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fix: disable image caching for Lima (macOS) #25

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Merged
ethannortharc merged 1 commit into from
Mar 11, 2026
Merged

fix: disable image caching for Lima (macOS) #25

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76 changes: 5 additions & 71 deletions src/runtime/lima.rs
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -177,12 +177,8 @@ impl Runtime for LimaRuntime {
"NixOS"
};

if opts.cached_image.is_some() {
println!("Creating {image_label} VM '{vm}' from cache...");
} else {
println!("Creating {image_label} VM '{vm}'...");
println!(" (first run downloads {image_label} image, this may take a few minutes)");
}
println!("Creating {image_label} VM '{vm}'...");
println!(" (first run downloads {image_label} image, this may take a few minutes)");
run_ok(
"limactl",
&[
Expand All @@ -195,21 +191,6 @@ impl Runtime for LimaRuntime {
)
.await?;

// If we have a cached disk, copy it over before first start.
// Lima creates the disk structure during `create`; we overwrite
// `diffdisk` with the cached provisioned state before `start` boots it.
if let Some(cached_disk) = &opts.cached_image {
let home = dirs::home_dir().unwrap_or_default();
let diffdisk = home.join(format!(".lima/{vm}/diffdisk"));
println!("Restoring cached disk image...");
// Use cp -c for APFS clone (instant, zero-cost on macOS)
let _ = run_cmd(
"cp",
&["-c", cached_disk, &diffdisk.to_string_lossy()],
)
.await;
}

println!("Starting {image_label} VM '{vm}'...");
run_ok("limactl", &["start", &vm]).await?;

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -398,56 +379,9 @@ impl Runtime for LimaRuntime {
Ok(())
}

async fn cached_image(&self, cache_key: &str) -> Option<String> {
let cache_path = dirs::home_dir()?
.join(format!(".devbox/cache/lima-{cache_key}.disk"));
if cache_path.exists() {
Some(cache_path.to_string_lossy().to_string())
} else {
None
}
}

async fn cache_image(&self, name: &str, cache_key: &str) -> Result<()> {
let vm = Self::vm_name(name);
let home = dirs::home_dir().unwrap_or_default();
let diffdisk = home.join(format!(".lima/{vm}/diffdisk"));

if !diffdisk.exists() {
bail!("Lima disk not found at {}", diffdisk.display());
}

let cache_dir = home.join(".devbox/cache");
std::fs::create_dir_all(&cache_dir)?;
let cache_path = cache_dir.join(format!("lima-{cache_key}.disk"));

println!("Caching provisioned image...");

// Stop VM before copying disk for consistency
let _ = run_cmd("limactl", &["stop", &vm]).await;

// Use cp -c for APFS clone (instant, zero-cost on macOS)
let result = run_cmd(
"cp",
&["-c", &diffdisk.to_string_lossy(), &cache_path.to_string_lossy()],
)
.await;

// Fall back to regular copy if APFS clone fails (non-APFS filesystem)
if result.is_err() || result.as_ref().is_ok_and(|r| r.exit_code != 0) {
let _ = run_cmd(
"cp",
&[&diffdisk.to_string_lossy(), &cache_path.to_string_lossy()],
)
.await;
}

// Restart the VM
run_ok("limactl", &["start", &vm]).await?;

println!("Image cached successfully.");
Ok(())
}
// Lima caching disabled — the stop/copy-disk/restart cycle adds ~1 minute
// overhead on macOS, which isn't worth it for typical single-VM usage.
// Caching remains active for Incus (Linux) where `incus publish` is fast.
}

fn chrono_now() -> String {
Expand Down
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