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 instance.

colima delete [profile] [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
`--data`	Delete instance and all associated data (images, volumes)
`--force`	Force delete without confirmation

By default, colima delete removes the VM but preserves container data (images, volumes). Use --data for a complete teardown.

Examples

# Delete default profile (preserves container data)
colima delete

# Delete and remove all data
colima delete --data

# Force delete without confirmation
colima delete --force

# Delete specific profile
colima delete dev

# Complete teardown of a specific profile
colima delete dev --data --force

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. See the Profiles documentation for complete details on creating, managing, and deleting instances.

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"