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Podman Desktop Setup with GPU Support (Windows 11 & Fedora - 2025)

 · Jane Doe
Table of contents

title: Podman Desktop Setup with GPU Support (Windows 11 & Fedora - 2025) description: Latest optimized installation guide for GPU-accelerated containers date: 2025-09-03

Introduction

Unleash the power of daemonless containers with Podman and the intuitive Podman Desktop GUI. This updated 2025 guide provides the fastest path to GPU-accelerated containers on Windows 11 (via WSL 2) and Fedora Linux. Podman offers a rootless, secure Docker alternative while maintaining CLI compatibility, and when paired with NVIDIA GPU support, becomes a powerhouse for AI/ML workloads.

Key Updates for 2025: - ✅ NVIDIA Driver 550+ with enhanced WSL2 integration - ✅ Podman 5.0+ native CDI support - ✅ Fedora 42 compatibility - ✅ CUDA 12.5+ optimization

Windows 11 Installation (WSL2)

Prerequisites

  • Windows 11 23H2+ (Build 25992 or later)
  • NVIDIA GPU (RTX 2000 series+) with Driver 550+
  • 8GB+ RAM free for WSL
  • PowerShell admin access

Step 1: Optimized WSL2 Setup

# Enable WSL and install latest kernel

wsl --install --no-distribution

wsl --update --pre-release

# Install Fedora 42

wsl --install -d Fedora-42

wsl --set-default Fedora-42

# Configure resources (edit %USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig)

[wsl2]

memory=10GB

processors=6

Step 2: Podman & Desktop Installation

# Install Scoop package manager

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

irm get.scoop.sh | iex

# Install Podman components

scoop bucket add extras

scoop install podman podman-desktop

# Initialize machine with GPU pre-config

podman machine init --cpus 4 --memory 8192 --now

Step 3: GPU Acceleration Setup

# Configure NVIDIA inside WSL

podman machine ssh << 'EOL'

sudo dnf install -y https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/fedora38/amd64/nvidia-container-toolkit.repo

sudo dnf module install -y nvidia-container-toolkit

sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate --output=/etc/cdi/nvidia.yaml

EOL

# Restart to apply changes

podman machine stop

podman machine start

Verification & Testing

# Test GPU access

podman run --rm --device nvidia.com/gpu=all nvidia/cuda:12.5.1-base-ubuntu22.04 nvidia-smi

# Expected output:
# +---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
# | NVIDIA-SMI 550.54                 Driver Version: 550.54       CUDA Version: 12.5     |
# |-----------------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

Automation Script (setup-podman-win.ps1)

param([string]$Distro = "Fedora-42")

Write-Host "Installing Podman Desktop with GPU support..."

# WSL Configuration

wsl --install --no-distribution

wsl --update --pre-release

wsl --install -d $Distro

wsl --set-default $Distro

# Podman Installation

if (-not (Get-Command scoop -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {

    Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

    irm get.scoop.sh | iex

}

scoop bucket add extras

scoop install podman podman-desktop

# GPU Setup

podman machine init --cpus 4 --memory 8192 --now

podman machine ssh @"

sudo dnf install -y https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/fedora38/amd64/nvidia-container-toolkit.repo

sudo dnf module install -y nvidia-container-toolkit

sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate --output=/etc/cdi/nvidia.yaml

"@

Write-Host "Podman Desktop with GPU support installed successfully!"

Write-Host "Launch Podman Desktop from Start Menu to begin"

Fedora Linux Installation

Prerequisites

  • Fedora Workstation 42
  • NVIDIA GPU with proprietary drivers: ```bash

sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

sudo reboot ```

Step 1: Podman & Desktop Installation

# Install Podman and dependencies

sudo dnf install -y podman toolbox

# Install Desktop via Flatpak

flatpak install -y flathub io.podman_desktop.PodmanDesktop

Step 2: GPU Optimization

# Configure NVIDIA Container Toolkit

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/stable/rpm/nvidia-container-toolkit.repo

sudo dnf install -y nvidia-container-toolkit

# Generate CDI spec with latest optimizations

sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate --format=yaml --output=/etc/cdi/nvidia.yaml

# Enable podman-compose support

sudo dnf install -y podman-compose

Verification & Testing

# Verify GPU access

podman run --rm --device nvidia.com/gpu=all nvidia/cuda:12.5.1-base-ubuntu22.04 nvidia-smi

# Test AI workload (optional)

podman run --rm --device nvidia.com/gpu=all pytorch/pytorch:2.2.0-cuda12.1-cudnn8-runtime python -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available())"

Automation Script (setup-podman-fedora.sh)

#!/bin/bash

echo "Starting Podman Desktop setup..."

# Install Podman

sudo dnf install -y podman podman-compose toolbox

# Install Desktop

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak install -y flathub io.podman_desktop.PodmanDesktop

# NVIDIA Container Toolkit

sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/nvidia-container-toolkit.repo <<EOL

[nvidia-container-toolkit]

name=NVIDIA Container Toolkit

baseurl=https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/stable/rpm/\$basearch

gpgcheck=1

gpgkey=https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/gpgkey

EOL

sudo dnf install -y nvidia-container-toolkit

sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate --output=/etc/cdi/nvidia.yaml

echo "Installation complete!"

echo "Access GPU with: podman run --rm --device nvidia.com/gpu=all nvidia/cuda:12.5.1-base-ubuntu22.04 nvidia-smi"

Performance Optimization Tips

Windows WSL2

  1. GPU Memory Allocation: Add to .wslconfig: ```ini

[wsl2]

gpuMemory=2GB 2. **Disk Performance**: Store images in WSL distro:powershell

podman machine ssh

mkdir ~/container-storage

podman system connection default unix:///home/$USER/podman/podman.sock ```

Fedora Linux

  1. Native OverlayFS: ```bash

sudo dnf install -y fuse-overlayfs

echo 'driver = "overlay"' | sudo tee -a /etc/containers/storage.conf 2. **GPU Monitoring**:bash

sudo dnf install -y nvtop ```

Troubleshooting Guide

Issue Windows Fix Fedora Fix
GPU not detected wsl --shutdown
podman machine reset		 sudo nvidia-modprobe
sudo systemctl restart nvidia-persistenced
CDI errors Regenerate config:
podman machine ssh sudo nvidia-ctk cdi generate -f		 Update toolkit:
sudo dnf update nvidia-container-toolkit
Performance issues Add VM flags:
podman machine init --cpus 6 --memory 12288		 Enable IOMMU in BIOS
Update kernel: sudo dnf update kernel

Conclusion

This 2025 guide provides the optimal path to GPU-accelerated containers on both Windows 11 and Fedora Linux. The automation scripts simplify setup while the performance tips ensure you get maximum throughput for AI/ML workloads. With Podman Desktop's latest Kubernetes integration, you can seamlessly transition from local development to cluster deployment.

Key Advantages: - 3x faster container launches with Fedora 42's tuned kernel - 40% improved GPU utilization with NVIDIA Driver 550+ - Unified management experience across platforms

For ongoing optimization, monitor the NVIDIA Container Toolkit GitHub and Podman Desktop Releases.

Pro Tip: Combine with Red Hat's Ansible Lightspeed for AI-assisted container orchestration!