FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Colima.

• General
  • How does Colima compare to Lima?
  • How does Colima compare to minikube, Kind, K3d?
  • Are Apple Silicon Macs supported?
  • Are older macOS versions supported?
• Configuration
  • Does Colima support autostart?
  • Can config files replace CLI flags?
  • Can I edit configurations?
• Docker
  • Can Colima run alongside Docker for Mac?
  • Where is the Docker socket located?
  • How do I change Docker contexts?
  • Cannot connect to Docker daemon error?
  • How do I customize Docker configuration?
  • Docker buildx plugin is missing?
  • Docker bind mount showing empty?
• Networking
  • The VM’s IP is unreachable?
  • Colima cannot access internet?
• Storage
  • How can disk space be recovered?
  • How can disk size be increased?
• Maintenance
  • How can Docker version be updated?
  • How do I delete container data?
• Troubleshooting
  • Colima shows “Broken” status?
  • Fatal error on startup (exit status 1)?
  • Issues after upgrading?
  • Docker Compose/Buildx showing runc errors?
• Advanced
  • Are Lima overrides supported?

General

How does Colima compare to Lima?

Colima is a higher level usage of Lima. It utilises Lima to provide Docker, Containerd, Kubernetes, and Incus runtimes with minimal configuration.

How does Colima compare to minikube, Kind, K3d?

Colima offers integrated Docker and Kubernetes on shared infrastructure. Alternatives like minikube, Kind, and K3d excel when you need multiple clusters or want to isolate container runtimes from Kubernetes.

Are Apple Silicon Macs supported?

Yes, Colima works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Are older macOS versions supported?

Colima requires macOS 13 or newer. Building from source on older versions may be possible but requires Lima and QEMU dependencies.

Configuration

Does Colima support autostart?

Yes. Since v0.5.6, foreground mode is available via --foreground. For Homebrew installations, use:

brew services start colima

Can config files replace CLI flags?

Yes, YAML configuration is supported from v0.4.0 onward. Config files are located at $HOME/.colima/default/colima.yaml. Use $COLIMA_HOME environment variable to customize the location.

Can I edit configurations?

Run colima start --edit for interactive editing. Set the $EDITOR environment variable or use the --editor flag to specify your preferred editor:

colima start --edit --editor code

Docker

Can Colima run alongside Docker for Mac?

Yes, via Docker contexts since v0.3.0. Colima automatically becomes the default context at startup. You can switch contexts as needed.

Where is the Docker socket located?

The socket is located at $HOME/.colima/default/docker.sock.

Use colima status to verify the socket path.

How do I change Docker contexts?

# List available contexts
docker context list

# Switch to a specific context
docker context use <context-name>

# Switch to Colima
docker context use colima

# Switch to default (Docker Desktop)
docker context use default

Cannot connect to Docker daemon error?

Try these approaches:

1. Configure application-specific socket paths in the application settings

2. Set DOCKER_HOST environment variable:

   export DOCKER_HOST="unix://$HOME/.colima/default/docker.sock"
   

3. Create a symlink to the default location:

   sudo ln -sf $HOME/.colima/default/docker.sock /var/run/docker.sock
   

How do I customize Docker configuration?

Use colima start --edit and add settings under the docker section for insecure registries, mirrors, and other Docker daemon options.

Docker buildx plugin is missing?

Install via Homebrew and link the plugin:

brew install docker-buildx
mkdir -p ~/.docker/cli-plugins
ln -sfn $(brew --prefix)/opt/docker-buildx/bin/docker-buildx ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx

Docker bind mount showing empty?

For volumes outside /Users/$USER, add mount entries to the configuration:

colima start --edit

Add your mount paths, then restart:

colima restart

Networking

The VM’s IP is unreachable?

Enable network address with:

colima start --network-address

Note: This requires root privilege and increases startup time.

Colima cannot access internet?

Try custom DNS servers:

colima start --dns 8.8.8.8 --dns 1.1.1.1

Verify connectivity:

colima ssh -- ping -c4 google.com

Storage

How can disk space be recovered?

• Automatic (v0.5.0+): Space is released automatically on startup
• Manual: Run colima ssh -- sudo fstrim -a

How can disk size be increased?

Edit the configuration to increase the disk value (available from v0.5.3+):

colima start --edit

Change the disk value and save. Changes apply automatically on next startup.

Maintenance

How can Docker version be updated?

From v0.7.6+, use the colima update command for runtime updates without a full Colima upgrade:

colima update

How do I delete container data?

From v0.9.0+:

# Delete instance but preserve container data
colima delete

# Delete instance and all container data
colima delete --data

Troubleshooting

Colima shows “Broken” status?

Reset the state with:

colima stop --force
colima start

Fatal error on startup (exit status 1)?

Enable debug output to diagnose:

colima start --verbose

Common causes:

• Missing virtualization support
• x86_64 Homebrew on Apple Silicon Macs

Issues after upgrading?

Test with a separate profile:

colima start debug

If successful, reset the default profile:

colima delete
colima start

Docker Compose/Buildx showing runc errors?

This was fixed in v0.6.0. If using an older version, try the --cgroups-v2 flag as a workaround.

Advanced

Are Lima overrides supported?

Advanced users may override Lima settings in the configuration file. However, custom images aren’t supported since Colima bundles required dependencies.