podman Podman Machine Init Fails WIn 11 ARM64

Issue Description

I have installed podman and podman desktop a few times now trying to get this to work. Podman desktop installs fine but trying to create the default podman vm always fails. I ran podman machine init from the terminal to see if it was a Podman Desktop issue but same issue persists.

$ podman machine init
Looking up Podman Machine image at quay.io/podman/machine-os-wsl:5.4 to create VM
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob d125bd3f7504 done   |
Copying config 44136fa355 done   |
Writing manifest to image destination
d125bd3f7504b9725ac031508a7bf951a84fcad5b07879057f64d3667737292a
Extracting compressed file: podman-machine-default-amd64: done
Importing operating system into WSL (this may take a few minutes on a new WSL install)...
The operation completed successfully.
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: CreateProcessParseCommon:863: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.PowerShell_7.5.0.0_arm64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\System32\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\System32\wbem\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuPG\bin\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Program Files (x86)\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Program Files\RedHat\Podman\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Programs\oh-my-posh\bin\
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Programs\Lens\resources\cli\bin
<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: UtilTranslatePathList:2878: Failed to translate C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Google\Cloud SDK\google-cloud-sdk\bin
Processing fstab with mount -a failed.
Failed to mount C:\, see dmesg for more details.

<3>WSL (10 - Relay) ERROR: CreateProcessCommon:640: execvpe(/bin/bash) failed: Exec format error
Error: package permissions restore of shadow-utils on guest OS failed: command C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wsl.exe [-u root -d podman-machine-default rpm --restore shadow-utils] failed: exit status 1

Steps to reproduce the issue

Install Podman and/or Podman Desktop on WIndows 11 ARM64 and attempt to create the default podman VM.

Describe the results you received

I cannot get the podman machine init command to succeed so that I can run podman for local testing.

Describe the results you expected

I expect podman to initialize correctly and work normally.

podman info output

podman version 5.4.1
Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3194)
ARM 64

Podman in a container

No

Privileged Or Rootless

Privileged

Upstream Latest Release

Yes

Additional environment details

Additional information

Additional information like issue happens only occasionally or issue happens with a particular architecture or on a particular setting

Mar 18 '25 15:03 chrisblatt

I have traced this down to root cause(s). Would you or anyone following this issue care to try a trial installer and report success. FWIW, it worked for me. Be sure to uninstall the current podman install (completely).

Mar 21 '25 13:03 baude

Sure, I will give it a try, and report back, thanks!

Mar 21 '25 14:03 chrisblatt

I installed it and it worked as before on my Win 10 AMD64 laptop, was able to run some of my local dev containers and appears to be functioning correctly. Just out of curiosity I tried this trial installer with Hyper-V instead of WSL and that failed, it sent the VM to an emergency shell. But I have no plans to use Hyper-V so not an issue for me. More of an observation in the off chance someone wants to use Hyper-V over WSL.

Mar 21 '25 15:03 chrisblatt

i fixed it for me. i had the same issue trying to install a wsl distro so i installed a distro for arm instead of x64/86 and then it worked. i used this installer https://github.com/podman-desktop/podman-desktop/releases/download/v1.17.2/podman-desktop-airgap-1.17.2-setup-arm64.exe

Mar 21 '25 15:03 Cedric-Jaeggi

@chrisblatt if you want to see the hyperv thinig through, lets open another issue.

Mar 21 '25 18:03 baude

thanks for the reports folk, we have line items to fix this asap and know exactly what needs to be done.

Mar 21 '25 18:03 baude

@baude sorry for the late response, yep I will open a new issue for the hyperv issue, thanks for the quick responses! Issue https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25779 is the new issue fyi.

Apr 03 '25 13:04 chrisblatt

I have traced this down to root cause(s). Would you or anyone following this issue care to try a trial installer and report success. FWIW, it worked for me. Be sure to uninstall the current podman install (completely).

This installer fixed it for me on my ARM device:

My logs of running it

PS C:\Users\crloewen> podman machine init
Looking up Podman Machine image at quay.io/podman/machine-os-wsl:5.5 to create VM
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob d3dff8a90362 done   |
Copying config 44136fa355 done   |
Writing manifest to image destination
d3dff8a903629772ecfdf04200ad503bbf2a9d62bb7fc2d3b18233e2c83384f8
Extracting compressed file: podman-machine-default-arm64: done
Importing operating system into WSL (this may take a few minutes on a new WSL install)...
The operation completed successfully.
Configuring system...
Machine init complete
To start your machine run:

        podman machine start

PS C:\Users\crloewen> podman --version
podman version 5.5.0-dev
PS C:\Users\crloewen> podman machine start
Starting machine "podman-machine-default"

This machine is currently configured in rootless mode. If your containers
require root permissions (e.g. ports < 1024), or if you run into compatibility
issues with non-podman clients, you can switch using the following command:

        podman machine set --rootful

API forwarding listening on: npipe:////./pipe/docker_engine

Docker API clients default to this address. You do not need to set DOCKER_HOST.
Machine "podman-machine-default" started successfully
PS C:\Users\crloewen> podman run hello-world
Resolved "hello-world" as an alias (/etc/containers/registries.conf.d/000-shortnames.conf)
Trying to pull quay.io/podman/hello:latest...
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob sha256:1ff9adeff4443b503b304e7aa4c37bb90762947125f4a522b370162a7492ff47
Copying config sha256:83fc7ce1224f5ed3885f6aaec0bb001c0bbb2a308e3250d7408804a720c72a32
Writing manifest to image destination
!... Hello Podman World ...!

         .--"--.
       / -     - \
      / (O)   (O) \
   ~~~| -=(,Y,)=- |
    .---. /`  \   |~~
 ~/  o  o \~~~~.----. ~~
  | =(X)= |~  / (O (O) \
   ~~~~~~~  ~| =(Y_)=-  |
  ~~~~    ~~~|   U      |~~

Project:   https://github.com/containers/podman
Website:   https://podman.io
Desktop:   https://podman-desktop.io
Documents: https://docs.podman.io
YouTube:   https://youtube.com/@Podman
X/Twitter: @Podman_io
Mastodon:  @[email protected]
PS C:\Users\crloewen>

Apr 14 '25 16:04 craigloewen-msft

I have traced this down to root cause(s). Would you or anyone following this issue care to try a trial installer and report success. FWIW, it worked for me. Be sure to uninstall the current podman install (completely). ^ | This -- works for me on:


OsName	Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
WindowsProductName	Windows 10 Pro
WindowsVersion	2009
OsHardwareAbstractionLayer	10.0.26100.1
CsManufacturer	LENOVO
CsModel	21BYS00000
CsSystemType	ARM64-based PC
CsSystemFamily	ThinkPad X13s Gen 1
WindowsBuildLabEx	26100.1.arm64fre.ge_release.240331-1435
OsArchitecture	ARM 64-bit Processor
CsProcessors	{Snapdragon (TM) 8cx Gen 3 @ 3.0 GHz}


WSL	2.4.13.0
Kernel	5.15.167.4-1
WSLg	1.0.65
MSRDC	1.2.5716
Direct3D	1.611.1-81528511
DXCore	10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows	10.0.26120.3863

Apr 17 '25 18:04 idandro

This installer fixed it for me on my ARM device as well:

PS C:\Users\g0332> podman --version
podman version 5.5.0-dev
PS C:\Users\g0332> podman machine init claudeVM
Looking up Podman Machine image at quay.io/podman/machine-os-wsl:5.5 to create VM
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob be566d17c981 done   |
Copying config 44136fa355 done   |
Writing manifest to image destination
be566d17c981e1ba4c09c607683344176fa9e526ebd3f3231e8ac8fd9710e1cc
Extracting compressed file: claudeVM-arm64: done
Importing operating system into WSL (this may take a few minutes on a new WSL install)...
この操作を正しく終了しました。
Configuring system...
Machine init complete
To start your machine run:

        podman machine start claudeVM

PS C:\Users\g0332>

May 03 '25 05:05 Masa1984a

Looks like 5.5 installer fixed my issue, thanks for the help, closing.

May 16 '25 12:05 chrisblatt