podman-desktop/website/docs/lima/creating-a-kubernetes-instance.md

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3	Lima instance for Kubernetes	Podman Desktop can assist you to create a custom Lima instance on Linux and macOS.	podman-desktop kubernetes onboarding linux macOS	podman desktop kubernetes lima onboarding linux macos

Creating a Lima instance for Kubernetes workloads with Podman Desktop

To use the Lima provider you need a Lima instance running a Linux machine.

In the future, Podman Desktop might be able to create Lima instances.

Consider creating a custom Lima instance to:

• Control the assigned resources: CPUs, memory, and disk size.
• Control which Kubernetes distribution (template) to install.

Prerequisites

• Install the lima CLI.

Procedure

1. In a terminal, create the Lima instance.

   • To create a single-node Kubernetes cluster running k3s:

     $ limactl start template://k3s
     

   • To create a single-node Kubernetes cluster running k8s:

     $ limactl start template://k8s
     

   • To select the number of CPUs, the memory, and the disk size, add the options to the limactl start command:

     --cpus=4 --memory=4 --disk=100
     

2. Wait for the instance to start, and restart the Lima extension.

   • Go to Settings > Preferences > Extension: Lima to change the instance name and type.

     • k3s

       • Type: kubernetes
       • Name: k3s

     • k8s

       • Type: kubernetes
       • Name: k8s

   • Go to Settings > Extensions > Lima to disable or enable the extension after changes.

Verification

1. When the installation is done, the location of the KUBECONFIG file is printed. See Configuring access to a Kubernetes cluster.

   • Go to Settings > Preferences > Kubernetes to set the path of the file.

2. Use the kubectl.lima wrapper script to connect to the cluster:

   $ kubectl.lima version