Alternative to Docker for Selenium Automation on Windows

Podman on Windows: A Lightweight Docker Alternative

Docker on Windows is known for being resource-intensive, requiring a background daemon to run containers. If you’re looking for a more efficient solution, Podman offers a lightweight, secure, and daemonless alternative with full Docker compatibility.

How Podman Works on Windows

Since Windows can’t natively run Linux containers, Podman uses a lightweight virtual machine (VM) to provide a Linux environment for containers.

Key Technologies Behind Podman on Windows:

QEMU & Lima for VM management
Fedora CoreOS as the default OS inside the Podman VM
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for efficient container execution
Rootless containers via user namespaces for enhanced security
Full compatibility with Docker’s OCI image format

Setting Up Podman and Running Containers

1. Initialize the Podman Machine

First, set up the lightweight VM:

podman machine init

This creates a Fedora CoreOS-based VM for container execution.

It will auto install WSL and Fedora if not already present

2. Start the Podman Machine

Launch the VM:

podman machine start

The QEMU-based Linux environment is now ready.

3. Pull a Container Image

Download an image (e.g., Nginx):

podman pull nginx

4. Run a Container

Start a container just like with Docker:

podman run -d -p 8080:80 nginx

Nginx is now running with port 8080 mapped to the container’s port 80.

Running Selenium Grid with Podman

Podman can easily handle Selenium Grid for automated testing.

1. Pull the Selenium Image

podman pull selenium/standalone-chrome

2. Start Selenium Grid

podman run -d -p 4444:4444 --shm-size=2g selenium/standalone-chrome

Selenium Grid is now accessible at http://localhost:4444.

Configure Podman with Docker Alias (PowerShell)

To make Podman even easier to use, set it in your system PATH and alias docker commands to Podman:(Run with admin permission)

$podmanPath = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".m2\selenium-utils\bin\podman.exe" 
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";$podmanPath", [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
"Set-Alias -Name docker -Value podman" | Out-File -Append -Encoding utf8 $PROFILE
. $PROFILE

Now you can use docker commands that actually run Podman.

Example: Running Selenium Grid with Docker Alias

docker pull selenium/standalone-chrome
docker run -d -p 4444:4444 --name selenium-grid selenium/standalone-chrome

Verify at http://localhost:4444 – it just works.

Bonus: Selenium Utils Library

For an even smoother experience, check out my Selenium Utils library, which simplifies Podman setup and includes Selenium Grid examples.

Reference :

https://github.com/containers/podman/blob/main/docs/tutorials/podman-for-windows.md