lima-vm/lima · error

the file argument can be specified only for --check mode

Error message

the file argument can be specified only for --check mode

What it means

On macOS, `limactl sudoers` without --check expects zero positional arguments: it prints the sudoers content to stdout. Passing exactly one argument (a file path) outside --check mode is rejected because writing/checking a specific file only makes sense in verification mode.

Source

Thrown at cmd/limactl/sudoers_darwin.go:40

		return err
	}
	// Make sure the current network configuration is secure
	if err := nwCfg.Validate(); err != nil {
		logrus.Infof("Please check %s for more information.", socketVMNetURL)
		return err
	}
	check, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("check")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if check {
		return verifySudoAccess(ctx, nwCfg, args, cmd.OutOrStdout())
	}
	switch len(args) {
	case 0:
		// NOP
	case 1:
		return errors.New("the file argument can be specified only for --check mode")
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("unexpected arguments %v", args)
	}
	sudoers, err := networks.Sudoers()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	fmt.Fprint(cmd.OutOrStdout(), sudoers)
	return nil
}

func verifySudoAccess(ctx context.Context, nwCfg networks.Config, args []string, stdout io.Writer) error {
	var file string
	switch len(args) {
	case 0:
		file = nwCfg.Paths.Sudoers
		if file == "" {
			cfgFile, _ := networks.ConfigFile()

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Add --check to verify an existing file: `limactl sudoers --check /etc/sudoers.d/lima`
2. Drop the argument to print the sudoers rules: `limactl sudoers > /etc/sudoers.d/lima`
3. Use more than one argument never; that raises the separate 'unexpected arguments' error

Example fix

// before
limactl sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/lima
// after
sudo limactl sudoers > /etc/sudoers.d/lima
# or, to verify:
limactl sudoers --check /etc/sudoers.d/lima

[[ $# -eq 0 || $1 == --check ]] || { echo 'file argument requires --check'; exit 2; }

if ! out=$(limactl sudoers 2>&1); then echo "$out"; fi

When it happens

Trigger: `limactl sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/lima` (a single file argument) without the --check flag.

Common situations: Users copying older docs or Linux instructions that took a file path; confusing `limactl sudoers <file>` install usage with the --check verification usage.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Unknown argument", "Invalid value", and "must be one of": invalid CLI argument errors explained — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• unexpected arguments %v
• can check only a single sudoers file
• no sudoers file defined in %#q
• sudoers command is only supported on macOS right now
• limactl is running under rosetta, please reinstall lima with

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d26c46a4bacc8f45. Report an issue: GitHub.