Quadlet - GroupAdd does not work rootless

[jcnils]

Issue Description

Hi there,

I am trying to set up my containers as Quadlets/systemd services. Many of them running rootless and with group permissions.

I am using Fedora 43 Server Edition, with podman 5.7.1

The commands work fine with proton run as in

podman run --userns=keep-id --group-add keep-groups ubi8 id

And I can confirm the ids.

uid=1001(rootless_usr) gid=1002(rootless_usr) groups=1002(rootless_usr),1001(dir)

uid=1001(rootless_usr) gid=1002(rootless_usr) groups=1002(rootless_usr),65534(nobody)

The same does not work as Quadlet for rootless users. But it does work for root user.

#ubi8.container
[Container]
Exec=id
Image=ubi8
#PodmanArgs=--group-add keep-groups
GroupAdd=keep-groups
UserNS=keep-id

Steps to reproduce the issue

Steps to reproduce the issue

as a rootless user:

1. on terminal enter id > uid=1001 gid=1002 groups=1002,1001
2. podman run --userns=keep-id --group-add keep-groups ubi8 id > uid=1001 gid=1002 groups=1002,65534(nobody)
3. Add the ubi8.container described above to ~/.config/containers/systemd/
4. systemctl --user daemon-reload
5. systemctl --user start ubi8
6. systemctl --user status ubi8 > Jan 07 17:48:12 fedora_server systemd-ubi8[110952]: uid=1001(rootless_usr) gid=1002(rootless_usr) groups=1002(rootless_usr)

*nobody is missing

as root user

1. on terminal enter id > uid=1000 gid=1000 groups=1000,1001
2. podman run --userns=keep-id --group-add keep-groups ubi8 id > uid=1000 gid=1000 groups=1000,65534(nobody)
3. Add the ubi8.container described above to ~/.config/containers/systemd/
4. systemctl --user daemon-reload
5. systemctl --user start ubi8
6. systemctl --user status ubi8 > Jan 07 17:44:11 fedora_server systemd-ubi8[110781]: uid=1000(root) gid=1000(root) groups=1000(root),65534(no

Describe the results you received

Group 1001 has access to the files I need. Their permission appears as 65534(nobody) inside the container, and I can access them just fine rootless with:

podman run --userns=keep-id --group-add keep-groups -v /mnt/dir:/dir:ro ubi8 ls -lah /dir

but I cannot access them with:

# ubi8.container
[Container]
Exec=ls -lah /dir
Image=ubi8
PodmanArgs=--group-add keep-groups
UserNS=keep-id
Volume=/mnt/dir:/dir:ro

Describe the results you expected

I expected the Quadlet to behave similar to the podman run command when used rootless. And similar to the root Quadlet.

podman info output

host:
  arch: amd64
  buildahVersion: 1.42.2
  cgroupControllers:
  - cpu
  - memory
  - pids
  cgroupManager: systemd
  cgroupVersion: v2
  conmon:
    package: conmon-2.1.13-2.fc43.x86_64
    path: /usr/bin/conmon
    version: 'conmon version 2.1.13, commit: '
  cpuUtilization:
    idlePercent: 99.74
    systemPercent: 0.16
    userPercent: 0.1
  cpus: 4
  databaseBackend: sqlite
  distribution:
    distribution: fedora
    variant: server
    version: "43"
  emulatedArchitectures:
  - linux/arm
  - linux/arm64
  - linux/arm64be
  eventLogger: journald
  freeLocks: 2009
  hostname: fedora_server
  idMappings:
    gidmap:
    - container_id: 0
      host_id: 1002
      size: 1
    - container_id: 1
      host_id: 589824
      size: 65536
    uidmap:
    - container_id: 0
      host_id: 1001
      size: 1
    - container_id: 1
      host_id: 589824
      size: 65536
  kernel: 6.17.12-300.fc43.x86_64
  linkmode: dynamic
  logDriver: journald
  memFree: 406761472
  memTotal: 8083623936
  networkBackend: netavark
  networkBackendInfo:
    backend: netavark
    dns:
      package: aardvark-dns-1.17.0-1.fc43.x86_64
      path: /usr/libexec/podman/aardvark-dns
      version: aardvark-dns 1.17.0
    package: netavark-1.17.1-1.fc43.x86_64
    path: /usr/libexec/podman/netavark
    version: netavark 1.17.1
  ociRuntime:
    name: crun
    package: crun-1.25.1-1.fc43.x86_64
    path: /usr/bin/crun
    version: |-
      crun version 1.25.1
      commit: 156ae065d4a322d149c7307034f98d9637aa92a2
      rundir: /run/user/1001/crun
      spec: 1.0.0
      +SYSTEMD +SELINUX +APPARMOR +CAP +SECCOMP +EBPF +CRIU +LIBKRUN +WASM:wasmedge +YAJL
  os: linux
  pasta:
    executable: /usr/bin/pasta
    package: passt-0^20251215.gb40f5cd-1.fc43.x86_64
    version: |
      pasta 0^20251215.gb40f5cd-1.fc43.x86_64
      Copyright Red Hat
      GNU General Public License, version 2 or later
        <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html>
      This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
      There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
  remoteSocket:
    exists: true
    path: /run/user/1001/podman/podman.sock
  rootlessNetworkCmd: pasta
  security:
    apparmorEnabled: false
    capabilities: CAP_CHOWN,CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE,CAP_FOWNER,CAP_FSETID,CAP_KILL,CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE,CAP_SETFCAP,CAP_SETGID,CAP_SETPCAP,CAP_SETUID,CAP_SYS_CHROOT
    rootless: true
    seccompEnabled: true
    seccompProfilePath: /usr/share/containers/seccomp.json
    selinuxEnabled: true
  serviceIsRemote: false
  slirp4netns:
    executable: /usr/bin/slirp4netns
    package: slirp4netns-1.3.1-3.fc43.x86_64
    version: |-
      slirp4netns version 1.3.1
      commit: e5e368c4f5db6ae75c2fce786e31eef9da6bf236
      libslirp: 4.9.1
      SLIRP_CONFIG_VERSION_MAX: 6
      libseccomp: 2.6.0
  swapFree: 8083345408
  swapTotal: 8083468288
  uptime: 142h 43m 58.00s (Approximately 5.92 days)
  variant: ""
plugins:
  authorization: null
  log:
  - k8s-file
  - none
  - passthrough
  - journald
  network:
  - bridge
  - macvlan
  - ipvlan
  volume:
  - local
registries:
  search:
  - registry.fedoraproject.org
  - registry.access.redhat.com
  - docker.io
store:
  configFile: /home/rootless_usr/.config/containers/storage.conf
  containerStore:
    number: 39
    paused: 0
    running: 0
    stopped: 39
  graphDriverName: overlay
  graphOptions: {}
  graphRoot: /home/rootless_usr/.local/share/containers/storage
  graphRootAllocated: 16039018496
  graphRootUsed: 8387969024
  graphStatus:
    Backing Filesystem: xfs
    Native Overlay Diff: "true"
    Supports d_type: "true"
    Supports shifting: "false"
    Supports volatile: "true"
    Using metacopy: "false"
  imageCopyTmpDir: /var/tmp
  imageStore:
    number: 2
  runRoot: /run/user/1001/containers
  transientStore: false
  volumePath: /home/rootless_usr/.local/share/containers/storage/volumes
version:
  APIVersion: 5.7.1
  BuildOrigin: Fedora Project
  Built: 1765324800
  BuiltTime: Tue Dec  9 17:00:00 2025
  GitCommit: f845d14e941889ba4c071f35233d09b29d363c75
  GoVersion: go1.25.4 X:nodwarf5
  Os: linux
  OsArch: linux/amd64
  Version: 5.7.1

Podman in a container

No

Privileged Or Rootless

Rootless

Upstream Latest Release

Yes

Additional environment details

Fedora Linux 43 (Server Edition)

Additional information

I also tried adding to the file ubi8.container

PodmanArgs=--group-add keep-groups

and

Annotation=run.oci.keep_original_groups=1

Instead of GroupAdd. Without success.

[ygalblum]

I tried reproducing this issue, but it worked as you expected it to.

I did the following:

# Create the groups
$ sudo groupadd -g 1001 dir
$ sudo groupadd -g 1002 rootless_usr
# Create the user, assign default and additional group
$ sudo useradd -u 1001 -g 1002 -G 1001 rootless_usr

I then logged-in with the new user.

Checking that executing podman directly works as expected:

$ podman run --userns=keep-id --group-add keep-groups ubi8 id
uid=1001(rootless_usr) gid=1002(rootless_usr) groups=1002(rootless_usr),65534(nobody)

I then created the ubi.container file

$ cat ~/.config/containers/systemd/ubi8.container
[Container]
Exec=id
Image=ubi8
#PodmanArgs=--group-add keep-groups
GroupAdd=keep-groups
UserNS=keep-id

Now as a systemd service

$ systemctl --user daemon-reload
$ systemctl --user start ubi8.service
$ systemctl --user status ubi8.service
...
Jan 08 11:24:52 ygal-linux systemd-ubi8[228072]: uid=1001(rootless_usr) gid=1002(rootless_usr) groups=1002(rootless_usr),65534(nobody)
...

I'm running on Fedora 42, but the same Podman version 5.7.1. So, I'm not sure why it's not working as you expected for you