Engine

Lando supports multiple container engine backends. By default it uses Docker but can also use containerd with nerdctl as an alternative runtime.

The engine backend can be configured via the engine key in the global config or per-project in your .lando.yml.

Available Values

Value	Description
auto	(default) Auto-detects the best available backend. Prefers containerd if all binaries are found, otherwise falls back to Docker.
docker	Always use the Docker daemon and Docker Compose. This is the traditional Lando behavior.
containerd	Use Lando's own isolated containerd + buildkitd + nerdctl stack.

Configuration

Global config (~/.lando/config.yml)

# use auto-detection (default)
engine: auto

# force Docker
engine: docker

# force containerd
engine: containerd

Per-project (.lando.yml)

name: my-app
engine: containerd
services:
  web:
    type: php:8.2
    via: nginx

Auto-Detection

When engine is set to auto (the default), Lando checks for the presence of three binaries inside ~/.lando/bin/:

1. containerd — the container runtime daemon
2. nerdctl — the Docker-compatible CLI for containerd
3. buildkitd — the image build daemon

If all three binaries exist, Lando uses the containerd backend. If any are missing, it falls back to Docker.

TIP

The containerd binaries are installed automatically by lando setup when containerd support is enabled. You don't need to install them manually.

Overriding Binary Paths

If your containerd stack binaries are installed in a non-standard location, you can override each path individually in the global config:

# Override individual binary paths
containerdBin: /usr/local/bin/containerd
nerdctlBin: /usr/local/bin/nerdctl
buildkitdBin: /usr/local/bin/buildkitd

# Override the containerd socket path
containerdSocket: /run/lando/containerd.sock

By default, Lando looks for binaries in ~/.lando/bin/ and manages its own isolated containerd socket at /run/lando/containerd.sock.

How It Works

When using the containerd backend, Lando:

1. Starts its own isolated containerd and buildkitd daemons (separate from any system containerd)
2. Uses nerdctl compose instead of docker compose for service orchestration
3. Uses nerdctl instead of docker for container inspection, listing, and management
4. Manages all state in ~/.lando/ to avoid interfering with system containers

The containerd backend is fully compatible with existing Lando apps and compose files — no changes to your .lando.yml services are required.

EXPERIMENTAL

The containerd engine backend is experimental. While it is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the Docker backend, some edge cases may behave differently. Please report any issues you encounter.