colima

Start the daemon in the background

$ colima start

$ colima start --edit

$ colima start --runtime containerd

$ colima start --kubernetes

$ colima start --cpu [number] --memory [memory] --disk [storage_space]

$ colima start

$ colima list

$ colima status

colima [--profile NAME] [--verbose] <start|stop|status|delete|list|ssh> [options]

--profile NAME
    Profile name (default: default)

--cpu N
    Number of CPUs (default: 2)

--memory MiB
    Memory in MiB (default: 2048)

--disk GiB
    Disk size in GiB (default: 60)

--runtime docker|containerd|podman|k3s
    Container runtime (default: docker)

--vm-type qemu|vz
    VM type (default: auto)

--mount-type virtiofs|9p|sshfs
    Mount type (default: virtiofs)

--arch amd64|arm64
    VM architecture (default: host)

--provision
    Run provisioning script after start

--edit
    Edit config in $EDITOR before start

--verbose
    Enable verbose logging

--debug
    Enable debug logging

Colima is an open-source CLI tool for running container runtimes like Docker, Podman, containerd, and k3s on macOS. It manages lightweight Linux VMs using QEMU or Apple's Virtualization.Framework (vz), providing a free alternative to Docker Desktop.

Users install via Homebrew (brew install colima), then run colima start to launch a VM with customizable CPU, memory, and disk. Supports multiple profiles for isolated environments, efficient shared mounts via virtiofs, and SSH access. Ideal for developers avoiding proprietary software, it integrates seamlessly with docker CLI and tools like kubectl for Kubernetes.

Colima emphasizes simplicity, low resource use (defaults: 2 CPU, 2GB RAM, 60GB disk), and extensibility through config edits or provisioning scripts. Stop, delete, or status check VMs easily. While macOS-focused, it runs standard Linux distros (Ubuntu-based by default). Performance rivals native with proper tuning.

macOS-only; requires Virtualization.Framework (macOS 12+) or QEMU. Install via brew install colima. High disk usage on delete failure. Virtiofs needs macOS 12.5+.

Manage multiple VMs: colima start --profile myapp; colima list shows all.

Auto-mounts ~/Containers, ~/Developer. Add custom: --mount type=bind,source=/host/path,target=/vm/path.

colima ssh or colima sudo for VM access. Supports agent forwarding.

Released in 2022 by Abhishek Dey as Lima wrapper. Gained popularity post-Docker Desktop licensing changes. v0.5+ added vz support, virtiofs. Active on GitHub (abiosoft/colima).

lima(1), docker(1), podman(1), qemu(1), nerdctl(1)