diff --git a/doc/release-notes/12545-podman-support-dev-env b/doc/release-notes/12545-podman-support-dev-env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2ae3b3a3e6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/release-notes/12545-podman-support-dev-env
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Add Podman support for developmental docker compose environment. See #12545
diff --git a/doc/sphinx-guides/source/developers/dev-environment.rst b/doc/sphinx-guides/source/developers/dev-environment.rst
index e9796072054..bece5b7c241 100755
--- a/doc/sphinx-guides/source/developers/dev-environment.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx-guides/source/developers/dev-environment.rst
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ These instructions are oriented around Docker but the "classic" instructions we
 Quickstart
 ----------
 
-First, install Java 21, Maven, and Docker.
+First, install Java 21, Maven, and Docker or Podman.
 
 After cloning the `dataverse repo <https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse>`_, run this:
 
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ After cloning the `dataverse repo <https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse>`_, run thi
 
 (Note that if you are Windows, you must run the command above in `WSL <https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/wsl>`_ rather than cmd.exe. See :doc:`windows`.)
 
+If using Podman, assuming ``podman.sock`` is located at ``/run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock``
+and a symlink ``docker`` pointing to ``podman`` executable exists, run this:
+
+``DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock mvn -Pct clean package docker:run``
+
 After some time you should be able to log in:
 
 - url: http://localhost:8080
@@ -49,13 +54,27 @@ If you are using SKDMAN, run this command:
 
 Otherwise, follow instructions at https://maven.apache.org.
 
-Install and Start Docker
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Install and Start Docker/Podman
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Follow instructions at https://www.docker.com
 
 Be sure to start Docker.
 
+For Podman, follow instructions at https://podman.io/docs/installation. Once Podman is
+installed, ensure to start Podman socket service. This can be verified by running
+``podman info`` command in the output look for the following output:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+	remoteSocket:
+	  exists: true
+	  path: /run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock
+
+In case if exists is ``false``, start the socket using command ``systemctl --user start podman.socket``.
+To ensure the socket service starts automatically on system boot, run ``systemctl --user enable podman.socket``.
+Finally, create a symlink named ``docker`` pointing to ``podman`` executable as ``ln -s /usr/bin/podman /usr/bin/docker``. 
+
 Git Clone Repo
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
@@ -70,6 +89,11 @@ Change into the ``dataverse`` directory you just cloned and run the following co
 
 ``mvn -Pct clean package docker:run``
 
+In the case of Podman, if ``podman.sock`` is running at ``/run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock``, the
+command becomes:
+
+``DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock mvn -Pct clean package docker:run``
+
 Verify 
 ~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/docker-compose-dev.yml b/docker-compose-dev.yml
index c176597c990..a08b80fbd38 100644
--- a/docker-compose-dev.yml
+++ b/docker-compose-dev.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ services:
       DATAVERSE_FEATURE_API_BEARER_AUTH_PROVIDE_MISSING_CLAIMS: "1"
       DATAVERSE_MAIL_SYSTEM_EMAIL: "dataverse@localhost"
       DATAVERSE_MAIL_MTA_HOST: "smtp"
+      DATAVERSE_MAIL_MTA_PORT: "1025"
       DATAVERSE_AUTH_OIDC_ENABLED: "1"
       DATAVERSE_AUTH_OIDC_HIDDEN_JSF: "1"
       DATAVERSE_AUTH_OIDC_CLIENT_ID: test
@@ -82,8 +83,11 @@ services:
       - ./docker-dev-volumes/app/secrets:/secrets
       - ./target/dataverse:/opt/payara/deployments/dataverse:ro
     tmpfs:
-      - /dumps:mode=770,size=2052M,uid=1000,gid=1000
-      - /tmp:mode=770,size=2052M,uid=1000,gid=1000
+      # Podman does not support uid and gid options for tmpfs and to maintain a single
+      # compose file for Docker and Podman, uid and gid have been omitted. As it is
+      # a dev environment, the risk introduced is minimal by removing these options.
+      - /dumps:mode=1777,size=2052M #,uid=1000,gid=1000
+      - /tmp:mode=1777,size=2052M #,uid=1000,gid=1000
     mem_limit: 2684354560 # 2.5 GiB
     mem_reservation: 1024m
     privileged: false
@@ -185,17 +189,17 @@ services:
     image: maildev/maildev:2.0.5
     restart: on-failure
     ports:
-      - "25:25" # smtp server
+      - "1025:1025" # smtp server
       - "1080:1080" # web ui
     environment:
-      - MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=25
+      - MAILDEV_SMTP_PORT=1025
       - MAILDEV_MAIL_DIRECTORY=/mail
     networks:
       - dataverse
     #volumes:
     #  - ./docker-dev-volumes/smtp/data:/mail
     tmpfs:
-      - /mail:mode=770,size=128M,uid=1000,gid=1000
+      - /mail:mode=1777,size=128M #,uid=1000,gid=1000
 
   dev_keycloak:
     container_name: "dev_keycloak"
@@ -250,7 +254,7 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./conf/localstack:/etc/localstack/init/ready.d
     tmpfs:
-      - /localstack:mode=770,size=128M,uid=1000,gid=1000
+      - /localstack:mode=1777,size=128M #,uid=1000,gid=1000
 
   previewers-provider:
     container_name: previewers-provider
@@ -290,4 +294,4 @@ services:
 
 networks:
   dataverse:
-    driver: bridge
\ No newline at end of file
+    driver: bridge