Podman from Homebrew

[debbiegoldsmith]

I tried installing Podman using Homebrew, rather than using the installer BOINC points at. Podman is running but BOINC doesn’t see it. Here’s the startup:

debbie  7:08PM ~ ✓ % podman machine start
Starting machine "podman-machine-default"

This machine is currently configured in rootless mode. If your containers
require root permissions (e.g. ports < 1024), or if you run into compatibility
issues with non-podman clients, you can switch using the following command:

	podman machine set --rootful

API forwarding listening on: /var/run/docker.sock
Docker API clients default to this address. You do not need to set DOCKER_HOST.

Machine "podman-machine-default" started successfully

Any ideas why BOINC isn’t connecting to it? It just keeps telling me “Some projects require Docker. We recommend you install it."

[CharlieFenton]

Be sure you are running the latest version of BOINC 8.2.6 here. Older versions don’t recognize Podman

[CharlieFenton]

Correction: download it here

[debbiegoldsmith]

I had 8.2.5, which is the latest recommended version. I tried 8.2.6, but it still suggests installing Podman, which is already installed and running.

[debbiegoldsmith]

I am on 8.2.5, which is the latest recommended version for macOS. I will try 8.2.6.

[CharlieFenton]

@debbiegoldsmith It works for me on a system with Podman installed via Homebrew, though the Podman documentation does not recommend using Homebrew to install it.

Did you run the BOINC installer after installing Podman?

I'm assuming you are running BOINC Manager and not the UNIX Command-Line (Bare client) version of BOINC; is that correct?

[debbiegoldsmith]

Yes, I have run the BOINC installer after installing Podman (I did first install BOINC years ago, but I’ve reinstalled it for version updates).

Yes, I am running the version of BOINC with BOINC Manager.

[CharlieFenton]

@debbiegoldsmith Thank you for your response. I'm puzzled because it works for me. Would you be kind enough to run the following command using the /Utilities/Terminal.app and tell me what it says?
which podman

Thank you for your assistance in figuring this out.

[debbiegoldsmith]

debbie 11:49AM ~ ✓ % which podman
/opt/homebrew/bin/podman

[debbiegoldsmith]

I’m guessing maybe that’s not in BOINC Manager’s path.

[debbiegoldsmith]

I could make a softlink in /usr/local/bin if that’s in BOINC’s path.

[CharlieFenton]

The BOINC installer uses the which podman command to find the path. It should have put a file at /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Path_to_podman.txt with that path. Is it there?

(That path tells me you are on an Apple Silicon Mac rather than an Intel Mac, as am I. Homebrew uses different paths for the 2 types of Macs. On Intel Macs it uses /usr/local/bin/podman.)

All BOINC podman commands run through a small utility /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman to deal with BOINC's sandbox security. Run_Podman reads the path from that podman.txt file. You can make sure it is working by running the following command in /Utilities/Terminal:
"/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" --version Note the quotation marks, they are required.

BOINC uses a separate directory for all its podman files to avoid interfering with non-BOINC uses of podman on the same computer. It is at /Library/Application Support/BOINC podman. That directory has owner boinc_master and group boinc_project; all of its contents have owner boinc_project and group boinc_project. you can view them using the following commands in Terminal:
sudo zsh
ls -alR "/Library/Application Support/BOINC podman"

For the next build of BOINC, which should be within a few days, I have added code in Run_Podman to specifically check the paths /opt/homebrew/bin/podman, and /usr/local/bin/podman if it does not get a valid path from the Path_to_podman.txt file.

[debbiegoldsmith]

The file Path_to_podman.txt is there but is zero length.

debbie 10:35PM ~ ✓ % sudo ls -alR "/Library/Application Support/BOINC podman"
total 0
drwxrwx---@   2 boinc_master  boinc_project    64 Oct 28 16:55 .
drwxr-xr-x  101 root          admin          3232 Nov  9 09:12 ..

When I tried running “BOINC podman” I got a password prompt:

debbie 10:36PM ~ ✓ % "/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" --version
Old Password:

[CharlieFenton]

When I tried running “BOINC podman” I got a password prompt:

And it says "Old prompt" I've only seen that when changing passwords, and never in Terminal. It seems really strange. But Run_Podman depends on the contents of Path_to_podman.txt file and won't work if the Path_to_podman.txt file is zero length, so that may somehow account for the odd behavior.

The lack of correct path in the Path_to_podman.txt file is the basic issue here. I'll think about this and get back to you.

As I wrote, the next build contains fallbacks to standard Podman paths for installis using both Homebrew and Podman installer in case it can't get the path from the Path_to_podman.txt file.

[CharlieFenton]

I apologize it has taken so long to get back to you. We have a new build with does things somewhat differently. Path_to_podman.txt is no longer used. Please download this new version of BOINC and let us know if it solves your problem.

Please note that "/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" --version will no longer work, However, you can now use "/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" `which podman` --version, "/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" `which podman` machine list, etc. Note the quotation marks and backticks.

[debbiegoldsmith]

Hi, I won't be able to try this for a while. When I installed 8.2.6 it caused problems on my machine.

[CharlieFenton]

When I installed 8.2.6 it caused problems on my machine

I'm really sorry to hear that. What sort of problems?

[gar71]

Hello. I'm trying to use Podman with BOINC v8.2.8 on Mac OS 13.7.8. I installed Podman from Github using the directions found through BOINC . When BOINC launches is still puts out a notice that Docker was not found please install it. When BOINC Central tries to start it says Docker not present.

When I try to run the command above "/Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/Run_Podman" which Podman --version (or machine list") the terminal displays "Old Password" prompt. How do I get past the old password or otherwise test Podman? THX

[CharlieFenton]

Please run the Uninstall BOINC application (in the Extras directory that came with the BOINC Installer) and then run the BOINC Installer to reinstall BOINC again. Then please write again to let us know whether that fixed it.

[gar71]

I think it worked. I'm not seeing the Docker(Podman) is not present message in Notifications. Thank you.