Commands

Complete reference for all Colima commands.

colima start

Start the Colima VM.

colima start [profile] [flags]

Resource Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--cpus`	`-c`	Number of CPUs	2
`--memory`	`-m`	Memory in GiB	2
`--disk`	`-d`	Disk size in GiB	100
`--root-disk`		Root filesystem disk size in GiB	20

Runtime Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--runtime`	`-r`	Container runtime (docker, containerd, incus)	docker
`--activate`		Set as active Docker/Kubernetes/Incus context on startup	true

VM Configuration Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--arch`	`-a`	Architecture (aarch64, x86_64)	host
`--vm-type`	`-t`	Virtual machine type (qemu, vz, krunkit)	qemu
`--cpu-type`		CPU type (qemu-system-specific options)
`--hostname`		Custom VM hostname
`--disk-image`	`-i`	Path to custom disk image file
`--vz-rosetta`		Enable Rosetta for amd64 emulation (macOS ARM only)	false
`--nested-virtualization`	`-z`	Enable nested virtualization (macOS only)	false
`--binfmt`		Use binfmt for foreign architecture emulation	true
`--foreground`	`-f`	Keep Colima running in foreground	false

Network Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--network-address`	Assign reachable IP address to VM (macOS only)	false
`--network-host-addresses`	Enable port forwarding to specific host IPs	false
`--network-mode`	Network mode: shared, bridged (macOS only)	shared
`--network-interface`	Host interface for bridged mode (macOS only)	en0
`--network-preferred-route`	Use assigned IP as preferred route (macOS only)	false
`--gateway-address`	Gateway address for VM network	192.168.5.2
`--port-forwarder`	Port forwarder mechanism (ssh, grpc)	ssh

Mount Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--mount`	`-V`	Directories to mount (suffix `:w` for writable)
`--mount-type`		Volume driver (sshfs, 9p, virtiofs)	sshfs
`--mount-inotify`		Propagate inotify file events to VM	true

Kubernetes Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--kubernetes`	`-k`	Start with Kubernetes	false
`--kubernetes-version`		Kubernetes (k3s) version	k3s default
`--k3s-arg`		Additional k3s arguments	–disable=traefik
`--k3s-listen-port`		k3s server listen port	0 (random)

SSH Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--ssh-agent`	`-s`	Forward SSH agent to VM	false
`--ssh-config`		Generate SSH config in ~/.ssh/config	true
`--ssh-port`		SSH server port	0 (random)

DNS Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--dns`	`-n`	DNS resolvers for VM
`--dns-host`		Custom DNS host mappings (host=IP)

Configuration Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--edit`	`-e`	Edit configuration file before starting	false
`--editor`		Editor application (vim, nano, code, etc.)
`--template`		Use template file for initial configuration	true
`--save-config`		Persist config file with specified flags	env-dependent
`--env`		Environment variables for VM (key=value)

Examples

# Basic start
colima start

# Custom resources
colima start --cpus 4 --memory 8 --disk 100

# With Kubernetes
colima start --kubernetes

# Using containerd runtime
colima start --runtime containerd

# Using Incus runtime
colima start --runtime incus

# VZ framework on macOS 13+ with virtiofs mounts
colima start --vm-type vz --mount-type virtiofs

# Enable Rosetta for x86_64 emulation on Apple Silicon
colima start --vm-type vz --vz-rosetta

# Mount directories (read-only and writable)
colima start --mount ~/projects:w --mount ~/data

# Custom DNS servers
colima start --dns 8.8.8.8 --dns 8.8.4.4

# With SSH agent forwarding
colima start --ssh-agent

# Edit configuration before starting
colima start --edit

# Named profile with custom resources
colima start dev --cpus 4 --memory 8

# Enable network address (macOS)
colima start --network-address

colima stop

Stop the Colima VM.

colima stop [profile] [flags]

Examples

# Stop default profile
colima stop

# Stop specific profile
colima stop dev

colima restart

Restart the Colima VM.

colima restart [profile] [flags]

Examples

# Restart default profile
colima restart

# Restart specific profile
colima restart dev

colima delete

Delete the Colima VM and all its data.

colima delete [profile] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`--force`	Force delete without confirmation

Examples

# Delete default profile
colima delete

# Force delete
colima delete --force

# Delete specific profile
colima delete dev

colima status

Show the status of the Colima VM.

colima status [profile] [flags]

Example Output

INFO[0000] colima is running using QEMU
INFO[0000] arch: aarch64
INFO[0000] runtime: docker
INFO[0000] mountType: sshfs
INFO[0000] socket: unix:///Users/user/.colima/default/docker.sock

colima list

List all Colima profiles.

colima list [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`--json`	Output in JSON format

Example Output

PROFILE    STATUS     ARCH       CPUS    MEMORY    DISK     RUNTIME
default    Running    aarch64    4       8GiB      100GiB   docker
dev        Stopped    aarch64    2       4GiB      60GiB    docker
test       Running    x86_64     2       4GiB      60GiB    containerd

colima ssh

SSH into the Colima VM.

colima ssh [profile] [flags] [-- command]

Examples

# Interactive SSH session
colima ssh

# Run a command
colima ssh -- ls -la

# Run command in specific profile
colima ssh dev -- docker ps

colima ssh-config

Show SSH configuration for the Colima VM.

colima ssh-config [profile] [flags]

Example Output

Host colima
  HostName 127.0.0.1
  User user
  Port 60022
  IdentityFile /Users/user/.colima/_lima/_config/user
  StrictHostKeyChecking no
  UserKnownHostsFile /dev/null

colima kubernetes

Manage Kubernetes in a running Colima instance.

Start Kubernetes

colima kubernetes start [profile]

Stop Kubernetes

colima kubernetes stop [profile]

Reset Kubernetes

colima kubernetes reset [profile]

Examples

# Start Kubernetes on default profile
colima kubernetes start

# Stop Kubernetes on specific profile
colima kubernetes stop dev

# Reset Kubernetes cluster
colima kubernetes reset

colima nerdctl

Run nerdctl commands (when using containerd runtime). No separate nerdctl installation required.

colima nerdctl [profile] -- [command]

Examples

colima nerdctl -- ps
colima nerdctl -- images
colima nerdctl -- run -it alpine
colima nerdctl -- compose up -d

colima nerdctl install

Install nerdctl for direct use without the colima nerdctl -- prefix:

# Install for default profile
colima nerdctl install

# Install for a custom profile
colima nerdctl install -p myprofile

After installation, you can use nerdctl directly:

nerdctl run hello-world
nerdctl ps

colima template

Generate a configuration template.

colima template [flags]

This outputs a YAML template with all available configuration options that can be used with --edit.

colima update

Update Colima to the latest version.

colima update [flags]

colima prune

Prune unused data to free up disk space.

colima prune [profile] [flags]

colima version

Show Colima version information.

colima version

Example Output

colima version 0.8.0

colima completion

Generate shell completion scripts.

colima completion [shell]

Supported shells: bash, zsh, fish, powershell

Examples

# Bash
colima completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/colima

# Zsh
colima completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_colima"

# Fish
colima completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/colima.fish

Environment Variables

COLIMA_HOME

Override the Colima home directory:

export COLIMA_HOME=/custom/path

Default: ~/.colima

Tips and Tricks

Docker Context

Colima automatically creates a Docker context. Switch between contexts:

# List contexts
docker context ls

# Use Colima context
docker context use colima

# Use default context
docker context use default

Multiple Profiles

Use profiles for different environments:

# Development (more resources)
colima start dev --cpus 4 --memory 8

# Testing (with Kubernetes)
colima start k8s --kubernetes

# CI (minimal resources)
colima start ci --cpus 2 --memory 2

# List all profiles
colima list

Aliases

Add useful aliases to your shell:

# Start with default config
alias colima-up="colima start --cpus 4 --memory 8"

# Quick Kubernetes cluster
alias colima-k8s="colima start --kubernetes --cpus 4 --memory 8"

# VZ mode with virtiofs (macOS 13+)
alias colima-vz="colima start --vm-type vz --mount-type virtiofs"