Installation

This guide covers installation methods for all supported platforms.

macOS 

brew install colima

To install with Docker client:

brew install colima docker

MacPorts 

sudo port install colima

Manual Installation

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases:

# For Intel Macs
curl -LO https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/latest/download/colima-Darwin-x86_64
sudo install colima-Darwin-x86_64 /usr/local/bin/colima

# For Apple Silicon Macs
curl -LO https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/latest/download/colima-Darwin-arm64
sudo install colima-Darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/colima

Linux 

brew install colima

To install with Docker client:

brew install colima docker

Nix 

nix-env -i colima

Manual Installation

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases:

# For x86_64
curl -LO https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/latest/download/colima-Linux-x86_64
sudo install colima-Linux-x86_64 /usr/local/bin/colima

# For ARM64
curl -LO https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/latest/download/colima-Linux-arm64
sudo install colima-Linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/colima

Development Version

To install the latest development version (bleeding edge) with the newest features and fixes:

Homebrew HEAD 

brew install --HEAD colima

Build from Source

Requires Go 1.22 or later:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/abiosoft/colima.git
cd colima

# Build and install
make
sudo make install

Note: Development versions may contain unstable features. Use stable releases for production environments.

Dependencies

Docker CLI

If you want to use the Docker runtime, install the Docker CLI:

brew install docker

Docker Compose Plugin

To use docker compose commands:

brew install docker-compose

Create the CLI plugins directory and symlink the plugin:

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

Docker Buildx Plugin

To use docker buildx for advanced builds:

brew install docker-buildx

Symlink the plugin:

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

All-in-One Docker Setup

Install Docker with all plugins at once:

brew install docker docker-compose docker-buildx

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

Containerd/nerdctl

For containerd runtime, nerdctl is included with Colima. Use colima nerdctl -- <command> directly, or install it for direct use:

colima nerdctl install

kubectl

For Kubernetes support:

brew install kubectl

Incus Client

For Incus runtime, install the Incus client:

brew install incus

Verifying Installation

After installation, verify Colima is available:

colima version

Start Colima:

colima start

Check the status:

colima status

Updating Colima

Homebrew 

brew upgrade colima

MacPorts 

sudo port selfupdate
sudo port upgrade colima

Manual Update

Download and install the latest release as shown in the manual installation section.

Uninstalling

Homebrew 

# Stop and delete all Colima instances
colima delete

# Uninstall
brew uninstall colima

MacPorts 

colima delete
sudo port uninstall colima

Manual 

colima delete
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/colima

Troubleshooting

Permission Issues

If you encounter permission errors on Linux, ensure your user has access to the KVM device:

sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER

Log out and back in for changes to take effect.

VM Not Starting

If the VM fails to start, try resetting:

colima delete
colima start

For more troubleshooting tips, see the GitHub Issues.