podman-desktop-companion VS k9s

Btw #2: For a nice, cross-platform GUI app thing for Docker & Podman here's this one: Podman Desktop Companion.

Podman Desktop Companion (cross-platform, supports Docker too)

Docker in WSL2 too works but with Podman the environment setup may be a little more flexible depending on what you want to achieve on what distro etc. In any case you can use the cross-platform Podman Desktop Companion app to manage your containers via a GUI.

Both Distrobox and Podman can be installed without root access btw and, here's a neat little GUI for managing Podman & Docker containers: Podman Desktop Companion (cross-platform).

No, that's incorrect. Also, there's the unofficial Pods app, and the Podman Desktop Companion.

For a GUI to manage your Podman and/or Docker containers, install the Podman Desktop Companion app (yes, it supports both Podman and Docker). They say that the Windows version can be used to manage the containers running in WSL2 but a more sure way would be to pick the Linux app and to install it in the WSL2 distro your containers are installed & running in.

I'm skeptic how long this will last unless they bring out some cutting-edge innovations. I frankly used and loved Docker Desktop for a long time because it was the easiest way to get going and I believe even k8s is included now which is great for hobbyists and those who just want to get things done. But, I've been annoyed by the UX changes and the push to login to docker hub.

While in 2023, there are most certainly great alternatives that are relatively easy to install from the terminal and get going, I guess there's not yet a definitive replacement that comes with the GUI too. Best I can think of is Podman Desktop Companion[1] but not sure how well this works.

[1]: https://iongion.github.io/podman-desktop-companion/

How does this compare to Podman Desktop Companion? They look very similar - nearly identical - yet clearly two different projects.

Pierre: The first tool I recommend is K9s. It's not just a time-saver but a productivity booster. With its intuitive interface, you can speed up all the usual kubectl commands, access logs, edit resources and configurations, and more. It's like having a personal assistant for your cluster management tasks.

The last thing you really need is a common set of tools that you want fingertip access to. I really commonly use LazyGit and K9s in my day job so those are the tools I will show off in this article.

K9s is your best friend (get it? 🐶) when exploring your cluster via the terminal. It shares commonality with Vim for its interaction style using shortcuts and starting commands with: but don’t let that discourage you. K9s keeps a vigilant eye on Kubernetes activities, providing real-time information and intuitive commands for resource interaction.

k9s: brew install k9s

I would like to put in a vote for k9s, which is also on the list at Terminal Trove. [0] It's the most convenient tool I've ever found for Kubernetes management. Based on that experience I'll definitely be checking out Harlequin.

[0] https://k9scli.io/

$ wget https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/download/v0.29.1/k9s_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz $ tar -xzf k9s_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz $ sudo mv k9s /usr/local/bin/

All in all, run things, do some kubectl apply -f something.yml every day, install k9s, and try to configure a big one cluster at some point.

(K9s is one of my favorite tools for navigating Kubernetes clusters through the CLI).

K9s is an open-source, terminal-based UI for interacting with your Kubernetes clusters, making navigating, observing, and managing your apps easier. If you use Kubectl but wish it was easier and faster to use, K9s might be just what you're looking for!

k9s