macOS

⚡ RequirementLima >= 2.1, macOS, ARM

Running macOS guests is experimentally supported since Lima v2.1.

limactl start template:macos
limactl start template:homebrew-macos

The user password is randomly generated and stored in the ~/password file in the VM. Consider changing it after the first login.

limactl shell macos cat /Users/${USER}.guest/password

Difference from Linux guests

  • Password login is enabled
  • Password-less sudo is disabled, except for /sbin/shutdown -h now
  • Several features are not implemented yet. See Caveats below.

Caveats

  • No support for turning off the video display.
  • No support for automatic port forwarding. Use ssh -L to manually set up port forwarding, or, use the vzNAT network to access the guest by its IP.
  • No support for installing custom caCerts
Last modified March 16, 2026: templates: add `homebrew-macos` (27ea5611)