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Podman + Distrobox

The Podman + Distrobox extension puts its own copy of Podman, Buildah, and Distrobox, with the networking and storage tools they use, over the copy that a Frostyard bootc image already has. Snow, Snowfield, Sundog, and Floe already ship these tools and their helpers in the image, so you do not need the extension to run containers. Every image carries the extension’s definition, switched off. The extension itself is not in the image: Updex turns it on and downloads it.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

You need:

  • A Frostyard bootc image. Every image built on Base has systemd-sysext and frostyard-updex.
  • Root access to enable, update, and remove the extension.
  • Network access to https://repository.frostyard.org/ext/podman/.
  • Free space in /var for the image.

Podman + Distrobox has no published test results on Frostyard images yet. Try it on a machine you can spare first.

Enable Podman + Distrobox

Section titled “Enable Podman + Distrobox”

See what Updex found, then enable the feature and download it now:

Terminal window
updex features list --component=podman
sudo updex features enable podman --now

podman appears as a component, with its feature disabled. The enable command downloads the image, checks its checksum and signature, links it, and refreshes the merge.

Check the merge and the commands that the extension adds:

Terminal window
systemd-sysext status
command -v podman buildah distrobox

systemd-sysext status lists podman, and each name prints a path.

There is no unit to check. The extension ships no service.

If enable --now exits with a refresh error (refresh_error in JSON), the download worked, but the activation did not. If the output says activation did not finish, the extension is merged, but users and groups can be missing: reboot. Otherwise the merge state is unknown: reboot. A sudo systemd-sysext refresh by hand does not create users and groups. Then run the checks above again.

Use Podman + Distrobox

Section titled “Use Podman + Distrobox”

Run podman, buildah, and distrobox from your own account. The extension also adds the container tools that Podman uses: aardvark-dns, catatonit, containernetworking-plugins, containers-storage, criu, crun, fuse-overlayfs, slirp4netns, and passt.

The Docker extension page says that running Docker next to another container engine on one host is not a supported setup.

Update, roll back, and remove

Section titled “Update, roll back, and remove”

Check for an update, then install it:

Terminal window
updex features check --component=podman
sudo updex features update --component=podman

Updex downloads and verifies the new image, switches the link, deletes older versions, and refreshes the merge. See Manage system extensions for --no-vacuum, --dry-run, and the update timer. The refresh swaps /usr under the running system.

Roll back with sudo updex features rollback podman. It takes effect at the next boot. See Roll back.

Remove Podman + Distrobox:

Terminal window
sudo updex features disable podman --now --force

Updex unmerges all extensions on the host, deletes the image, and merges the rest again. The extension’s copy goes, and the image’s copy stays. Removal does not touch /var or your home directory. Reboot when the command finishes. Without --force, Updex refuses while the image is merged.

What ships

Section titled “What ships”
Item What you get
Package requests podman, distrobox, aardvark-dns, buildah, catatonit, containernetworking-plugins, containers-storage, criu, crun, fuse-overlayfs, slirp4netns, passt
Commands /usr/bin/podman, /usr/bin/buildah, /usr/bin/distrobox
Version The image file name carries the podman package version, plus a +rN snosi revision when one is set
Image file podman_<version>_<os>_<arch>.raw.zst; .raw.xz, .raw.gz, and .raw also work
Download From https://repository.frostyard.org/ext/podman/, signature required (Verify=true), into /var/lib/extensions.d/
Services None

Each build checks that podman, buildah, and distrobox are present in /usr/bin. A build that is missing one fails.

See also

Section titled “See also”

Sources

Section titled “Sources”

Reviewed 2026-10-27; Updex facts reviewed 2026-10-30. snosi commit b2858ca0222814c395cf8248db98f3e096d57dc9; Updex v2.1.3 commit 2661e987faac986f2594d1d9bbbadf1bf3053f5b.