feat(autostart): add --keep-alive flag to limactl autostart enable#5086
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feat(autostart): add --keep-alive flag to limactl autostart enable#5086resker wants to merge 5 commits into
resker wants to merge 5 commits into
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Adds `limactl autostart enable --condition=boot` to register a Lima instance
as a system-level LaunchDaemon. The VM starts at boot without requiring a user
login session, enabling headless macOS server deployments.
Also unifies the existing start-at-login functionality under the new
`limactl autostart` command and deprecates `limactl start-at-login`.
- pkg/autostart/launchd: add DaemonManager, plist template, and helpers
- pkg/autostart/managers.go: add extraTemplateVars field
- pkg/autostart/managers_darwin.go: DaemonManager constructor
- pkg/autostart/managers_{linux,others}.go: unsupported stubs
- cmd/limactl/autostart.go: cross-platform autostart command group
- cmd/limactl/autostart_darwin.go: login → LaunchAgent, boot → LaunchDaemon
- cmd/limactl/autostart_others.go: login only, boot returns unsupported error
- cmd/limactl/start-at-login.go: marked deprecated
- website/content/en/docs/usage/autostart.md: new documentation page
Signed-off-by: Robert Esker <resker@gmail.com>
Add --keep-alive (default: true) to both LaunchAgent and LaunchDaemon plist templates. When enabled, launchd restarts the Lima host agent automatically if it exits unexpectedly, preventing instances from remaining in a Broken state until the next login or reboot. The flag is accepted on all platforms; on Linux it is a no-op since systemd restart behavior is configured separately in the unit file. Closes: lima-vm#4992 Signed-off-by: Robert Esker <resker@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Robert Esker <resker@gmail.com>
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Without whitespace trimming, the {{if}}...{{end}} block left a blank
line in the rendered plist when KeepAlive=false, breaking unit tests.
Signed-off-by: Robert Esker <resker@gmail.com>
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@AkihiroSuda - fyi, also submitted a follow-up PR #5086 |
This was referenced Jun 6, 2026
The systemd unit uses Restart=on-failure unconditionally, so --keep-alive is always active on Linux regardless of the flag value. Signed-off-by: Robert Esker <resker@gmail.com>
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Depends on #4984.
Summary
--keep-alive(default:true) tolimactl autostart enablefor both LaunchAgent and LaunchDaemon plist templatesBrokenstate until the next login or rebootTesting
--keep-alive=true--keep-alive=falseCloses #4992
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