Using the DOCKER_HOST environment variable

Consider using the DOCKER_HOST environment variable to migrate transparently from Docker to Podman Desktop on all platforms.

• Continue using familiar Docker commands.
• Take advantage of the benefits of Podman.
• Your tools, such as Gradle or Testcontainers, communicate with Podman without reconfiguration.

Prerequisites

• Podman

Procedure

Windows

1. Identify the location of your Podman pipe

$ podman machine inspect --format '{{.ConnectionInfo.PodmanPipe.Path}}'

2. Set the DOCKER_HOST environment variable to your Podman pipe location. You'll need to replace back slashes with forward slashes and add the npipe:// scheme to the path retrieved previously:

$ export DOCKER_HOST=npipe://<your_podman_pipe_location>

Note: Setting the DOCKER_HOST environment variable isn't necessary on Windows since Podman also listens to the default docker_engine pipe.

macOS

1. Identify the location of your Podman socket

$ podman machine inspect --format '{{.ConnectionInfo.PodmanSocket.Path}}'

2. Set the DOCKER_HOST environment variable to your Podman socket location. Be sure to add the unix:// scheme to the path retrieved previously:

$ export DOCKER_HOST=unix://<your_podman_socket_location>

Linux

1. Identify the location of your Podman socket

$ podman info --format '{{.Host.RemoteSocket.Path}}'

2. Set the DOCKER_HOST environment variable to your Podman socket location. Be sure to add the unix:// scheme to the path retrieved previously:

$ export DOCKER_HOST=unix://<your_podman_socket_location>

Verification

• Your tools using the DOCKER_HOST environment variable, such as Gradle or Testcontainers, communicate with Podman without reconfiguration.