Podman 5.6 released with improved Quadlet management, remote client capabilities, and more

Podman 5.6 has been released as the latest update to the popular open source platform for managing containers, pods, and images. The highlight of this release is the introduction of a new set of Quadlet management commands, which make it easier to work with systemd-style container units. In addition to the new commands, Quadlet units now offer expanded functionality across all unit types, covering containers, pods, images, and networks.

Alongside these core changes, Podman 5.6 brings key usability improvements. The podman machine init command now includes a --swap option, letting users enable and specify swap space for virtual machines by size. For M3-series Mac hosts running macOS 15 or newer, nested virtualization is now enabled by default with the libkrun provider, offering better performance and wider compatibility.

Building on its Kubernetes support, this release features enhanced compatibility through several updates to the podman kube play command. The remote Podman client also sees major upgrades, narrowing the gap between remote and local use. Podman 5.6 rounds out the update with new command options, improvements for Docker compatibility, BoltDB deprecation warnings, and additional minor enhancements.