Bug: podlet generate preserves ~ in paths, causing invalid Quadlet-generated systemd services

[youssef-hsn]

When using podlet generate on a podman run command that contains paths starting with ~, the generated Quadlet (.container) file preserves ~ verbatim. When this Quadlet is later processed by the Podman Quadlet generator, the resulting systemd service contains an invalid relative path, causing the service to fail at runtime.

Replacing ~ with %h resolves the issue.

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Environment

• podlet: (version used)
• podman: rootless
• systemd: user services
• Target: Quadlet (.container) generation

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Problem Description

I encountered this issue while using podlet generate to convert a working podman run command into a Quadlet file.

Example input command:

podman run \
  -v ~/infra/pi-hole/etc-pihole:/etc/pihole:Z \
  docker.io/pihole/pihole:latest

Generated Quadlet (.container) output:

[Container]
Volume=~/infra/pi-hole/etc-pihole:/etc/pihole:Z

expanded, because systemd does not perform shell-style expansion.

As a result, the generated service passes an invalid relative path to Podman, and the container fails to start.

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Expected Behavior

• podlet generate should avoid emitting ~ in generated Quadlet files
• Generated Quadlets should produce valid systemd services without manual editing

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Actual Behavior

• ~ is preserved literally in the generated Quadlet
• systemd does not expand ~
• Podman receives an invalid path
• Generated service fails to start

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Solution / Workaround

Manually replacing ~ with %h resolves the issue:

[Container]
Volume=%h/infra/pi-hole/etc-pihole:/etc/pihole:Z

Suggestion

One of the following would prevent this issue:)

1. Translate ~ → %h during podlet generate
2. Emit a warning when ~ is detected in paths
3. Document clearly that ~ is not valid in Quadlet paths

Given that podlet targets systemd/Quadlet output, emitting systemd-compatible paths (%h) seems like the most robust solution.

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Contribution Note

If this approach sounds reasonable to the maintainers, I’d be happy to take on this issue and submit a PR.

I can:

• Update podlet generate to translate ~ into %h for Quadlet-compatible paths, or
• Add validation/warnings when unsupported path expansions are detected, depending on preferred behavior.

Please let me know if you’d like me to proceed and if there are any design or implementation guidelines I should follow.

[TheRealBecks]

Update podlet generate to translate ~ into %h for Quadlet-compatible paths

@k9withabone This solution sounds good to me. Du you also think so?

[k9withabone]

I agree, though it should only be when a path starts with ~/. This overlaps with #53.