Usage

Starting a Linux instance

Run limactl start <INSTANCE> to create and start the first instance. The <INSTANCE> name defaults to “default”.

$ limactl start
? Creating an instance "default"  [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> Proceed with the current configuration
  Open an editor to review or modify the current configuration
  Choose another template (docker, podman, archlinux, fedora, ...)
  Exit
...
INFO[0029] READY. Run `lima` to open the shell.

Choose Proceed with the current configuration, and wait until “READY” to be printed on the host terminal.

For automation, --tty=false flag can be used for disabling the interactive user interface.

Customization

To create an instance “default” from a template “docker”:

limactl create --name=default template:docker
limactl start default

See also the command reference:

• limactl create
• limactl start
• limactl edit

Executing Linux commands

Run limactl shell <INSTANCE> <COMMAND> to launch <COMMAND> on the VM:

limactl shell default uname -a

See also the command reference:

• limactl shell

For the “default” instance, this command can be shortened as lima <COMMAND>.

lima uname -a

The lima command also accepts the instance name as the environment variable $LIMA_INSTANCE.

Home directory

The host home directory is mounted as read-only on the following path by default:

• /Users/${USER} (on macOS hosts)
• /home/${USER} (on other hosts)

To make the host mount writable, run limactl start with --mount-writable. To disable the mount, limactl start with --mount-none or --plain.

The guest home directory exists independently on the following path:

• /Users/${USER}.guest (on macOS guests)
• /home/${USER}.guest (on other guests, since Lima v2.1)
• /home/${USER}.linux (prior to Lima v2.1)

Shell completion

• To enable bash completion, add source <(limactl completion bash) to ~/.bash_profile.
• To enable zsh completion, see limactl completion zsh --help