lima-vm/lima · error

unknown daemon type %#q

Error message

unknown daemon type %#q

What it means

Config.DaemonPath returns the executable path configured for a network daemon (currently only socket_vmnet). Any daemon name other than the known SocketVMNet constant falls into the default case and yields 'unknown daemon type %#q'. It is a lookup guard for the supported daemon set.

Source

Thrown at pkg/networks/commands.go:45

	}
	return fmt.Errorf("network %#q is not defined", name)
}

// Usernet returns true if the mode of given network is ModeUserV2.
func (c *Config) Usernet(name string) (bool, error) {
	if nw, ok := c.Networks[name]; ok {
		return nw.Mode == ModeUserV2, nil
	}
	return false, fmt.Errorf("network %#q is not defined", name)
}

// DaemonPath returns the daemon path.
func (c *Config) DaemonPath(daemon string) (string, error) {
	switch daemon {
	case SocketVMNet:
		return c.Paths.SocketVMNet, nil
	default:
		return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown daemon type %#q", daemon)
	}
}

// IsDaemonInstalled checks whether the daemon is installed.
func (c *Config) IsDaemonInstalled(daemon string) (bool, error) {
	p, err := c.DaemonPath(daemon)
	if err != nil {
		return false, err
	}
	if p == "" {
		return false, nil
	}
	if _, err := exec.LookPath(p); err != nil {
		if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
			return false, nil
		}
		return false, err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Pass the networks.SocketVMNet constant as the daemon argument
2. Remove/replace legacy daemon references (vde_vmnet is no longer supported)
3. Extend the switch in DaemonPath if you genuinely maintain a fork adding new daemons

Example fix

// before
path, err := cfg.DaemonPath("vde_vmnet")
// after
path, err := cfg.DaemonPath(networks.SocketVMNet)

if daemon != networks.SocketVMNet {
    return fmt.Errorf("unsupported daemon %q; only socket_vmnet is supported", daemon)
}

func isSupportedDaemon(d string) bool { return d == networks.SocketVMNet }

p, err := cfg.DaemonPath(daemon)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("daemon lookup failed: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DaemonPath (directly or via IsDaemonInstalled/User) with a string other than networks.SocketVMNet, e.g. "vde_vmnet" (legacy) or a typo like "socketvmnet".

Common situations: Code copied from older Lima versions that supported vde_vmnet; hand-written integration scripts passing a display name instead of the constant; plugins extending daemon support incorrectly.

Related errors

• daemon %#q (path=%#q) is not available
• daemon %#q is not available
• unexpected daemon %#q
• daemon %#q not defined
• c.Paths.SocketVMNet is empty

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/013e720309683453. Report an issue: GitHub.