Execute a command inside a running podman container
domain: docs.podman.io · 7 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Run a command in a running container: `podman exec [options] CONTAINER command [arg...]` (alias of podman container exec).
Open an interactive shell: `podman exec -it mycontainer sh` (or bash if present).
Run a one-off, non-interactive command: `podman exec mycontainer cat /etc/hostname`.
Run in the background without attaching: `podman exec -d mycontainer find / -name config` (prints an exec session id, auto-removed on completion).
Set env vars only for that command: `podman exec -e VAR_A=1 mycontainer env`; override working dir with `-w LINE, and the user with `--user user[:group]`.
Pass stdin only (not a TTY) when feeding input: `echo hi | podman exec -i mycontainer cat`.
Official docs: https://docs.podman.io/en/latest/markdown/podman-exec.1.html
Known gotchas
The exec'd process only lives while the container's PID 1 is alive and is NOT restarted with the container.
Exit codes follow chroot convention: 125 podman error, 126 command cannot be invoked, 127 command not found, else the command's exit code.
For interactive shells you need BOTH -i and -t; when piping data use -i alone — -t can corrupt/hang binary or line-buffered output.
podman exec on a paused container fails; unpause before exec.
--privileged and remote-only options like --preserve-fd are restricted/large surface — prefer minimal --user per command.
Unknown env vars passed without a value (`-e VAR`) are copied from the host only if present on the host.
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