Skip to content

Podman Auto-Update

Run Podman auto-update for containers that opt in.

Podman has its own auto-update for containers labelled io.containers.autoupdate, usually set with AutoUpdate=registry in a Quadlet. Podman → Auto Update runs it on demand. How it runs depends on the Podman version:

  • Podman 6.2 or later: Arcane calls the Podman API and shows a report for each container, with the image, the policy, and whether it was updated. Dry run checks for updates without applying them. Roll back failed updates returns a container to its previous image if the new one doesn’t start. Updated containers trigger the same update notifications as Arcane’s own updater.
  • Older versions with systemd access: Arcane starts podman-auto-update.service and shows the unit’s result. There’s no per-container report and no dry run, and the options above aren’t available.
  • Neither: the page explains what’s missing.

If the run finishes with errors, Arcane reports it as failed and lists the errors.

Podman’s own podman-auto-update.timer keeps running on its schedule whether or not you use this page.