Where Does Buildah Store Images and Containers?
Buildah keeps built images and containers in per-user storage under the home directory, with system config in /etc.
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Buildah stores images and working containers under the user storage path. System defaults and registries configure from /etc/containers. Auth comes from the shared JSON file.
Rootless operation keeps everything inside the home directory. Rootful storage sits under /var/lib instead. Backups should match the mode in use, since the two never mix.
Where Buildah stores this, by platform
~/.local/share/containers
Images and containers per user here. System config under /etc/containers. Rootful storage lives separately under /var/lib.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move Buildah images to a new machine?
Copy the storage directory to the new machine with matching UID mappings. Images and working containers travel together. Pushing to a registry first is the cleaner move.
Buildah versus Podman storage?
They share the storage backend by design. Podman sees Buildah images and vice versa under one user. That sharing is why one copy migrates both tools.
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