Podman 6.1: Rename Volumes, Restart Machines

The container engine Podman was released as version 6.1 on 13 August 2026. The first feature update after the big jump to 6.0 brings two handy new commands as well as improvements to Quadlet, networking, Kubernetes integration and Docker API compatibility.

Rename volumes, restart machines

With podman volume rename you can rename existing volumes without recreating them – the exceptions are volumes created through a volume driver or currently in use by a container. For Podman Machine there is also the new podman machine restart command, which restarts a managed virtual machine directly instead of having to stop and start it separately.

Quadlet, networking and more

• Quadlet: .container units support the new ImageVolume= key to control image-defined volumes. Generator error messages now go to standard error rather than only the kernel log.
• Networking: podman network rm gains an --ignore option that suppresses errors when removing a non-existent network.
• Registry: podman manifest push now supports --retry and --retry-delay for automatic retries.

For homelab and server users who want to run containers rootless and Docker-compatible, Podman remains one of the most important alternatives. The new convenience commands ease day-to-day management above all.

Sources: Linuxiac, Podman on GitHub.