Rootless Podman is a key feature for secure container management, but it can fail on RHEL 8.10 if User Namespaces are not enabled. This article details the error symptoms—where root works but a regular user gets permission denied—and the root cause: missing kernel namespace support. The fix involves checking and enabling user namespaces via sysctl or kernel boot parameters. For DevOps engineers and sysadmins, this is a quick reference to avoid hours of debugging. While not groundbreaking, it addresses a real pain point in enterprise Linux environments, making it a valuable daily signal for container practitioners.
A practical guide to resolving Podman permission errors for non-root users on RHEL by enabling User Namespaces.