How to Manage Container Networks on macOS with Apple container

Jun 12, 2026

Purpose

This post demonstrates how to manage container networking with Apple container — custom subnets, port forwarding, DNS domains, and network isolation for development environments.

Default Network

When I run container system start, a default network is created automatically. Every container attaches to it unless I specify otherwise. The default subnet is typically 192.168.64.0/24.

container network list

container network inspect default

Custom Networks

Create an isolated network with a specific subnet:

container network create foo --subnet 192.168.100.0/24

With IPv6 support:

container network create bar --subnet 192.168.200.0/24 --subnet-v6 fd00:1234::/64

Attach a container to the custom network:

container run --network foo --name app1 my-image

On macOS 26+, containers on the same network can communicate directly. Containers on different networks cannot talk to each other.

Network topology diagram showing two containers on network foo communicating and a separate container on network bar isolated

Port Publishing

Forward a host port to a container port:

container run -p 127.0.0.1:8080:8000 node:latest

This forwards localhost:8080 to container port 8000.

DNS and Service Discovery

Each container gets a DNS name based on its container name:

container-name.test → container's IP address

I can also create custom DNS domains to access services on the host:

sudo container system dns create host.container.internal --localhost 203.0.113.113

This makes it possible for containers to reach host services by a domain name.

DNS resolution sequence showing container querying host.container.internal and reaching the host service at 203.0.113.113

Custom MAC Addresses

container run --network default,mac=02:42:ac:11:00:02 my-image

Network Management Commands

Command	Purpose
`container network list`	List all networks
`container network inspect foo`	Show network details
`container network delete foo`	Delete a network
`container network prune`	Delete networks without connected containers

macOS Version Differences

Feature	macOS 26+	macOS 15
Container-to-container communication	Yes	No
Multiple custom networks	Yes	No
Reliable IP assignment	Yes	Potential conflicts
Default network	Single default	Single default

On macOS 15, all containers attach to a single default network and cannot communicate with each other. Port publishing still works.

Summary

In this post, I showed how to create custom networks, publish ports, set up DNS domains, and manage network isolation with Apple container. The network commands follow a Docker-like pattern, with the added benefit of macOS-native DNS integration.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

👨‍💻 Apple container Network Documentation
👨‍💻 Apple vmnet.framework Documentation

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!