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

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

Creating a Lima instance for container 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.
• Use the rootful connection by default, for example to run Kind.

Prerequisites

• Install the lima CLI.

Procedure

1. In a terminal, create the Lima instance.

   • To create a Lima instance with rootless Podman, use the podman template:

     $ limactl start --name=podman template://podman
     

   • To create a Lima instance with rootful Podman, use the podman-rootful template:

     $ limactl start --name=podman template://podman-rootful
     

   • To create an Lima instance with rootless Docker, use the docker template:

     $ limactl start --name=docker template://docker
     

   • To create an Lima instance with rootful Docker, use the docker-rootful template:

     $ limactl start --name=docker template://docker-rootful
     

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

     --cpus=2 --memory=2 --disk=50
     

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.

     • Podman (default)

       • Type: podman
       • Name: podman

     • Docker

       • Type: docker
       • Name: docker

   • Go to Settings > Preferences > Extension: Lima to configure a custom socket name.

     • The default socket name is:

       • podman.sock for Podman

       • docker.sock for Docker

     • To use a custom socket name:

       

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

Verification

• To verify the connection to a running "podman" instance:

  $ podman.lima version
  

• To verify the connection to a running "docker" instance:

  $ docker.lima version