Using Lando with Colima on macOS – Quick Fix for Docker Socket Issues

By hari, 26 July, 2025

If you’re a developer using Lando for local environments and prefer Colima over Docker Desktop on macOS, you may hit this classic error when running lando start or lando rebuild:

ERROR ==> connect ENOENT /var/run/docker.sock ENOENT

This happens because Lando expects Docker to be available at the default Unix socket location (/var/run/docker.sock), but Colima places it at:

~/.colima/default/docker.sock

✅ Solution

Here’s how to make Lando work seamlessly with Colima:

  1. Start Colima with Docker Runtime

    colima start --runtime docker

  2. Create a Symlink to Docker Socket

    sudo ln -sf ~/.colima/default/docker.sock /var/run/docker.sock
    sudo chown $(whoami) /var/run/docker.sock

    💡 Without proper ownership, you may still see permission errors, so don’t skip the chown.

  3. Run Lando

    Now, just run:

    lando rebuild
    # or
    lando start

🎉 Your Lando environment should now connect correctly to Docker via Colima!

🛠 Why This Setup?

Colima is a lightweight, open-source alternative to Docker Desktop that runs containers using Lima + QEMU under the hood. It’s fast, doesn’t require a GUI, and is a favorite for devs who want more control or want to avoid Docker’s licensing.

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