Lima

It creates lightweight Linux virtual machines that automatically share files and forward ports between the host and guest, providing a workflow similar to WSL2. The tool is primarily aimed at developers who need a local Linux environment on macOS, but it also runs on Linux and NetBSD hosts and supports a variety of container engines such as containerd, Docker, Podman, and Kubernetes.

Typical usage involves installing the package via Homebrew, starting a VM with a single command, and then executing Linux commands or container workloads directly. The project includes a command‑line interface for managing VMs and configuring container runtimes, and it offers templates for common setups like Docker and Kubernetes.

Lima is an open‑source, stable project incubated by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. It is used by several container‑focused tools (e.g., Rancher Desktop, Colima, Finch) and has optional GUI and menu‑bar integrations. Contributions follow a Developer Certificate of Origin process, and community interaction occurs through GitHub Discussions, CNCF Slack, and regular Zoom meetings.