lima-vm/lima · error

failed to delete instance %#q: %w

Error message

failed to delete instance %#q: %w

What it means

`limactl delete` failed while removing the instance via instance.Delete (which stops the VM if needed, unmounts, and removes the instance directory). The per-instance store error is wrapped with the instance name. Any sub-step — stopping the hostagent/guestagent, removing mounts, deleting the directory — can be the root cause surfaced in %w.

Source

Thrown at cmd/limactl/delete.go:55

	ctx := cmd.Context()
	force, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("force")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	var errs []error
	for _, instName := range args {
		inst, err := store.Inspect(ctx, instName)
		if err != nil {
			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
				if err := warnAboutMissingInstance(instName); err != nil {
					errs = append(errs, err)
				}
				continue
			}
			return err
		}
		if err := instance.Delete(ctx, inst, force); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete instance %#q: %w", instName, err)
		}
		if registered, err := autostart.IsRegistered(ctx, inst); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, autostart.ErrNotSupported) {
			logrus.WithError(err).Warnf("Failed to check if the autostart entry for instance %#q is registered", instName)
		} else if registered {
			if err := autostart.UnregisterFromStartAtLogin(ctx, inst); err != nil {
				logrus.WithError(err).Warnf("Failed to unregister the autostart entry for instance %#q", instName)
			} else {
				logrus.Infof("The autostart entry for instance %#q has been unregistered", instName)
			}
		}
		logrus.Infof("Deleted %#q (%#q)", instName, inst.Dir)
	}
	if err := reconcile.Reconcile(ctx, ""); err != nil {
		errs = append(errs, err)
	}
	return errors.Join(errs...)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Stop the instance first: `limactl stop <inst>`, then delete again
2. Use `limactl delete --force <inst>` to skip graceful stop
3. Check for lingering lima processes (hostagent/qemu/vz) holding files in the instance dir and kill them
4. Fix permissions on ~/.lima/instances/<inst> (chown back to the current user)
5. If only the directory remains and lima.yaml is unreadable, remove the directory manually per the missing-instance guidance

Example fix

// before
$ limactl delete myvm
// failed to delete instance "myvm": instance is running
// after
$ limactl stop myvm && limactl delete myvm
// or
$ limactl delete --force myvm

const inst = await inspectInstance(name)
if (inst.status === 'Running' && !force) {
  await stopInstance(name)
}

function isRunning(inst: {status?: string}): boolean {
  return inst?.status === 'Running'
}

try {
  await deleteInstance(name)
} catch (err) {
  if (/running|in use/i.test(err.message)) {
    await deleteInstance(name, { force: true })
  } else throw err
}

When it happens

Trigger: `limactl delete <inst>` where instance.Delete errors: VM still running and force not passed, files inside the instance dir held open/locked, permission problems on ${LIMA_HOME}/instances/<name>, or partially corrupted instance state.

Common situations: Deleting a running instance without --force; another limactl process concurrently using the instance; NFS/network home directories with stale locks; root-created instances later managed by an unprivileged user.

Related errors

• instance %#q not found
• instance %#q directory %#q exists but its %#q could not be r
• instance %q not found
• failed to unregister instance %#q from start at login: %w
• disk %#q already exists (%#q)

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/edb2be6525409b47. Report an issue: GitHub.