lima-vm/lima · error

failed to run load disk %#q: %w

Error message

failed to run load disk %#q: %w

What it means

attachDisks looks up each additional disk by name (and FSType) in Lima's disk store via store.InspectDisk; if the lookup fails (disk not found, store corrupted, wrong FSType), the error is wrapped with this message. It is the first step of attaching an additional disk, so it fires before any VM configuration is touched.

Source

Thrown at pkg/driver/vz/vm_darwin.go:588

		}
		isoAttachment, err := vz.NewDiskImageStorageDeviceAttachment(isoPath, true)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		isoDev, err := vz.NewUSBMassStorageDeviceConfiguration(isoAttachment)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		configurations = append(configurations, isoDev)
	}

	diskUtil := proxyimgutil.NewDiskUtil(ctx)

	for _, d := range inst.Config.AdditionalDisks {
		diskName := d.Name
		disk, err := store.InspectDisk(diskName, d.FSType)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to run load disk %#q: %w", diskName, err)
		}

		logrus.Infof("Mounting disk %#q on %#q", diskName, disk.MountPoint)
		if err = disk.LockForInstance(inst.Dir); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to attach disk %#q: %w", diskName, err)
		}
		extraDiskPath := filepath.Join(disk.Dir, filenames.DataDisk)
		// ConvertToRaw is a NOP if no conversion is needed
		logrus.Debugf("Converting extra disk %#q to a raw disk (if it is not a raw)", extraDiskPath)

		if err = diskUtil.Convert(ctx, raw.Type, extraDiskPath, extraDiskPath, nil, true); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to convert extra disk %#q to a raw disk: %w", extraDiskPath, err)
		}
		extraDiskPathAttachment, err := vz.NewDiskImageStorageDeviceAttachmentWithCacheAndSync(extraDiskPath, false, diskImageCachingMode, vz.DiskImageSynchronizationModeFsync)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create disk attachment for extra disk %#q: %w", extraDiskPath, err)
		}
		extraDisk, err := vz.NewVirtioBlockDeviceConfiguration(extraDiskPathAttachment)

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Create the missing disk: `limactl disk create <name> --size <size>` (with matching --fs)
2. Fix the disk name/FSType in lima.yaml to match an existing disk (`limactl disk list`)
3. Remove the additionalDisks entry from the instance config

Example fix

// before
additionalDisks: ["missing-disk"]
// after
$ limactl disk create missing-disk --size 10G  # then keep the config, or remove the entry

out, _ := exec.Command("limactl", "disk", "list").Output()
if !strings.Contains(string(out), diskName) {
    return fmt.Errorf("disk %q does not exist; run: limactl disk create %s --size 10G", diskName, diskName)
}

if err := startInstance(cfg); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to run load disk") {
        // create the disk or fix the config entry
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: lima.yaml lists an additionalDisk whose name has no matching record in ${LIMA_HOME}/_disks (never created via `limactl disk create`, or deleted), or FSType mismatch causes InspectDisk to error.

Common situations: Template referencing a disk name that was never created; disk directory removed manually or after `limactl delete --force`; typo in disk name; sharing a config between machines without recreating disks.

Related errors

• failed to attach disk %#q: %w
• failed to convert extra disk %#q to a raw disk: %w
• disk format %#q not supported, use `qcow2` or `raw` instead
• disk %#q already exists (%#q)
• failed to remove a directory %#q: %w

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2f1717d3fafb715b. Report an issue: GitHub.