podman-container-exists(1) General Commands Manual podman-container-exists(1)

# [NAME](#NAME)

podman-container-exists - Check if a container exists in local storage

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**podman container exists** \[*options*] *container*

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

**podman container exists** checks if a container exists in local storage. The *container ID* or *name* is used as input. Podman returns an exit code of **0** when the container is found. A **1** is returned otherwise. An exit code of **125** indicates there was an issue accessing the local storage.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

## **--external**

Check for external *containers* as well as Podman *containers*. These external *containers* are generally created via other container technology such as **Buildah** or **CRI-O**.  
The default is **false**.

**-h**, **--help**

Prints usage statement.  
The default is **false**.

# [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES)

Check if a container called "webclient" exists in local storage. Here, the container does exist.

```
$ podman container exists webclient
$ echo $?
0
```

Check if a container called "webbackend" exists in local storage. Here, the container does not exist.

```
$ podman container exists webbackend
$ echo $?
1
```

Check if a container called "ubi8-working-container" created via Buildah exists in local storage. Here, the container does not exist.

```
$ podman container exists --external ubi8-working-container
$ echo $?
1
```

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**podman(1)**](/man/os/podman-doc-6.0/podman.1)

# [HISTORY](#HISTORY)

November 2018, Originally compiled by Brent Baude bbaude@redhat.com ⟨mailto:bbaude@redhat.com⟩

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Document: podman-container-exists(1) from podman-doc-6.0 6.0.2-r2 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/containers/podman