_index.md

---

title: Usage
weight: 2

---

Starting a Linux instance

Run limactl start <INSTANCE> to create and start the first instance. The <INSTANCE> name defaults to "default".

$ limactl start
? Creating an instance "default"  [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> Proceed with the current configuration
  Open an editor to review or modify the current configuration
  Choose another template (docker, podman, archlinux, fedora, ...)
  Exit
...
INFO[0029] READY. Run `lima` to open the shell.

Choose Proceed with the current configuration, and wait until "READY" to be printed on the host terminal.

For automation, --tty=false flag can be used for disabling the interactive user interface.

Customization

To create an instance "default" from a template "docker":

limactl create --name=default template://docker
limactl start default

See also the command reference:

• limactl create

• limactl start

• limactl edit

Executing Linux commands

Run limactl shell <INSTANCE> <COMMAND> to launch <COMMAND> on the VM:

limactl shell default uname -a

See also the command reference:

• limactl shell

For the "default" instance, this command can be shortened as lima <COMMAND>.

lima uname -a

The lima command also accepts the instance name as the environment variable $LIMA_INSTANCE.

SSH can be used too:

$ limactl ls --format='{{.SSHConfigFile}}' default
/Users/example/.lima/default/ssh.config

$ ssh -F /Users/example/.lima/default/ssh.config lima-default

Using SSH without the -F flag

To connect directly without specifying the config file, add this to your ~/.ssh/config:

Include ~/.lima/*/ssh.config

Then you can connect directly:

ssh lima-default

Shell completion

• To enable bash completion, add source <(limactl completion bash) to ~/.bash_profile.

• To enable zsh completion, see limactl completion zsh --help