Setting up without PHP on the host

podman:generate/podman:setup only render files — they never touch the podman binary, so they run anywhere PHP does. Output is a build artifact: don't commit it, delete/regenerate it any time.

Normal workflow: render on your dev machine as usual (php artisan podman:setup), copy the generated podman/ folder to production, install it there with lpod. No PHP needed on production, and lpod doesn't need this package installed either.

No PHP anywhere

No PHP on the rendering machine either? Render inside a disposable container, using the same php:8.5-cli image lpod-setup defaults to:

podman run --rm --userns=keep-id -u "$(id -u):$(id -g)" \
    -e PODMAN_WORKING_PATH="$PWD" \
    -v "$PWD":/var/www/html:Z -w /var/www/html docker.io/library/php:8.5-cli \
    php artisan podman:setup --preset=frankenphp-octane

# On the host: install, then set secrets
lpod install frankenphp-octane/pgsql.quadlets --replace
lpod pgsql secrets

Example output for an app named acme — podman/frankenphp-octane/valkey.quadlets:

# FileName=acme-valkey
[Unit]
Description=Valkey container

[Container]
Image=docker.io/valkey/valkey:latest
AutoUpdate=registry
Exec=valkey-server --save --loglevel warning
Volume=acme-valkey:/data:rw,Z,U
Network=acme.network
ExposeHostPort=6379

[Service]
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
TimeoutStartSec=120
TimeoutStopSec=60
---
# FileName=acme-valkey
[Volume]
Label=acme-valkey

lpod install frankenphp-octane/valkey.quadlets --replace

PODMAN_WORKING_PATH/--working-path= only change host paths baked into the rendered files — rendering itself always happens from /var/www/html here.
--userns=keep-id -u "$(id -u):$(id -g)" keeps generated files owned by you, not root. Keep :Z on SELinux hosts.
lpod setup wraps the podman run command above, once lpod and this package's lpod-setup (copied next to it) are both on the host. Add --install to install immediately, or --secrets to also set secrets.
lpod needs nothing from this project once services are installed — that's what makes production install truly standalone. lpod-setup still shells out to php artisan podman:setup, needing this project's vendor/ — why copying already-rendered output is the normal path for production.

See lpod CLI for the full command reference.

No PHP anywhere​

No PHP anywhere