podman quadlet install/rm issues

[slartibart70]

Issue Description

I'm using podman quadlet install --replace and rm commands.

Is it really intended, that with every '--replace' command the 'application' file (here: .lara.app) is appended to?
Like, if you do this several times with the same quadlet files, a podman quadlet rm .lara.app gives this output:

podman quadlet rm .lara.app
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
lara-proxy.container
lara-api.container
...etc...

Moreover, my expectation of the install --replace command is, that the installed quadlet files will be overwritten completely in ~/.config/containers/systemd, but this is not the case:

Example:
/storage/lara/lara/lara-api.container is:

[Unit]
PartOf=lara.target

[Container]
ContainerName=lara-api
HostName=lara-api.sws.internal
Image=harbor.sws.internal:8453/lara/app/api:latest
Volume=/storage/lara/config/ssl/lara-api.sws.internal.crt:/app/ssl/certificate.crt:z,U
Volume=/storage/lara/config/ssl/lara-api.sws.internal.key:/app/ssl/certificate.key:z,U
PublishPort=44363:44363
Pull=newer
Network=lara

[Service]
Restart=always

Do a podman quadlet install --replace /storage/lara/lara
This is fine the first time.
Now, edit ~/.config/containers/systemd and add at the end of the service-section:

[Service]
Restart=always
a=b

Do another podman quadlet install --replace /storage/lara/lara (without rm first!)
and... the a=b is still there?

If this is not reliable (or, i misunderstood the purpose) i'm back to copying quadlet-files by hand into ~/.config.
Am i missing something?

Steps to reproduce the issue

Steps to reproduce the issue
see description

Describe the results you received

see description

Describe the results you expected

• the app-file '.lara.app' must not have multiple entries of the same app-parts.
• a --replace command should really replace the files in ~/.config/containers/systemd`, not only parts of them

podman info output

podman info 
host:
  arch: amd64
  buildahVersion: 1.42.2
  cgroupControllers:
  - cpu
  - memory
  - pids
  cgroupManager: systemd
  cgroupVersion: v2
  conmon:
    package: conmon-2.1.13-1.fc42.x86_64
    path: /usr/bin/conmon
    version: 'conmon version 2.1.13, commit: '
  cpuUtilization:
    idlePercent: 98.67
    systemPercent: 0.42
    userPercent: 0.91
  cpus: 4
  databaseBackend: sqlite
  distribution:
    distribution: fedora
    variant: cloud
    version: "42"
  emulatedArchitectures:
  - linux/arm
  - linux/arm64
  - linux/arm64be
  - linux/loong64
  - linux/mips
  - linux/mips64
  - linux/ppc
  - linux/ppc64
  - linux/ppc64le
  - linux/riscv32
  - linux/riscv64
  - linux/s390x
  eventLogger: journald
  freeLocks: 2046
  hostname: AZ-CBC-VM-GammaSwat
  idMappings:
    gidmap:
    - container_id: 0
      host_id: 10070
      size: 1
    - container_id: 1
      host_id: 2031616
      size: 65536
    uidmap:
    - container_id: 0
      host_id: 10070
      size: 1
    - container_id: 1
      host_id: 2031616
      size: 65536
  kernel: 6.17.13-200.fc42.x86_64
  linkmode: dynamic
  logDriver: journald
  memFree: 836608000
  memTotal: 16749846528
  networkBackend: netavark
  networkBackendInfo:
    backend: netavark
    dns:
      package: aardvark-dns-1.17.0-1.fc42.x86_64
      path: /usr/libexec/podman/aardvark-dns
      version: aardvark-dns 1.17.0
    package: netavark-1.17.1-1.fc42.x86_64
    path: /usr/libexec/podman/netavark
    version: netavark 1.17.1
  ociRuntime:
    name: crun
    package: crun-1.26-1.fc42.x86_64
    path: /usr/bin/crun
    version: |-
      crun version 1.26
      commit: 3241e671f92c33b0c003cd7de319e4f32add6231
      rundir: /run/user/10070/crun
      spec: 1.0.0
      +SYSTEMD +SELINUX +APPARMOR +CAP +SECCOMP +EBPF +CRIU +LIBKRUN +WASM:wasmedge +YAJL
  os: linux
  pasta:
    executable: /usr/bin/pasta
    package: passt-0^20251223.g2ba9fd5-1.fc42.x86_64
    version: |
      pasta 0^20251223.g2ba9fd5-1.fc42.x86_64
      Copyright Red Hat
      GNU General Public License, version 2 or later
        <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html>
      This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
      There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
  remoteSocket:
    exists: true
    path: /run/user/10070/podman/podman.sock
  rootlessNetworkCmd: pasta
  security:
    apparmorEnabled: false
    capabilities: CAP_CHOWN,CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE,CAP_FOWNER,CAP_FSETID,CAP_KILL,CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE,CAP_SETFCAP,CAP_SETGID,CAP_SETPCAP,CAP_SETUID,CAP_SYS_CHROOT
    rootless: true
    seccompEnabled: true
    seccompProfilePath: /usr/share/containers/seccomp.json
    selinuxEnabled: true
  serviceIsRemote: false
  slirp4netns:
    executable: ""
    package: ""
    version: ""
  swapFree: 820527104
  swapTotal: 8589930496
  uptime: 614h 55m 40.00s (Approximately 25.58 days)
  variant: ""
plugins:
  authorization: null
  log:
  - k8s-file
  - none
  - passthrough
  - journald
  network:
  - bridge
  - macvlan
  - ipvlan
  volume:
  - local
registries:
  alpha:5001:
    Blocked: false
    Insecure: true
    Location: alpha:5001
    MirrorByDigestOnly: false
    Mirrors: null
    Prefix: alpha:5001
    PullFromMirror: ""
  search:
  - registry.fedoraproject.org
  - registry.access.redhat.com
  - docker.io
store:
  configFile: /home/lara/.config/containers/storage.conf
  containerStore:
    number: 2
    paused: 0
    running: 2
    stopped: 0
  graphDriverName: overlay
  graphOptions: {}
  graphRoot: /home/lara/.local/share/containers/storage
  graphRootAllocated: 549755813888
  graphRootUsed: 88772018176
  graphStatus:
    Backing Filesystem: btrfs
    Native Overlay Diff: "true"
    Supports d_type: "true"
    Supports shifting: "false"
    Supports volatile: "true"
    Using metacopy: "false"
  imageCopyTmpDir: /var/tmp
  imageStore:
    number: 6
  runRoot: /run/user/10070/containers
  transientStore: false
  volumePath: /home/lara/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes
version:
  APIVersion: 5.7.1
  BuildOrigin: Fedora Project
  Built: 1765324800
  BuiltTime: Wed Dec 10 01:00:00 2025
  GitCommit: f845d14e941889ba4c071f35233d09b29d363c75
  GoVersion: go1.24.10
  Os: linux
  OsArch: linux/amd64
  Version: 5.7.1

Podman in a container

No

Privileged Or Rootless

Rootless

Upstream Latest Release

Yes

Additional environment details

Additional environment details

Additional information

Additional information like issue happens only occasionally or issue happens with a particular architecture or on a particular setting

[baude]

@mheon ptal

[mheon]

Absolutely a bug, I think.

[amyssnippet]

thats a good observation i guess this needs to be solved soon

i build the podman because i was not getting the quadlet

amol@Amols-MacBook-Air podman %podman --help
Manage pods, containers and images

Usage:
  podman [options] [command]

Available Commands:
  attach      Attach to a running container
  auto-update Auto update containers according to their auto-update policy
  build       Build an image using instructions from Containerfiles
  commit      Create new image based on the changed container
  compose     Run compose workloads via an external provider such as docker-compose or podman-compose
  container   Manage containers
  cp          Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
  create      Create but do not start a container
  diff        Display the changes to the object's file system
  events      Show podman system events
  exec        Run a process in a running container
  export      Export container's filesystem contents as a tar archive
  farm        Farm out builds to remote machines
  generate    Generate structured data based on containers, pods or volumes
  healthcheck Manage health checks on containers
  help        Help about any command
  history     Show history of a specified image
  image       Manage images
  images      List images in local storage
  import      Import a tarball to create a filesystem image
  info        Display podman system information
  init        Initialize one or more containers
  inspect     Display the configuration of object denoted by ID
  kill        Kill one or more running containers with a specific signal
  kube        Play containers, pods or volumes from a structured file
  load        Load image(s) from a tar archive
  login       Log in to a container registry
  logout      Log out of a container registry
  logs        Fetch the logs of one or more containers
  machine     Manage a virtual machine
  manifest    Manipulate manifest lists and image indexes
  mount       Mount a working container's root filesystem
  network     Manage networks
  pause       Pause all the processes in one or more containers
  pod         Manage pods
  port        List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
  ps          List containers
  pull        Pull an image from a registry
  push        Push an image to a specified destination
  rename      Rename an existing container
  restart     Restart one or more containers
  rm          Remove one or more containers
  rmi         Remove one or more images from local storage
  run         Run a command in a new container
  save        Save image(s) to an archive
  search      Search registry for image
  secret      Manage secrets
  start       Start one or more containers
  stats       Display a live stream of container resource usage statistics
  stop        Stop one or more containers
  system      Manage podman
  tag         Add an additional name to a local image
  top         Display the running processes of a container
  unmount     Unmount working container's root filesystem
  unpause     Unpause the processes in one or more containers
  unshare     Run a command in a modified user namespace
  untag       Remove a name from a local image
  update      Update an existing container
  version     Display the Podman version information
  volume      Manage volumes
  wait        Block on one or more containers

Options:
      --cgroup-manager string       Cgroup manager to use ("cgroupfs"|"systemd") (default "systemd")
      --conmon string               Path of the conmon binary
  -c, --connection string           Connection to use for remote Podman service
      --events-backend string       Events backend to use ("file"|"journald"|"none") (default "journald")
      --help                        Help for podman
      --hooks-dir strings           Set the OCI hooks directory path (may be set multiple times) (default [/usr/share/containers/oci/hooks.d])
      --identity string             path to SSH identity file, (CONTAINER_SSHKEY)
      --imagestore string           Path to the 'image store', different from 'graph root', use this to split storing the image into a separate 'image store', see 'man containers-storage.conf' for details
      --log-level string            Log messages above specified level (trace, debug, info, warn, warning, error, fatal, panic) (default "warn")
      --module strings              Load the containers.conf(5) module
      --network-cmd-path string     Path to the command for configuring the network
      --network-config-dir string   Path of the configuration directory for networks
      --out string                  Send output (stdout) from podman to a file
  -r, --remote                      Access remote Podman service
      --root string                 Path to the graph root directory where images, containers, etc. are stored
      --runroot string              Path to the 'run directory' where all state information is stored
      --runtime string              Path to the OCI-compatible binary used to run containers. (default "runc")
      --runtime-flag stringArray    add global flags for the container runtime
      --ssh string                  define the ssh mode (default "golang")
      --storage-driver string       Select which storage driver is used to manage storage of images and containers
      --storage-opt stringArray     Used to pass an option to the storage driver
      --syslog                      Output logging information to syslog as well as the console (default false)
      --tmpdir string               Path to the tmp directory for libpod state content.
                                    
                                    Note: use the environment variable 'TMPDIR' to change the temporary storage location for container images, '/var/tmp'.
                                     (default "/run/user/1000/libpod/tmp")
      --transient-store             Enable transient container storage
      --url string                  URL to access Podman service (CONTAINER_HOST) (default "unix:///run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock")
  -v, --version                     version for podman
      --volumepath string           Path to the volume directory in which volume data is stored
amol@Amols-MacBook-Air podman %./bin/podman
Manage pods, containers and images

Usage:
  podman [options] [command]

Available Commands:
  artifact    Manage OCI artifacts
  attach      Attach to a running container
  auto-update Auto update containers according to their auto-update policy
  build       Build an image using instructions from Containerfiles
  commit      Create new image based on the changed container
  compose     Run compose workloads via an external provider such as docker-compose or podman-compose
  container   Manage containers
  cp          Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
  create      Create but do not start a container
  diff        Display the changes to the object's file system
  events      Show podman system events
  exec        Run a process in a running container
  export      Export container's filesystem contents as a tar archive
  farm        Farm out builds to remote machines
  generate    Generate structured data based on containers, pods or volumes
  healthcheck Manage health checks on containers
  help        Help about any command
  history     Show history of a specified image
  image       Manage images
  images      List images in local storage
  import      Import a tarball to create a filesystem image
  info        Display podman system information
  init        Initialize one or more containers
  inspect     Display the configuration of object denoted by ID
  kill        Kill one or more running containers with a specific signal
  kube        Play containers, pods or volumes from a structured file
  load        Load image(s) from a tar archive
  login       Log in to a container registry
  logout      Log out of a container registry
  logs        Fetch the logs of one or more containers
  machine     Manage a virtual machine
  manifest    Manipulate manifest lists and image indexes
  mount       Mount a working container's root filesystem
  network     Manage networks
  pause       Pause all the processes in one or more containers
  pod         Manage pods
  port        List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
  ps          List containers
  pull        Pull an image from a registry
  push        Push an image to a specified destination
  quadlet     Allows users to manage Quadlets
  rename      Rename an existing container
  restart     Restart one or more containers
  rm          Remove one or more containers
  rmi         Remove one or more images from local storage
  run         Run a command in a new container
  save        Save image(s) to an archive
  search      Search registry for image
  secret      Manage secrets
  start       Start one or more containers
  stats       Display a live stream of container resource usage statistics
  stop        Stop one or more containers
  system      Manage podman
  tag         Add an additional name to a local image
  top         Display the running processes of a container
  unmount     Unmount working container's root filesystem
  unpause     Unpause the processes in one or more containers
  unshare     Run a command in a modified user namespace
  untag       Remove a name from a local image
  update      Update an existing container
  version     Display the Podman version information
  volume      Manage volumes
  wait        Block on one or more containers

Options:
      --cdi-spec-dir stringArray    Set the CDI spec directory path (may be set multiple times) (default [/etc/cdi,/var/run/cdi])
      --cgroup-manager string       Cgroup manager to use ("cgroupfs"|"systemd") (default "systemd")
      --config string               Path to directory containing authentication config file
      --conmon string               Path of the conmon binary
  -c, --connection string           Connection to use for remote Podman service (CONTAINER_CONNECTION)
      --events-backend string       Events backend to use ("file"|"journald"|"none") (default "journald")
      --help                        Help for podman
      --hooks-dir stringArray       Set the OCI hooks directory path (may be set multiple times) (default [/usr/share/containers/oci/hooks.d])
      --identity string             path to SSH identity file, (CONTAINER_SSHKEY)
      --imagestore string           Path to the 'image store', different from 'graph root', use this to split storing the image into a separate 'image store', see 'man containers-storage.conf' for details
      --log-level string            Log messages above specified level (trace, debug, info, warn, warning, error, fatal, panic) (default "warn")
      --module stringArray          Load the containers.conf(5) module
      --network-config-dir string   Path of the configuration directory for networks
      --out string                  Send output (stdout) from podman to a file
  -r, --remote                      Access remote Podman service
      --root string                 Path to the graph root directory where images, containers, etc. are stored
      --runroot string              Path to the 'run directory' where all state information is stored
      --runtime string              Path to the OCI-compatible binary used to run containers. (default "runc")
      --runtime-flag stringArray    add global flags for the container runtime
      --ssh string                  define the ssh mode (default "golang")
      --storage-driver string       Select which storage driver is used to manage storage of images and containers
      --storage-opt stringArray     Used to pass an option to the storage driver
      --syslog                      Output podman-internal logs to syslog as well as the console (default false)
      --tls-ca string               path to TLS certificate Authority PEM file for remote.
      --tls-cert string             path to TLS client certificate PEM file for remote.
      --tls-key string              path to TLS client certificate private key PEM file for remote.
      --tmpdir string               Path to the tmp directory for libpod state content.
                                    
                                    Note: use the environment variable 'TMPDIR' to change the temporary storage location for container images, '/var/tmp'.
                                     (default "/run/user/1000/libpod/tmp")
      --transient-store             Enable transient container storage
      --url string                  URL to access Podman service (CONTAINER_HOST) (default "unix:///run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock")
  -v, --version                     version for podman
      --volumepath string           Path to the volume directory in which volume data is stored
Error: missing command 'podman COMMAND'
amol@Amols-MacBook-Air podman %podman --version 
podman version 4.9.3
amol@Amols-MacBook-Air podman %./bin/podman --version
podman version 6.0.0-dev
amol@Amols-MacBook-Air podman %git status
On branch fix/27977
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        my_quadlet_dir/
        test.container

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

[amyssnippet]

@mheon have a look at here #27980