Where Does Lima Store VMs?
Lima stores each instance in a separate folder under the Lima home directory. That folder holds config with disks and SSH data for the VM.
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Default home is the dot lima folder in the user home directory. Override it with LIMA_HOME before creating instances.
Inside each instance folder are the config YAML with disk images and connection files. The SSH config there allows direct SSH access to the guest.
Where Lima stores this, by platform
/Users/<user>/.lima/<instance>/
<user> is the macOS account name. <instance> is the VM name and defaults to default. Holds lima.yaml with basedisk and diffdisk plus ssh.config for access.
/home/<user>/.lima/<instance>/
<user> is the Linux account name. <instance> is the VM name. Set LIMA_HOME to relocate the whole tree. Autostart uses LaunchAgent on macOS and systemd user service on Linux.
Frequently asked questions
How do I change the base directory?
Export LIMA_HOME to the new path before running limactl commands. Existing instances stay in the old folder until moved manually. Verify with limactl list after the change.
Which instance files are safe to inspect?
Read lima.yaml for VM definition and ssh.config for connection details. Avoid editing disk images while the instance is running. Use limactl stop before copying disks.
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