---
sidebar_position: 30
title: Start a container
description: Starting a container on your container engine.
keywords: [podman desktop, podman, containers, images]
tags: [starting-a-container]
---

# Starting a container on your container engine

With Podman Desktop, you can start a container from an image on your container engine.
You can interact with the running container by using the terminal or by opening your browser to the exposed ports.

#### Prerequisites

- [A running Podman machine](/docs/podman/creating-a-podman-machine).
- The **Images** list has your image, such as `quay.io/podman/hello`. See [Pulling an image](/docs/containers/images/pulling-an-image).

#### Procedure

1. Go to the **Images** component page.
1. Click the **Run Image** icon corresponding to the image you want to run. For example, `quay.io/podman/hello`.
   ![Run Image icon](img/running-an-image.png)
1. Review or edit the container configuration details.
1. Click **Start Container**. The Container Details page opens.
   ![starting a container](img/starting-a-container.png)
1. Select the **Logs** tab to view the program running.
   ![program running](img/hello-world-program-running.png)
1. Click the **close** icon on the right side of the page.

#### Verification

1. Go to the **Containers** component page.
1. **<Icon icon="fa-solid fa-search" size="lg" />**: Enter your image name, such as `quay.io/podman/hello`, to find your running container.
1. Click your running container name to perform any of the following tasks:
   - [View the logs](/docs/containers/viewing-container-logs)
   - Inspect the container
     1. Go to **Inspect**.
     1. Click the content area to activate it.
     1. Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>F</kbd> on Windows and Linux, or <kbd>⌘</kbd> + <kbd>F</kbd> on macOS to start searching the content.
   - Generate a Kubernetes YAML manifest when your container engine is Podman:
     1. Go to **Kube**.
     1. Click the content area to activate it.
     1. Press <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>F</kbd> on Windows and Linux, or <kbd>⌘</kbd> + <kbd>F</kbd> on macOS to start searching the content.
     1. Optional: Copy the content to a YAML file.
     1. Optional: Reuse this file to create a pod that you can run on a Podman engine or a Kubernetes cluster. See [Pod creation with Kubernetes YAML](https://podman-desktop.io/blog/2024/10/05/kubernetes-blog#creating-a-pod).
   - [Access the terminal](/docs/containers/accessing-the-terminal)
   - Access the application by exposing a port:
     1. Click **<Icon icon="fa-solid fa-external-link" size="lg" />**.
     1. View the running application at `localhost:port` in your browser.
   - [Deploy the container to a Kubernetes cluster](/docs/kubernetes/deploying-a-pod-to-kubernetes)

#### Additional resources

- [Building a containerized application](/blog/2024/10/05/kubernetes-blog#building-a-containerized-application)
- [Running a pod using a container or docker file](/tutorial/running-a-pod-using-a-container-docker-file)
- [Managing containers and pods](/tutorial/managing-your-application-resources#managing-containers-and-pods)
