Communication between rootless .kube and .container

[Onotot]

Hello. I have a service as a .kube file and nginx as a .container file, both in the same network:

bewcloud-pod.kube:

[Kube]
ConfigMap=bewcloud-configmap.yml
Network=bewcloud.network
Yaml=bewcloud.yml

bewcloud.yml:

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: bewcloud
  labels:
    app: bewcloud
spec:
  containers:
    - name: website
      image: ghcr.io/bewcloud/bewcloud:v2.5.3
      envFrom:
        - configMapRef:
            name: bewcloud-env
      securityContext: {}
      volumeMounts:
      - mountPath: /app/bewcloud.config.ts
        name: bewcloud-config
      - mountPath: /app/data-files
        name: bewcloud-data

    - name: postgresql
      image: docker.io/library/postgres:17
      env:
        - name: POSTGRES_DB
          value: bewcloud
        - name: POSTGRES_USER
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: bewcloud-passwords
              key: postgres_user
        - name: POSTGRES_PASSWORD
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: bewcloud-passwords
              key: postgres_password
      resources:
        limits:
            memory: 256Mi
      volumeMounts:
      - mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
        name: bewcloud-db-pvc

nginx.container:

[Container]
ContainerName=nginx
Image=docker.io/nginxinc/nginx-unprivileged:1.29
PublishPort=80:8080
Volume=/home/user/.containers/volumes/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
AutoUpdate=registry
Network=bewcloud.network
[Unit]
Description=Nginx Container

[Service]
Restart=unless-stopped

 [Install]
WantedBy=default.target

bewcloud.network:

[Network]
NetworkName=bewcloud
Subnet=192.168.30.0/24
Gateway=192.168.30.1
Label=app=bewcloud

But I cannot access containers by name from the nginx pod, as only the infra container is added to the network.
podman network inspect bewcloud:

"name": "bewcloud",
          "id": "1755393e1627fd9453cd60d271c38c2460403ea56471fd555a65736a58f941b2",
          "driver": "bridge",
          "network_interface": "podman1",
          "created": "2025-09-26T14:12:04.46614917Z",
          "subnets": [
               {
                    "subnet": "192.168.30.0/24",
                    "gateway": "192.168.30.1"
               }
          ],
          "ipv6_enabled": false,
          "internal": false,
          "dns_enabled": true,
          "labels": {
               "app": "bewcloud"
          },
          "ipam_options": {
               "driver": "host-local"
          },
          "containers": {
               "5a83080dced4d7f3231bf1137ed6b17ba1de0521349337f8fdbc6e769f2cda3c": {
                    "name": "nginx",
                    "interfaces": {
                         "eth0": {
                              "subnets": [
                                   {
                                        "ipnet": "192.168.30.2/24",
                                        "gateway": "192.168.30.1"
                                   }
                              ],
                              "mac_address": "ca:ee:2a:08:07:0b"
                         }
                    }
               },
               "73b63b2c016b51c0d9c16bb6ae1d7485f440af68787146433db97228202285e0": {
                    "name": "90734237e688-infra",
                    "interfaces": {
                         "eth0": {
                              "subnets": [
                                   {
                                        "ipnet": "192.168.30.3/24",
                                        "gateway": "192.168.30.1"
                                   }
                              ],
                              "mac_address": "ee:17:7d:5e:c6:5f"

How can I access pods' containers within the same network without adding nginx to the pod?

[Onotot]

While experimenting, I found that addressing pods by name works fine. I'm encountering issues with automatic network creation; despite the network file being created and specified in the Network option, I get an error stating the network doesn't exist. However, /usr/libexec/podman/quadlet --user -dry-run shows no errors. I have to create the network manually.

[ygalblum]

Not sure I understand your last comment. Does the network not get created at all (i.e. podman network ls does not include the network)? Are you making changes the the .network file?
In order to cleanup the network and recreate it you have two options. First, you can stop its corresponding service, manually deleting the network and starting the service. Second, set NetworkDeleteOnStop=true in your .network file and then restarting the service will make sure to remove the service.
Whichever way you chose, what's the status of the network's service?

[Onotot]

@ygalblum The network is not created from the .network file by any means:

$ podman network ls
NETWORK ID    NAME        DRIVER
2f259bab93aa  podman      bridge

Run .kube systemctl --u start bewcloud-pod and get error:
Error: unable to find network with name or ID bewcloud: network not found

$ podman network ls
NETWORK ID    NAME        DRIVER
2f259bab93aa  podman      bridge

To manually start the network service:

$ systemctl --u start bewcloud-network
$ systemctl --u status bewcloud-network
● bewcloud-network.service
     Loaded: loaded (/home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud.network; generated)
     Active: active (exited) since Thu 2025-09-18 23:46:59 UTC; 1 week 3 days ago
 Invocation: 15efd37b82e44cc9a8b9b19c708431e6
   Main PID: 982519 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Mem peak: 9.2M
        CPU: 95ms

Sep 18 23:46:59 server-ewips4 systemd[971337]: Starting bewcloud-network.service...
Sep 18 23:46:59 server-ewips4 podman[982519]: 2025-09-18 23:46:59.362770091 +0000 UTC m=+0.071911145 netw>
Sep 18 23:46:59 server-ewips4 bewcloud-network[982519]: bewcloud-network
Sep 18 23:46:59 server-ewips4 systemd[971337]: Finished bewcloud-network.service.

$ podman network ls
NETWORK ID    NAME        DRIVER
2f259bab93aa  podman      bridge

/usr/libexec/podman/quadlet --dryrun --user:

---bewcloud-network.service---
[X-Network]
NetworkName=bewcloud
Subnet=192.168.30.0/24
Gateway=192.168.30.1
Label=app=bewcloud

[Unit]
Wants=podman-user-wait-network-online.service
After=podman-user-wait-network-online.service
SourcePath=/home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud.network
RequiresMountsFor=%t/containers

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman network create --ignore --subnet 192.168.30.0/24 --gateway 192.168.30.1 --label app=bewcloud bewcloud
SyslogIdentifier=%N
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes

---bewcloud-pod.service---
[X-Kube]
ConfigMap=bewcloud-configmap.yml
Network=bewcloud.network
Yaml=bewcloud.yml

[Unit]
Wants=podman-user-wait-network-online.service
After=podman-user-wait-network-online.service
SourcePath=/home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud-pod.kube
RequiresMountsFor=%t/containers
Requires=bewcloud-network.service
After=bewcloud-network.service

[Service]
KillMode=mixed
Environment=PODMAN_SYSTEMD_UNIT=%n
Type=notify
NotifyAccess=all
SyslogIdentifier=%N
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman kube play --replace --service-container=true --network bewcloud --configmap /home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud-configmap.yml /home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud.yml
ExecStopPost=/usr/bin/podman kube down /home/user/.config/containers/systemd/bewcloud.yml

Similarly on startup of the .container
podman version 5.4.2

[ygalblum]

As can be seen by the status of bewcloud-network.service , it is been running for 10 days already

Active: active (exited) since Thu 2025-09-18 23:46:59 UTC; 1 week 3 days ago

So, your call systemctl --u start bewcloud-network didn't do anything.

Instead you need to restart it: systemctl --u restart bewcloud-network

[Onotot]

So, your call systemctl --u start bewcloud-network didn't do anything.

Instead you need to restart it: systemctl --u restart bewcloud-network

Thank you, that's correct. When removing a network with podman network rm, the systemd service for that network remains active, but the network no longer exists, causing a problem.

[ygalblum]

@Onotot as I mentioned, if you want to manage the lifecycle of the podman network from systemd, you can set NetworkDeleteOnStop=true in your .network file. Then, you don't delete the network using podman network rm, only with systemctl stop

[Onotot]

@ygalblum In version 5.4.2, this option is not available. In case someone is looking for this solution.

[ygalblum]

You're right, the support was added in 5.5.0. Sorry for that.