---
name: "podman-import"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "podman"
version: "6.1.4-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/podman-import"
---

# podman-import(1)

Import a tarball and save it as a filesystem image

## NAME

podman-import - Import a tarball and save it as a filesystem image

## SYNOPSIS

**podman import** \[*options*\] *path* \[*reference*\]

**podman image import** \[*options*\] *path* \[*reference*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**podman import** imports a tarball (possibly compressed using Gzip, Bzip2, XZ or Zstd) and saves it as a filesystem image. Remote tarballs can be specified using a URL. Various image instructions can be configured with the **--change** flag and a commit message can be set using the **--message** flag. **reference**, if present, is a tag to assign to the image. **podman import** is used for importing from the archive generated by **podman export**, that includes the container's filesystem. To import the archive of image layers created by **podman save**, use **podman load**.

**podman import** builds a *new* image from a root-filesystem tarball (such as one produced by **podman export**), as a single layer with no prior image history. This is different from **podman load**, which restores an *image* archived by **podman save**, preserving its layers, history and tags. To load an image archive instead, see **[podman-load(1)](/podman-load/1.md)**.

Note: **:** is a restricted character and cannot be part of the file name.

## OPTIONS

### --arch

Set architecture of the imported image.

### --change, -c=*instruction*

Apply the following possible instructions to the created image: **CMD** \| **ENTRYPOINT** \| **ENV** \| **EXPOSE** \| **LABEL** \| **STOPSIGNAL** \| **USER** \| **VOLUME** \| **WORKDIR**

Can be set multiple times

### --help, -h

Print usage statement

### --message, -m=*message*

Set commit message for imported image

### --os

Set OS of the imported image.

### --quiet, -q

Shows progress on the import

### --variant

Set variant of the imported image.

## EXAMPLES

Import the selected tarball into new image, specifying the CMD, ENTRYPOINT and LABEL:

```
$ podman import --change CMD=/bin/bash --change ENTRYPOINT=/bin/sh --change LABEL=blue=image ctr.tar image-imported
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob sha256:b41deda5a2feb1f03a5c1bb38c598cbc12c9ccd675f438edc6acd815f7585b86
 25.80 MB / 25.80 MB [======================================================] 0s
Copying config sha256:c16a6d30f3782288ec4e7521c754acc29d37155629cb39149756f486dae2d4cd
 448 B / 448 B [============================================================] 0s
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
db65d991f3bbf7f31ed1064db9a6ced7652e3f8166c4736aa9133dadd3c7acb3
```

Import the selected tarball into new image, specifying the CMD, ENTRYPOINT and LABEL:

```
$ podman import --change 'ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/sh","-c","test-image"]'  --change LABEL=blue=image test-image.tar image-imported
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob e3b0c44298fc skipped: already exists
Copying config 1105523502 done
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
110552350206337183ceadc0bdd646dc356e06514c548b69a8917b4182414b
```

Import new tagged image from stdin in quiet mode:

```
$ cat ctr.tar | podman -q import --message "importing the ctr.tar file" - image-imported
db65d991f3bbf7f31ed1064db9a6ced7652e3f8166c4736aa9133dadd3c7acb3
```

Import an image from stdin:

```
$ cat ctr.tar | podman import -
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob sha256:b41deda5a2feb1f03a5c1bb38c598cbc12c9ccd675f438edc6acd815f7585b86
 25.80 MB / 25.80 MB [======================================================] 0s
Copying config sha256:d61387b4d5edf65edee5353e2340783703074ffeaaac529cde97a8357eea7645
 378 B / 378 B [============================================================] 0s
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
db65d991f3bbf7f31ed1064db9a6ced7652e3f8166c4736aa9133dadd3c7acb3
```

Import named image from tarball via a URL:

```
$ podman import http://example.com/ctr.tar url-image
Downloading from "http://example.com/ctr.tar"
Getting image source signatures
Copying blob sha256:b41deda5a2feb1f03a5c1bb38c598cbc12c9ccd675f438edc6acd815f7585b86
 25.80 MB / 25.80 MB [======================================================] 0s
Copying config sha256:5813fe8a3b18696089fd09957a12e88bda43dc1745b5240879ffffe93240d29a
 419 B / 419 B [============================================================] 0s
Writing manifest to image destination
Storing signatures
db65d991f3bbf7f31ed1064db9a6ced7652e3f8166c4736aa9133dadd3c7acb3
```

## SEE ALSO

**[podman(1)](/podman/1.md)**, **[podman-export(1)](/podman-export/1.md)**

## HISTORY

November 2017, Originally compiled by Urvashi Mohnani umohnani@redhat.com ⟨mailto:umohnani@redhat.com⟩