templates/README.md
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
⭐ = "Tier 1"
☆ = "Tier 2"
default (⭐Ubuntu, with containerd/nerdctl)almalinux-8: AlmaLinux 8almalinux-9: AlmaLinux 9almalinux-10, almalinux: AlmaLinux 10almalinux-kitten-10, almalinux-kitten: AlmaLinux Kitten 10alpine: ☆Alpine Linuxalpine-iso: ☆Alpine Linux (ISO9660 image). Compatible with the alpine template used in Lima prior to v1.0.archlinux: ☆Arch Linuxcentos-stream-9, centos-stream: CentOS Stream 9centos-stream-10: CentOS Stream 10debian-11: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (Bullseye)debian-12: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (Bookworm)debian-13, debian: ⭐Debian GNU/Linux 13 (Trixie)fedora-41: Fedora 41fedora-42: Fedora 42fedora-43, fedora: ⭐Fedora 43opensuse-leap-15: openSUSE Leap 15opensuse-leap-16, opensuse-leap, opensuse: ⭐openSUSE Leap 16oraclelinux-8: Oracle Linux 8oraclelinux-9: Oracle Linux 9oraclelinux-10, oraclelinux: Oracle Linux 10rocky-8: Rocky Linux 8rocky-9: Rocky Linux 9rocky-10, rocky: Rocky Linux 10ubuntu-20.04: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)ubuntu-22.04: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)ubuntu-24.04, ubuntu-lts: 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: Ubuntu 25.10 (Questing Quokka)
default but comment lines are omitted from the YAMLexperimental/ubuntu-next: Ubuntu vNextexperimental/gentoo: Gentooexperimental/opensuse-tumbleweed: openSUSE Tumbleweedexperimental/debian-sid: Debian Sidexperimental/fedora-rawhide: Fedora RawhideNOTE: support for non-Linux OSes is experimental.
macos-15: macOS 15 (Sequoia)macos-26, macos: macOS 26 (Tahoe)freebsd-15, freebsd: FreeBSD 15experimental/freebsd-current: FreeBSD CURRENTlinuxbrew, homebrew-linux: Homebrew on Linux (Ubuntu)homebrew-macos: Homebrew on macOSapptainer: Apptainerapptainer-rootful: Apptainer (rootful)docker: ⭐Dockerdocker-rootful: Docker (rootful)podman: Podmanpodman-rootful: Podman (rootful)lxdbuildkit: BuildKitfaasd: Faasdk0s: k0s Zero Friction Kubernetesk3s: Kubernetes via k3sk8s: ⭐Kubernetes via kubeadmexperimental/rke2: RKE2experimental/u7s: Usernetes: Rootless KubernetesSee https://lima-vm.io/docs/examples/ai/.
experimental/vnc: use vnc display and xorg serverexperimental/alsa: use alsa and default audio devicecentos: 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 softwarecentos-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/.Other templates are tested only occasionally and manually.