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macOS

This section describes how to deploy Canvus server on macOS using Podman Desktop. The containers run inside a Linux VM managed by Podman Machine.

Note

Supported: macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel.

System requirements

  • 8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB recommended)
  • 2 CPU cores minimum (4 recommended)
  • 20 GB disk space minimum

Note

Container images are built for x86_64 (amd64). On Apple Silicon, Podman runs them via Rosetta 2 emulation. This works but may have minor performance overhead. Use macOS for testing/development and Linux for production.

Install Podman Desktop

Option A: Homebrew (recommended)

brew install podman podman-compose podman-desktop

Option B: Download installer

Download from podman-desktop.io/downloads.

After installation:

  1. Launch Podman Desktop
  2. Click \"Initialize and Start\" to create the Podman Machine
  3. Wait for initialization to complete

Verify:

podman --version
# Should show: podman version 4.x.x or higher

Login to the container registry

podman login docker.multitaction.com -u canvus-deploy -p gldt-synTX_NnF8LcmnktR1xK

Download the compose file

mkdir ~/canvus-server && cd ~/canvus-server

wget https://canvus-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/server/podman-compose.yml

Configure the deployment

Edit podman-compose.yml:

In the canvus service:

environment:
  CANVUS_EXTERNAL_URL: https://canvus.example.com
  CANVUS_ADMIN_EMAIL: admin@yourcompany.com
  CANVUS_ADMIN_PASSWORD: YourSecurePassword123!
  POSTGRES_PASSWORD: a-strong-database-password

In the postgres service (must match the password above):

environment:
  POSTGRES_PASSWORD: a-strong-database-password

Note

Volume paths use Linux-style paths (/canvus-data/...), created inside the Podman Machine VM. Do not change these to macOS paths.

Start services

cd ~/canvus-server
podman-compose up -d

Verify

podman-compose ps

Open your browser and navigate to https://localhost. Accept the self-signed certificate warning and login.

macOS-specific notes

Podman Machine resources

podman machine stop
podman machine set --cpus 4 --memory 8192 --disk-size 50
podman machine start

Data persistence

Container data lives inside the Podman Machine VM. To access:

podman machine ssh
ls /canvus-data/

Port conflicts

lsof -i :443

Stop the conflicting service, or use unprivileged ports in podman-compose.yml.

Management

cd ~/canvus-server

# Start / stop / restart
podman-compose up -d
podman-compose stop
podman-compose restart

# View logs
podman-compose logs -f
podman logs -f canvus-combined

# Update to latest version
podman-compose pull
podman-compose down
podman-compose up -d

Troubleshooting

\"Cannot connect to Podman\":

podman machine start

Slow performance on Apple Silicon:

The x86_64 images run via Rosetta 2 emulation. For production, use a Linux server.

Container won\'t start:

podman logs canvus-combined
podman logs canvus-postgres