{"record":{"id":"68211b4747a1b294","repo":"lima-vm/lima","slug":"vz-driver-requires-macos-13-or-higher-to-run","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"VZ driver requires macOS 13 or higher to run","messagePattern":"VZ driver requires macOS 13 or higher to run","errorType":"validation","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"pkg/driver/vz/vz_driver_darwin.go","lineNumber":269,"sourceCode":"\t}\n\n\treturn scripts, nil\n}\n\nfunc (l *LimaVzDriver) Validate(_ context.Context) error {\n\treturn validateConfig(l.Instance.Config)\n}\n\nfunc validateConfig(cfg *limatype.LimaYAML) error {\n\tif cfg == nil {\n\t\treturn errors.New(\"configuration is nil\")\n\t}\n\tmacOSProductVersion, err := osutil.ProductVersion()\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn err\n\t}\n\tif macOSProductVersion.LessThan(*semver.New(\"13.0.0\")) {\n\t\treturn errors.New(\"VZ driver requires macOS 13 or higher to run\")\n\t}\n\tif runtime.GOARCH == \"amd64\" && macOSProductVersion.LessThan(*semver.New(\"15.5.0\")) {\n\t\tlogrus.Warnf(\"vmType %s: On Intel Mac, macOS 15.5 or later is required to run Linux 6.12 or later. \"+\n\t\t\t\"Update macOS, or change vmType to `qemu` if the VM does not start up. (https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/issues/3334)\",\n\t\t\t*cfg.VMType)\n\t}\n\tif cfg.MountType != nil && *cfg.MountType == limatype.NINEP {\n\t\treturn fmt.Errorf(\"field `mountType` must be %#q or %#q for VZ driver , got %#q\", limatype.REVSSHFS, limatype.VIRTIOFS, *cfg.MountType)\n\t}\n\tif cfg.TPM != nil && *cfg.TPM {\n\t\treturn errors.New(\"field `tpm` is not supported on VZ driver\")\n\t}\n\tif cfg.OS != nil && *cfg.OS == limatype.WINDOWS {\n\t\treturn errors.New(\"currently Windows guest OS is only supported on QEMU\")\n\t}\n\tif *cfg.Firmware.LegacyBIOS {\n\t\tlogrus.Warnf(\"vmType %s: ignoring `firmware.legacyBIOS`\", *cfg.VMType)\n\t}","sourceCodeStart":251,"sourceCodeEnd":287,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/blob/dd909d0973cd84fa35f9e1693181b4585ea616c1/pkg/driver/vz/vz_driver_darwin.go#L251-L287","documentation":"The VZ driver requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or higher because the Virtualization.framework APIs it uses were introduced in macOS 13. validateConfig checks osutil.ProductVersion() and throws this error on older hosts.","triggerScenarios":"Running `limactl start` with vmType \"vz\" on a macOS host at version < 13.0.0.","commonSituations":"Using Lima on macOS 12 Monterey or older; CI machines pinned to older macOS images; forgetting to switch vmType to \"qemu\" on legacy hosts.","solutions":["Upgrade the host to macOS 13 or later","Change vmType to \"qemu\" in the instance config for older hosts","Use a Lima version that still supports the qemu driver on old macOS (or run Lima in a newer macOS VM/CI runner)"],"exampleFix":"// before (lima.yaml)\nvmType: vz\n// after\nvmType: qemu","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"v, err := osutil.ProductVersion()\nif err != nil { return err }\nif v.LessThan(*semver.New(\"13.0.0\")) {\n    // use vmType: qemu instead of vz\n}","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"if err := start(); err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"requires macOS 13\") {\n    // switch vmType to qemu and retry\n}","preventionTips":["Check macOS version before choosing vmType: vz","Default to \"qemu\" on macOS 12 and older","Pin CI runners to macOS 13+ when using the VZ driver"],"tags":["version-requirement","vz","macos"],"backgroundTag":"os-version-too-old","analyzedSha":"dd909d0973cd84fa35f9e1693181b4585ea616c1","analyzedAt":"2026-09-01T14:24:59.842Z","contentChangedAt":null,"schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-08T10:18:20.063Z"}