Quadlet uses SystemD Generators [1] feature. Generators are a way to convert non-systemd-native configuration extensions (like containers, volumes and networks

Quadlet uses SystemD Generators [1] feature. Generators are a way to convert non-systemd-native configuration extensions (like containers, volumes and networks in case of quadlets) into regular systemd-native configuration like service unit-files. The quadlet generator converts the podman extension for systemd into regular service file that you can examine yourself. Non-root podman container services are in /run/user/<uid>/systemd/generator. Here is a blog post that describes the design in detail (slightly dated): [2] [1] https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.generator.html https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.gen... [2] https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2021/10/12/quadlet-an-easier-way-to-run-system-containers/ https://blogs.gnome.org/alexl/2021/10/12/quadlet-an-easier-w...