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https://github.com/kholia/osx-kvm

Run macOS on QEMU/KVM. With OpenCore + Monterey + Ventura + Sonoma support now! Only commercial (paid) support is available now to avoid spammy issues. No Mac system is required.
https://github.com/kholia/osx-kvm

bigsur bigsur-hackintosh catalina-hackinotsh emulation hackintosh kernel-debugging kvm macos macos-installer macos-mojave monterey monterey-hackintosh osx qemu qemu-kvm sonoma-hackintosh ventura ventura-hackintosh virtualization

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Run macOS on QEMU/KVM. With OpenCore + Monterey + Ventura + Sonoma support now! Only commercial (paid) support is available now to avoid spammy issues. No Mac system is required.

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README 

        
### Note



This `README.md` documents the process of creating a `Virtual Hackintosh`

system.



Note: All blobs and resources included in this repository are re-derivable (all

instructions are included!).



:green_heart: Looking for **commercial** support with this stuff? I am [available

over email](mailto:[email protected]?subject=[GitHub]%20OSX-KVM%20Commercial%20Support%20Request&body=Hi%20-%20We%20are%20interested%20in%20purchasing%20commercial%20support%20options%20for%20your%20project.) for a chat for **commercial support options only**. Note: Project sponsors get access to the `Private OSX-KVM` repository, and direct support.



Struggling with `Content Caching` stuff? We can help.



Working with `Proxmox` and macOS? See [Nick's blog for sure](https://www.nicksherlock.com/).



Yes, we support offline macOS installations now - see [this document](./run_offline.md) 🎉



### Contributing Back



This project can always use your help, time and attention. I am looking for

help (pull-requests!) with the following work items:



* Documentation around running macOS on popular cloud providers (Hetzner, GCP,

  AWS). See the `Is This Legal?` section and associated references.



* Document (share) how you use this project to build + test open-source

  projects / get your stuff done.



* Document how to use this project for XNU kernel debugging and development.



* Document the process to launch a bunch of headless macOS VMs (build farm).



* Document usage of [munki](https://github.com/munki/munki) to deploy software

  to such a `build farm`.



* Enable VNC + SSH support out of the box or more easily.



* Robustness improvements are always welcome!



* (Not so) crazy idea - automate the macOS installation via OpenCV.



### Requirements



* A modern Linux distribution. E.g. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 64-bit or later.



* QEMU >= 8.2.2



* A CPU with Intel VT-x / AMD SVM support is required (`grep -e vmx -e svm /proc/cpuinfo`)



* A CPU with SSE4.1 support is required for >= macOS Sierra



* A CPU with AVX2 support is required for >= macOS Ventura



Note: Older AMD CPU(s) are known to be problematic but modern AMD Ryzen

processors work just fine (even for macOS Sonoma).



### Installation Preparation



* Install QEMU and other packages.



  ```

  sudo apt-get install qemu-system uml-utilities virt-manager git \

      wget libguestfs-tools p7zip-full make dmg2img tesseract-ocr \

      tesseract-ocr-eng genisoimage vim net-tools screen -y

  ```



  This step may need to be adapted for your Linux distribution.



* Clone this repository on your QEMU system. Files from this repository are

  used in the following steps.



  ```

  cd ~



  git clone --depth 1 --recursive https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM.git



  cd OSX-KVM

  ```



  Repository updates can be pulled via the following command:



  ```

  git pull --rebase

  ```



  This repository uses rebase based workflows heavily.



* KVM may need the following tweak on the host machine to work.



  ```

  sudo modprobe kvm; echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/module/kvm/parameters/ignore_msrs

  ```



  To make this change permanent, you may use the following command.



  ```

  sudo cp kvm.conf /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf  # for intel boxes only



  sudo cp kvm_amd.conf /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf  # for amd boxes only

  ```



* Add user to the `kvm` and `libvirt` groups (might be needed).



  ```

  sudo usermod -aG kvm $(whoami)

  sudo usermod -aG libvirt $(whoami)

  sudo usermod -aG input $(whoami)

  ```



  Note: Re-login after executing this command.



* Fetch macOS installer.



  ```

  ./fetch-macOS-v2.py

  ```



  You can choose your desired macOS version here. After executing this step,

  you should have the `BaseSystem.dmg` file in the current folder.



  ATTENTION: Let `>= Big Sur` setup sit at the `Country Selection` screen, and

  other similar places for a while if things are being slow. The initial macOS

  setup wizard will eventually succeed.



  Sample run:



  ```

  $ ./fetch-macOS-v2.py

  1. High Sierra (10.13)

  2. Mojave (10.14)

  3. Catalina (10.15)

  4. Big Sur (11.7)

  5. Monterey (12.6)

  6. Ventura (13) - RECOMMENDED

  7. Sonoma (14)

  8. Sequoia (15)



  Choose a product to download (1-8): 6

  ```



  Note: Modern NVIDIA GPUs are supported on HighSierra but not on later

  versions of macOS.



* Convert the downloaded `BaseSystem.dmg` file into the `BaseSystem.img` file.



  ```

  dmg2img -i BaseSystem.dmg BaseSystem.img

  ```



* Create a virtual HDD image where macOS will be installed. If you change the

  name of the disk image from `mac_hdd_ng.img` to something else, the boot scripts

  will need to be updated to point to the new image name.



  ```

  qemu-img create -f qcow2 mac_hdd_ng.img 256G

  ```



  NOTE: Create this HDD image file on a fast SSD/NVMe disk for best results.



* Now you are ready to install macOS 🚀



### Installation



- CLI method (primary). Just run the `OpenCore-Boot.sh` script to start the

  installation process.



  ```

  ./OpenCore-Boot.sh

  ```



  Note: This same script works for all recent macOS versions.



- Use the `Disk Utility` tool within the macOS installer to partition, and

  format the virtual disk attached to the macOS VM. Use `APFS` (the default)

  for modern macOS versions.



- Go ahead, and install macOS 🙌



- (OPTIONAL) Use this macOS VM disk with libvirt (virt-manager / virsh stuff).



  - Edit `macOS-libvirt-Catalina.xml` file and change the various file paths (search

    for `CHANGEME` strings in that file). The following command should do the

    trick usually.



    ```

    sed "s/CHANGEME/$USER/g" macOS-libvirt-Catalina.xml > macOS.xml



    virt-xml-validate macOS.xml

    ```



  - Create a VM by running the following command.



    ```bash

    virsh --connect qemu:///system define macOS.xml

    ```



  - If needed, grant necessary permissions to libvirt-qemu user,



    ```

    sudo setfacl -m u:libvirt-qemu:rx /home/$USER

    sudo setfacl -R -m u:libvirt-qemu:rx /home/$USER/OSX-KVM

    ```



  - Launch `virt-manager` and start the `macOS` virtual machine.



### Headless macOS



- Use the provided [boot-macOS-headless.sh](./boot-macOS-headless.sh) script.



  ```

  ./boot-macOS-headless.sh

  ```



### Setting Expectations Right



Nice job on setting up a `Virtual Hackintosh` system! Such a system can be used

for a variety of purposes (e.g. software builds, testing, reversing work), and

it may be all you need, along with some tweaks documented in this repository.



However, such a system lacks graphical acceleration, a reliable sound sub-system,

USB 3 functionality and other similar things. To enable these things, take a

look at our [notes](notes.md). We would like to resume our testing and

documentation work around this area. Please [reach out to us](mailto:[email protected]?subject=[GitHub]%20OSX-KVM%20Funding%20Support)

if you are able to fund this area of work.



It is possible to have 'beyond-native-apple-hw' performance but it does require

work, patience, and a bit of luck (perhaps?).



### Post-Installation



* See [networking notes](networking-qemu-kvm-howto.txt) on how to setup networking in your VM, outbound and also inbound for remote access to your VM via SSH, VNC, etc.



* To passthrough GPUs and other devices, see [these notes](notes.md#gpu-passthrough-notes).



* Need a different resolution? Check out the [notes](notes.md#change-resolution-in-opencore) included in this repository.



* Trouble with iMessage? Check out the [notes](notes.md#trouble-with-imessage) included in this repository.



* Highly recommended macOS tweaks - https://github.com/sickcodes/osx-optimizer



### Is This Legal?



The "secret" Apple OSK string is widely available on the Internet. It is also included in a public court document [available here](http://www.rcfp.org/sites/default/files/docs/20120105_202426_apple_sealing.pdf). I am not a lawyer but it seems that Apple's attempt(s) to get the OSK string treated as a trade secret did not work out. Due to these reasons, the OSK string is freely included in this repository.



Please review the ['Legality of Hackintoshing' documentation bits from Dortania's OpenCore Install Guide](https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide/why-oc.html#legality-of-hackintoshing).



Gabriel Somlo also has [some thoughts](http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~somlo/OSXKVM/) on the legal aspects involved in running macOS under QEMU/KVM.



You may also find [this 'Announcing Amazon EC2 Mac instances for macOS' article](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2020/11/announcing-amazon-ec2-mac-instances-for-macos/

) interesting.



Note: It is your responsibility to understand, and accept (or not accept) the

Apple EULA.



Note: This is not legal advice, so please make the proper assessments yourself

and discuss with your lawyers if you have any concerns (Text credit: Dortania)



### Motivation



My aim is to enable macOS based educational tasks, builds + testing, kernel

debugging, reversing, and macOS security research in an easy, reproducible

manner without getting 'invested' in Apple's closed ecosystem (too heavily).



These `Virtual Hackintosh` systems are not intended to replace the genuine

physical macOS systems.



Personally speaking, this repository has been a way for me to 'exit' the Apple

ecosystem. It has helped me to test and compare the interoperability of `Canon

CanoScan LiDE 120` scanner, and `Brother HL-2250DN` laser printer. And these

devices now work decently enough on modern versions of Ubuntu (Yay for free

software). Also, a long time back, I had to completely wipe my (then) brand new

`MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)` and install Xubuntu on it - as the

`OS X` kernel kept crashing on it!



Backstory: I was a (poor) student in Canada in a previous life and Apple made [my work on cracking Apple Keychains](https://github.com/openwall/john/blob/bleeding-jumbo/src/keychain_fmt_plug.c) a lot harder than it needed to be. This is how I got interested in Hackintosh systems.