📖 ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
Rootless podman fails to start with cgroupv2 errors.
Environment & Reproduction
User session lacks `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` or delegated controllers.
Root Cause Analysis
cgroup delegation for the user is missing from systemd config.
Quick Triage
Run `systemctl –user status` and `loginctl show-user `.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Check `cat /sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/user-.slice/cgroup.controllers`.
Solution – Primary Fix
Enable lingering: `loginctl enable-linger ` and re-login.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Configure systemd to delegate controllers: drop-in for `[email protected]`.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
`podman run hello-world` works from the rootless session.
Rollback Plan
Switch to rootful podman temporarily if blocked.
Prevention & Hardening
Use cgroupv2 unified hierarchy and delegated controllers.
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Pairs with subuid/subgid mapping and storage.conf issues.
Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for centos-stream-9.
View all centos-stream-9 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →
Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.
References & Further Reading
Podman rootless tutorial and CentOS Stream 9 cgroup notes.
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