Develop on Ubuntu 24.04 with Podman

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Visual Studio Code with Podman on a Fresh Ubuntu 24.04 VM

This guide explains exactly how to set up Visual Studio Code (VS Code) with Podman on a clean installation of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS inside a virtual machine, and how to build and run the maui-docker project locally inside a Dev Container.

1. Prepare the System

After installing Ubuntu 24.04, open a terminal and install the required packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y podman podman-docker uidmap curl git x11-apps
snap install code --classic
Package overview
  • Podman: Docker-compatible container engine
  • podman-docker: enables Docker-CLI compatibility
  • uidmap: required for rootless containers
  • x11-apps: optional, useful to test X11 GUI forwarding
  • code: Visual Studio Code - Our IDE

2. Enable the Podman User Socket

Enable the user socket so VS Code can communicate with Podman: 

systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket

Add this line to your shell configuration (for example ~/.bashrc): 

echo 'export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/$UID/podman/podman.sock' >> ~/.bashrc

Reload the configuration: 

source ~/.bashrc

Create folder for your Source 

mkdir ~/source

3. Configure Visual Studio Code

Start VS Code: 

code .

Install these extensions:

  • Dev Containers — ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers
  • Podman

Optional: adjust your user settings (settings.json) so VS Code uses Podman directly: 

{
  "dev.containers.dockerPath": "/usr/bin/podman",
  "dev.containers.composeCommand": "podman-compose"
}

4. Build the MAUI Docker Environment Locally

Clone the repository and build the container image on your own system: 

git clone https://github.com/MauiGtk/maui-docker.git
cd maui-docker
podman build -t maui-env .

This creates a local image named maui-env that will be used by VS Code when opening the project inside a Dev Container.

5. Allow GUI Access (X11)

To run graphical MAUI GTK applications, allow the container to use your X display: 

xhost +local:

(You can later restrict access again with xhost -local:.)

6. Open the Project in VS Code

Open the project folder: 

cd maui-docker
code .

Then run **Ctrl + Shift + P → “Dev Containers: Reopen in Container”**. VS Code will start a Podman container based on the included .devcontainer configuration.

7. Run the MAUI Sample Application

Inside the container terminal, execute: 

cd /mauienv/maui/src/Controls/samples/Controls.Sample
dotnet run --framework net8.0-gtk

If everything is configured correctly, a GTK window should appear on your Ubuntu 24.04 desktop.

8. Troubleshooting

VS Code reports “Docker not found”
Ensure podman-docker is installed and DOCKER_HOST is set correctly.
GUI does not open / “cannot open display”
Verify $DISPLAY (e.g. :0) is set and that you have run xhost +local:.
Container fails to start
Check if the socket is active:
 systemctl --user status podman.socket

9. Summary

Component Purpose
Ubuntu 24.04 VM Clean test environment
Podman Docker-compatible container engine
podman-docker Docker CLI compatibility layer
podman.socket API endpoint for VS Code
VS Code Dev Containers Container-based development environment
X11 forwarding Enables GUI applications inside containers

With these steps, a clean Ubuntu 24.04 VM can run **Visual Studio Code Dev Containers** using **Podman**, including full GUI support for **.NET MAUI GTK** applications.

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