<p>I found that <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/containers/podman/v4/pkg/rootlessport" rel="nofollow noreferrer">rootlessport</a> is part of the <code>podman</code> package.</p>
<p>I was able to kill the process as root:</p>
<pre><code>kill $( ps aux | grep rootlessport )
</code></pre>
<p>After that, the port was released, and I could spin up new containers.</p>
<p>I'm still not sure what went wrong.  I found nothing in podman logs, and also nothing from this:</p>
<pre><code>» journalctl -u rootlessport
-- No entries --
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-19T21:13:32.307Z
2023-05-19T21:13:32.307Z
Polo
<p>We're trying to improve on the Mailman3 Docker project, converting it to podman(4.4.1) pod.  I've seen several &quot;address in use&quot; errors.  I believe the way to debug them is to find what's holding onto the port and stop it, or else use a different port.  But on this VM, I cannot get the port to release.  I've issued the following commands as the user that's been starting the pod. None of them seem to reset networking to release the usage of the port:</p>
<pre><code>» podman pod stop &lt;pod&gt;
» podman pod rm &lt;pod&gt;
» podman system prune --all --force
» podman system reset
</code></pre>
<p>I only see this rootlessport service using the port, which I thought was related to podman itself?</p>
<pre><code>» netstat -plan | grep :8000
tcp6       0      0 :::8000                 :::*                    LISTEN      40976/rootlessport
»
</code></pre>
<p>What is rootlessport, and how do I get it to release the port?  I don't believe it's a systemd service:</p>
<pre><code>»root ~» systemctl -l | grep -i rootlessport
»root ~1»
</code></pre>
<p>Possible related bug: <a href="https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/9083" rel="nofollow noreferrer">podman issue 9083</a></p>

<ports><podman>
What is this "rootlessport", and how to get it to release the port hold?
Polo
# What is this "rootlessport", and how to get it to release the port hold?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-19)

We're trying to improve on the Mailman3 Docker project, converting it to podman(4.4.1) pod.  I've seen several "address in use" errors.  I believe the way to debug them is to find what's holding onto the port and stop it, or else use a different port.  But on this VM, I cannot get the port to release.  I've issued the following commands as the user that's been starting the pod. None of them seem to reset networking to release the usage of the port:
» podman pod stop 
» podman pod rm 
» podman system prune --all --force
» podman system reset

I only see this rootlessport service using the port, which I thought was related to podman itself?
» netstat -plan | grep :8000
tcp6       0      0 :::8000                 :::*                    LISTEN      40976/rootlessport
»

What is rootlessport, and how do I get it to release the port?  I don't believe it's a systemd service:
»root ~» systemctl -l | grep -i rootlessport
»root ~1»

Possible related bug: podman issue 9083

**Tags:** ports, podman


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-05-19. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

I found that rootlessport is part of the podman package.
I was able to kill the process as root:
kill $( ps aux | grep rootlessport )

After that, the port was released, and I could spin up new containers.
I'm still not sure what went wrong.  I found nothing in podman logs, and also nothing from this:
» journalctl -u rootlessport
-- No entries --


---

