macOS-Simple-KVM

Documentation to set up a simple macOS VM in QEMU, accelerated by KVM.

By: notAperson

Original maker is @FoxletFox, and the help of many others. You can donate to him on Coinbase or Paypal!.

I did not make the download script, Kholia did.

New to macOS and KVM? Check the FAQs.

IMPORTANT

You must download or clone this GitHub repository before you begin Do not use forks of notAperson535/OneClick-macOS-Simple-KVM as I update this repository a lot, and forks are usually behind.

OneClick Method

Run ./setup.sh to make the VM. Monterey may not work, as it is very picky about hardware. Once the VM boots up, just hit enter even if you don't see anything (do this every boot) Then format the biggest drive as macOS Extended Journaled, go to reinstall macOS and install it to the newly formatted hard drive.

Once installed, run ./basic.sh to boot up the VM again. Do not run ./setup.sh twice if the install was succesful, as it will redownload the image and that is not needed.

You're done!

If the mouse is not aligned properly, edit the basic.sh file and change -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \ to -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-mouse \

If you get an error that says access denied, run sudo ./basic.sh which will give it admin privelages.

To fine-tune the system and improve performance, look in the docs folder for more information on adding memory, setting up bridged networking, adding passthrough hardware (for GPUs), tweaking screen resolution, and enabling sound features.

Manual method (distros that aren't debian based (don't have apt-get) require this)

Getting Started

You'll need a Linux system with qemu (3.1 or later), python3, pip and the KVM modules enabled. A Mac is not required. Some examples for different distributions:

sudo apt-get install qemu-system qemu-utils python python-pip  # for Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, and PopOS.
sudo pacman -S qemu python python-pip python-wheel  # for Arch.
sudo xbps-install -Su qemu python python-pip  # for Void Linux.
sudo zypper in qemu-tools qemu-kvm qemu-x86 qemu-audio-pa python-pip  # for openSUSE Tumbleweed
sudo dnf install qemu qemu-img python python-pip # for Fedora
sudo emerge -a qemu python pip # for Gentoo

Step 1

Run fetch-macOS-v2.py to download installation media for macOS (internet required).

./fetch-macOS-v2.py

Then run

qemu-img convert BaseSystem.dmg -O raw BaseSystem.img

Bringing Your Own macOS bootable file

If you want to bring your own bootable file, whether it be for an older version of macOS or you already have a file, drag it into the OneCLick-macOS-Simple-KVM folder. Then, Check if it is named BaseSystem. If not, rename it. If the file is now named BaseSystem.dmg, you must run this command to convert it to BaseSystem.img

qemu-img convert BaseSystem.dmg -O raw BaseSystem.img

If it is named BaseSystem.img, you are good to go

Hint (If you want to use an older version of macOS, OpenCore can go back to macOS 10.4)

Step 2

Create an empty hard disk using qemu-img, changing the name and size to preference:

qemu-img create -f qcow2 macOS.qcow2 64G

if you change the drive name, change the line below according to the new name in basic.sh:

    -drive id=SystemDisk,if=none,file=macOS.qcow2 \

Note: If you're running on a headless system (such as on Cloud providers), you will need -nographic and -vnc :0 -k en-us to the end of basic.sh for VNC support.

Then run basic.sh to start the machine and install macOS. Remember to partition in Disk Utility first! (macOS extended journaled)

If the mouse is not aligned properly, edit the basic.sh file and change -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-mouse \ to -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \

If you get an error that says access denied, run sudo ./basic.sh which will give it admin privelages.

Step 2a (Virtual Machine Manager)

1. If instead of QEMU, you'd like to import the setup into Virt-Manager for further configuration, just run sudo ./make.sh --add.
2. After running the above command, add macOS.qcow2 as storage in the properties of the newly added entry for VM.

Step 2b (Headless Systems)

If you're using a cloud-based/headless system, you can use headless.sh to set up a quick VNC instance. Settings are defined through variables as seen in the following example. VNC will start on port 5900 by default.

HEADLESS=1 MEM=1G CPUS=2 SYSTEM_DISK=MyDisk.qcow2 ./headless.sh

You're done!

If the mouse is not aligned properly, edit the basic.sh file and change -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \ to -usb -device usb-kbd -device usb-mouse \

If you get an error that says access denied, run sudo ./basic.sh which will give it admin privelages.

To fine-tune the system and improve performance, look in the docs folder for more information on adding memory, setting up bridged networking, adding passthrough hardware (for GPUs), tweaking screen resolution, and enabling sound features.