Problems with containers started with --detach=True

[aylen384]

./target/debug/podlet generate pod --ignore-infra-conmon-pidfile --ignore-pod-id-file pod-freshrss
Error:
   0: error creating Quadlet file(s) from an existing object
   1: error inspecting one of the pod's containers
   2: error parsing Podman container command from `["podman", "container", "run", "--name", "freshrss", "--env", "TZ=Europe/Berlin", "--env", "CRON_MIN=0,15,30,45", "--env", "FRESHRSS_ENV=production", "--env", "LISTEN=0.0.0.0:8065", "--env", "TRUSTED_PROXY=127.0.0.1", "--env", "OIDC_ENABLED=1", "--env", "OIDC_PROVIDER_METADATA_URL=foo", "--env", "OIDC_CLIENT_ID=bar", "--env", "OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=baz", "--env", "OIDC_X_FORWARDED_HEADERS=X-Forwarded-Port X-Forwarded-Proto X-Forwarded-Host", "--env", "OIDC_SCOPES=openid email profile", "--env", "FRESHRSS_USER=--email a@b.c\n--language de\n--password \"blub\"\n--user dings", "--label", "io.containers.autoupdate=image", "--pod", "pod-freshrss", "--volume", "/var/local/freshrss/data:/var/www/FreshRSS/data", "--volume", "/var/local/freshrss/extensions:/var/www/FreshRSS/extensions", "--detach=True", "docker.io/freshrss/freshrss:1.26.3"]`
   3: error: unexpected value 'True' for '--detach' found; no more were expected

[TheRealBecks]

@aylen384 Thank you for your report! Can you please also add your compose.yaml file so we can replicate the issue?

[aylen384]

I'm not using compose, but ansible to start the containers and afterwards generate the systemd files via podman generate.

[aylen384]

Example .service file:

# /etc/systemd/system/container-synapse.service
# container-synapse.service
# autogenerated by Podman 4.3.1
# Tue Feb  3 17:42:44 CET 2026

[Unit]
Description=Podman container-synapse.service
Documentation=man:podman-generate-systemd(1)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
RequiresMountsFor=%t/containers
BindsTo=pod-pod-matrix.service
After=pod-pod-matrix.service

[Service]
Environment=PODMAN_SYSTEMD_UNIT=%n
Restart=on-failure
TimeoutStopSec=70
ExecStartPre=/bin/rm \
        -f %t/%n.ctr-id
ExecStart=/usr/bin/podman container run \
        --cidfile=%t/%n.ctr-id \
        --cgroups=no-conmon \
        --rm \
        --pod-id-file %t/pod-pod-matrix.pod-id \
        --sdnotify=conmon \
        --replace \
        --name synapse \
        --env SYNAPSE_SERVER_NAME=fooobar.de \
        --env SYNAPSE_REPORT_STATS=False \
        --env SYNAPSE_HTTP_PORT=8008 \
        --label io.containers.autoupdate=image \
        --volume /opt/matrix/synapse:/data \
        --detach=True docker.io/matrixdotorg/synapse:v1.146.0
ExecStop=/usr/bin/podman stop \
        --ignore -t 10 \
        --cidfile=%t/%n.ctr-id
ExecStopPost=/usr/bin/podman rm \
        -f \
        --ignore -t 10 \
        --cidfile=%t/%n.ctr-id
Type=notify
NotifyAccess=all

[TheRealBecks]

@k9withabone That code line uses skip_serializing instead of skip_serializing_if - is that a problem when inserting detach=True into the parser instead of detach?

podlet/src/cli/container/podman.rs

Line 132 in ca463af

detach: bool,

[k9withabone]

That code line uses skip_serializing instead of skip_serializing_if - is that a problem when inserting detach=True into the parser instead of detach?

No, those options are for when the struct is serialized into arguments for the value of the PodmanArgs= Quadlet option. The reason skip_serializing is used here instead of skip_serializing_if is, as stated in the comments, that Quadlet automatically adds --detach to the output in the generated .service file.

The problem here is with parsing --detach=True as opposed to just --detach. It needs to be set up like --tls-verify:

podlet/src/cli/container/podman.rs

Lines 382 to 384 in ca463af

	/// Require HTTPS and verify certificates when contacting registries
	#[arg(long, num_args = 0..=1, require_equals = true, default_missing_value = "true")]
	tls_verify: Option<bool>,