minikube will use the VM instance, which provides the Docker runtime to start. Now that you have Colima installed on your machine, you will create a virtual machine instance with Colima.

Then ensure you get an output similar to the image below. Then symlink docker-compose into that folder with: $ ln -sfn $(brew -prefix)/opt/docker-compose/bin/docker-compose ~/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose To do that, first create a folder in your home directory to hold Docker CLI plugins: $ mkdir -p ~/.docker/cli-plugins $ brew install docker docker-composeĪfter the above installation, configure docker-compose as a Docker plugin so you can use the docker compose command instead of the legacy docker-compose script. To check your installation, run: $ colimaĪnd ensure you get a help message similar to the image below:Īfter Colima installs, install Docker and Docker Compose. There are other installation options check here to see them. The fastest way to install Colima is through Homebrew. Installing Colima to run Docker containers on macOSĪs minikube (with Docker driver) will create a docker container, you must install Docker’s CLI alongside Colima. The name Colima means containers in Lima - Linux virtual machines on macOS.Īside from the minimal setup, Colima offers the following:Īs this article is to run minikube, you will use Colima with Docker runtime without enabling its Kubernetes feature. What is Colima?Ĭolima is an open-source project that provides container runtimes on macOS with minimal setup. You can replace Docker Desktop with Colima reducing the process to run minikube to $ colima start and then $ minikube start.

And this is because minikube needs a container or virtual machine manager to run, which ideally, Docker desktop (VM + container), hyperKit, etc., would provide.īut since you are having issues or don’t want to use Docker Desktop and can’t use other hypervisors on the M1 chip. With your current M1 minikube installation, if you run just $ minikube start, it will fail (see image below).

How to run Minikube without Docker Desktop It’s important to note that Colima from v0.3.0 upwards can run alongside Docker Desktop. To follow along with this article, you should have: This article will teach you how to run minikube on an Apple M1 chip without Docker Desktop using Colima.

And oh, did I see so many! But though they were alternatives, most didn’t work seamlessly on the M1 chip until I found Colima. I then started searching for an alternative to Docker Desktop. I spent hours trying to resolve it, combed through GitHub issues and stackoverflow, and even downloaded older versions of Docker Desktop but to no avail. Weeks ago, while using Docker Desktop, it suddenly got stuck in a start-stop loop. 4 min read Photo by Milad Fakurian / Unsplashĭocker Desktop failed me, and at the time (13th July 2022) of writing this article, Hyperkit, VirtualBox, and other hypervisors specified here don’t work on the Apple M1 chip.

Docker m1 qemu