Podman shim for Docker

podman-shim-for-docker.md

Using Podman with .NET Aspire's Publish Pipeline

Aspire's publish pipeline calls docker directly and crashes — even if you have Podman installed and ASPIRE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME=podman set.

Why It Happens

ASPIRE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME only controls container image builds. The publish pipeline's compose steps (docker-compose-down, docker-compose-up) doesn't seem to work with podman right now (as of 2026-03-18, 13.1.2).

The Fix: A Docker Shim

Create a fake docker command that forwards everything to Podman. Aspire calls docker, Podman answers. Done.

docker.cmd

@echo off
podman %*

docker-compose.cmd

@echo off
podman compose %*

Find a Writable Folder on Your PATH

Look for a user-local folder thats on the PATH like C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps. You can write there without admin rights.

$env:PATH -split ';' | Where-Object { Test-Path $_ }

Step 3 — Verify

Open a new terminal and run:

docker --version
docker-compose --version

Both should report Podman's version.