lima/templates

Quick usage

To create and start a new instance from the template fedora:

# Note: In Lima 1.x, template URLs included leading slashes, e.g. `template://fedora`.
limactl create template:fedora
limactl start fedora

or

limactl start template:fedora
# For the second time onward, just run `limactl start fedora`

To open a shell:

limactl shell fedora

or

export LIMA_INSTANCE=fedora
lima

Template list

⭐ = "Tier 1"

☆ = "Tier 2"

Default

• default (⭐Ubuntu, with containerd/nerdctl)

Linux distributions

• almalinux-8: AlmaLinux 8
• almalinux-9: AlmaLinux 9
• almalinux-10, almalinux: AlmaLinux 10
• experimental/almalinux-kitten-10, experimental/almalinux-kitten: AlmaLinux Kitten 10
• alpine-3.21: Alpine Linux 3.21
• alpine-3.22: Alpine Linux 3.22
• alpine-3.23, alpine: ☆Alpine Linux 3.23
• alpine-iso: ☆Alpine Linux (ISO9660 image). Compatible with the alpine template used in Lima prior to v1.0.
• archlinux: ☆Arch Linux
• centos-stream-9, centos-stream: CentOS Stream 9
• centos-stream-10: CentOS Stream 10
• debian-11: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (Bullseye)
• debian-12: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (Bookworm)
• debian-13, debian: ⭐Debian GNU/Linux 13 (Trixie)
• fedora-41: Fedora 41
• fedora-42: Fedora 42
• fedora-43, Fedora 43
• fedora-44, fedora: ⭐Fedora 44
• opensuse-leap-15: openSUSE Leap 15
• opensuse-leap-16, opensuse-leap, opensuse: ⭐openSUSE Leap 16
• oraclelinux-8: Oracle Linux 8
• oraclelinux-9: Oracle Linux 9
• oraclelinux-10, oraclelinux: Oracle Linux 10
• rocky-8: Rocky Linux 8
• rocky-9: Rocky Linux 9
• rocky-10, rocky: Rocky Linux 10
• ubuntu-20.04: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)
• ubuntu-22.04: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
• ubuntu-24.04: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)
• ubuntu-24.10: Ubuntu 24.10 (Oracular Oriole)
• ubuntu-25.04: Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin)
• ubuntu-25.10: Ubuntu 25.10 (Questing Quokka)
• ubuntu-26.04, ubuntu-lts: Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon)
• ubuntu-26.10, ubuntu: Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray)
  • Same as default but comment lines are omitted from the YAML
• experimental/ubuntu-next: Ubuntu vNext
• experimental/gentoo: Gentoo
• experimental/opensuse-tumbleweed: openSUSE Tumbleweed
• experimental/debian-sid: Debian Sid
• experimental/fedora-rawhide: Fedora Rawhide

Non-Linux

NOTE: support for non-Linux OSes is experimental. For running macOS guests, you need a macOS host that is same or newer than the guest OS.

• macos-15: macOS 15 (Sequoia)
• macos-26: macOS 26 (Tahoe)
• macos-27, macos: macOS 27 (Golden Gate)
• freebsd-15, freebsd: FreeBSD 15
• experimental/freebsd-current: FreeBSD CURRENT
• windows-2025: Windows server 2025

Alternative package managers

• linuxbrew, homebrew-linux: Homebrew on Linux (Ubuntu)
• homebrew-macos: Homebrew on macOS

Containers

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

Container image builders

• buildkit: BuildKit

Container orchestration

• faasd: Faasd
• k0s: k0s Zero Friction Kubernetes
• k3s: Kubernetes via k3s
• k8s: ⭐Kubernetes via kubeadm
• experimental/rke2: RKE2
• experimental/u7s: Usernetes: Rootless Kubernetes

AI agents

See https://lima-vm.io/docs/examples/ai/.

Optional feature enablers

• experimental/vnc: use vnc display and xorg server
• experimental/alsa: use alsa and default audio device
• experimental/hcs: use HCS driver on Windows hosts

Lost+found

Details

• 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
• centos-stream-8: Remove in Lima v0.23.0, as CentOS Stream 8 reached EOL.
• deprecated/centos-7: Remove in Lima v0.23.0, as CentOS 7 reached EOL.
• experimental/vz: Merged into the default template in Lima v1.0. See also https://lima-vm.io/docs/config/vmtype/.
• experimental/armv7l: Merged into the default template in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --arch=armv7l template:default.
• experimental/riscv64: Merged into the default template in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --arch=riscv64 template:default.
• vmnet: Removed in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --network=lima:shared template:default instead. See also https://lima-vm.io/docs/config/network/.
• experimental/net-user-v2: Removed in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --network=lima:user-v2 template:default instead. See also https://lima-vm.io/docs/config/network/.
• experimental/9p: Removed in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --vm-type=qemu --mount-type=9p template:default instead. See also https://lima-vm.io/docs/config/mount/.
• experimental/virtiofs-linux: Removed in Lima v1.0. Use limactl create --mount-type=virtiofs-linux template:default instead. See also https://lima-vm.io/docs/config/mount/.

Tier

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

Other templates are tested only occasionally and manually.