Installation

Supported host OS:

  • macOS (the latest version is recommended)
  • Linux
  • NetBSD (untested)
  • DragonFlyBSD (untested)
  • Windows (untested)

Prerequisite:

  • QEMU (Required, only if QEMU driver is used)
brew install lima

Homebrew formula is available here. Supports macOS and Linux.

sudo port install lima

Port: https://ports.macports.org/port/lima/

nix-env -i lima

Nix file: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/applications/virtualization/lima/default.nix

Download the binary archive of Lima from https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases, and extract it under /usr/local (or somewhere else).

VERSION=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/lima-vm/lima/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
curl -fsSL "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases/download/${VERSION}/lima-${VERSION:1}-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m).tar.gz" | tar Cxzvm /usr/local

# For Lima v1.1 onward
curl -fsSL "https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases/download/${VERSION}/lima-additional-guestagents-${VERSION:1}-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m).tar.gz" | tar Cxzvm /usr/local
Source Installation

Last modified May 2, 2025: Clean up codes for QEMU < 7.0 (7046952)