Lima

Lima is Hollywood's supported Linux virtual machine backend.

Use it when a script should run Linux commands from a macOS laptop or from a host that should delegate execution into a named Lima virtual machine.

npx hollywood run gha/cache/s3-cache.ts \
  --export s3Cache \
  --lima default \
  --start-vm \
  --with mode=restore

Command Shape

Hollywood routes each script command through limactl shell without rewriting the command into shell text.

With --lima default --start-vm, the backend command is:

limactl shell --tty=false --start default -- <file> <arg>...

If a script command has a working directory, Hollywood preserves that as a structured Lima option:

limactl shell --tty=false --start --workdir <cwd> default -- <file> <arg>...

If a script command has environment variables, Hollywood inserts an explicit env process inside the VM:

limactl shell --tty=false --start default -- env NAME=value <file> <arg>...

The important invariant is unchanged: the executable and arguments remain an argument array all the way into the backend.

Capability Checks

--start-vm starts the named VM before running the action. Without it, a stopped VM rejects the local run before the script starts.

--require-containerd checks that containerd is active and that nerdctl exists inside the VM.

--require-kvm checks that /dev/kvm is readable and writable inside the VM.

These checks are fail-closed. A local run that silently skips the requested backend capability would not prove the action contract.

Runner Context

Hollywood asks the Lima VM for id -u and id -g so scripts can use the guest runner user and group when they create or extract files.

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