machine start [podman-machine-start(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-start.1) Start a virtual machine stop [podman-machine-stop(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-stop.1) Stop a virtual machine

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**podman(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman.1), [**podman-machine-cp(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-cp.1), [**podman-machine-info(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-info.1), [**podman-machine-init(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-init.1), [**podman-machine-list(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-list.1), [**podman-machine-os(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-os.1), [**podman-machine-rm(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-rm.1), [**podman-machine-ssh(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-ssh.1), [**podman-machine-start(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-start.1), [**podman-machine-stop(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-stop.1), [**podman-machine-inspect(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-inspect.1), [**podman-machine-reset(1)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-machine-reset.1), [**containers.conf(5)**](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/containers.conf.5)

## [Troubleshooting](#Troubleshooting)

See [podman-troubleshooting(7)](/man/enterprise-packages/podman-doc-5.8/podman-troubleshooting.7) for solutions to common issues.

# [HISTORY](#HISTORY)

March 2021, Originally compiled by Ashley Cui acui@redhat.com ⟨mailto:acui@redhat.com⟩

---

Document: podman-machine(1) from podman-doc-5.8 5.8.9-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/containers/podman