Templates

Run limactl start template://fedora to create a Lima instance named "fedora".

To open a shell, run limactl shell fedora bash or LIMA_INSTANCE=fedora lima bash.

⭐ = "Tier 1"

☆ = "Tier 2"

Default: default (⭐Ubuntu, with containerd/nerdctl)

Distro:

• almalinux-8: AlmaLinux 8
• almalinux-9, almalinux.yaml: AlmaLinux 9
• alpine: ☆Alpine Linux
• archlinux: ⭐Arch Linux
• centos-stream-8: CentOS Stream 8
• centos-stream-9, centos-stream.yaml: CentOS Stream 9
• debian-11: Debian GNU/Linux 11(bullseye)
• debian-12, debian.yaml: ⭐Debian GNU/Linux 12(bookworm)
• fedora: ⭐Fedora
• opensuse: ⭐openSUSE Leap
• oraclelinux-8: Oracle Linux 8
• oraclelinux-9, oraclelinux.yaml: Oracle Linux 9
• rocky-8: Rocky Linux 8
• rocky-9, rocky.yaml: Rocky Linux 9
• ubuntu: Ubuntu (same as default.yaml but without extra YAML lines)
• ubuntu-lts: Ubuntu LTS (same as ubuntu.yaml but pinned to an LTS version)
• deprecated/centos-7: [deprecated] CentOS Linux 7
• experimental/gentoo: [experimental] Gentoo
• experimental/opensuse-tumbleweed: [experimental] openSUSE Tumbleweed

Container engines:

• apptainer: Apptainer
• apptainer-rootful: Apptainer (rootful)
• docker: ⭐Docker
• docker-rootful: Docker (rootful)
• podman: Podman
• podman-rootful: Podman (rootful)
• LXD is installed in the default Ubuntu template, so there is no lxd.yaml

Container image builders:

• buildkit: BuildKit

Container orchestration:

• faasd: Faasd
• k3s: Kubernetes via k3s
• k8s: Kubernetes via kubeadm
• experimental/u7s: Usernetes: Rootless Kubernetes

Optional feature enablers:

• vmnet: ⭐enable vmnet.framework
• experimental/9p: [experimental] use 9p mount type
• experimental/virtiofs-linux: [experimental] use virtiofs mount type for Linux
• experimental/armv7l: [experimental] ARMv7
• experimental/riscv64: [experimental] RISC-V
• experimental/net-user-v2: [experimental] user-v2 network to enable VM-to-VM communication without root privilege
• experimental/vnc: [experimental] use vnc display and xorg server

Lost+found:

• ~centos~: Removed in Lima v0.8.0, as CentOS 8 reached EOL. Replaced by almalinux, centos-stream, oraclelinux, and rocky.
• ~singularity~: Moved to apptainer-rootful in Lima v0.13.0, as Singularity was renamed to Apptainer.
• ~experimental/apptainer~: Moved to apptainer in Lima v0.13.0.
• ~experimental/{almalinux,centos-stream-9,oraclelinux,rocky}-9~: Moved to almalinux-9, centos-stream-9, oraclelinux-9, and rocky-9 in Lima v0.13.0.
• ~nomad~: Removed in Lima v0.17.1, as Nomad is no longer free software

Tier

• "Tier 1" (marked with ⭐): Good stability. Regularly tested on the CI.
• "Tier 2" (marked with ☆): Moderate stability. Regularly tested on the CI.

Other yamls are tested only occasionally and manually.