Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

macOS in QEMU in Docker

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 199 posts

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#141

Post by replete »

mappu wrote: post #135
replete wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No apple silicon emulators exist yet, and probably wont for years

Qemu can somewhat do it already, with limitations - see https://youtu.be/oZqFYJVOUQo?si=wKaK6vLzfomESerY

Yes but the host he's using is Apple Silicon, I think what he's talking about is QEMU using Apple's Hypervisor Framework, which is what vmware Parallels, etc also use nowadays. Booting an apple silicon version of MacOS on non-Apple hardware probably isn't going to possible for a while as it would require emulation.

In 2021 Blackberry, surprisingly, wrote this article about getting emulating the XNU kernel and getting it running on non-apple hardware, but its just a terminal:

https://blogs.blackberry.com/en/2021/05/strong-arming-with-m...

Someone would have to write something that can emulate/abstract the apple iGPU to get anywhere near a usable GUI - I'm no expert but I don't think this is going to happen anytime soon, so when Intel releases of MacOS stop happening apple hardware might be the only way to virtualize MacOS for a while

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#143

Post by Kab1r »

promiseofbeans wrote: post #71
nine_k wrote: post #13

So, to clarify things: it's QEMU running in a container, and macOS running under QEMU inside it. This is really nice WRT the ease of installation: no manual setup steps and all. This likely expressly violates the [macOS EULA], which says: «you are granted a limited, non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at any one time» — because the point…

Hey, not if you run it on a mac running Asahi

If only it worked on ARM

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#145

Post by paranoidrobot »

bm3 wrote: post #114
daft_pink wrote: post #97

This would be awesome to run iCloud sync on my homeserver. Currently, there is no good way to physically backup iCloud on a homeserver/nas, because it only runs on windows/apple.

How would this help with that? What would this let you do that's different than just rsync'ing your iCloud folder from a connected Mac/PC to your NAS?

> that's different than just rsync'ing your iCloud folder from a connected Mac/PC

My guess: Being able to run it on a non-Mac/Windows machine.

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#146

Post by userbinator »

replete wrote: post #141
mappu wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Qemu can somewhat do it already, with limitations - see https://youtu.be/oZqFYJVOUQo?si=wKaK6vLzfomESerY

Yes but the host he's using is Apple Silicon, I think what he's talking about is QEMU using Apple's Hypervisor Framework, which is what vmware Parallels, etc also use nowadays. Booting an apple silicon version of MacOS on non-Apple hardware probably isn't going to possible for a while as it would require emulation. In 2021 Blackberry, surprisingly, wrote this article about getting emulating the XNU kernel and getting…

Someone would have to write something that can emulate/abstract the apple iGPU to get anywhere near a usable GUI

I'm not familiar with what Apple's GPU architecture on its ARM SoCs looks like, but wouldn't a framebuffer be sufficient? Or does ARM macOS have absolutely no software rendering fallback and relies on the GPU to handle all of it?

I know that regular amd64 macOS runs fine without GPU acceleration in a VM (like what is shown here), and arm64 Windows likewise with an emulated EFI framebuffer in QEMU on an amd64 host (it's bloody slow, being 100% emulated, but it works well enough to play around with.)

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#147

Post by ForOldHack »

jbverschoor wrote: post #15
nine_k wrote: post #13

So, to clarify things: it's QEMU running in a container, and macOS running under QEMU inside it. This is really nice WRT the ease of installation: no manual setup steps and all. This likely expressly violates the [macOS EULA], which says: «you are granted a limited, non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at any one time» — because the point…

(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software, or any prior macOS or OS X operating system software or subsequent release of the Apple Software, within virtual operating system environments on each Apple-branded computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (…

Oh thank God! Now I have use for my macplus badge. Just cut and glue, and vola apple branded. It was running system 6, so Snow leopard. I did install QuickTime and it basically destroyed my windows, but it's a port of the MacOS. This elua has more holes in it than a windows 95 login screen. I am in control.

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#148

Post by throwaway-blaze »

Modified3019 wrote: post #127
ramses0 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Tao of Programming, 7.3: """ "Corporate Headquarters has commanded," continued the magician, "that everyone use this workstation as a platform for new programs. Do you agree to this?" "Certainly," replied the master, "I will have it transported to the data center immediately!" And the magician returned to his tower, well pleased. Several days later, a novice wandered into the office of the master programmer and s…

I don’t understand what this is trying to say.

They're using it as a shelf.

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#149

Post by ForOldHack »

wildzzz wrote: post #94
jbverschoor wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software, or any prior macOS or OS X operating system software or subsequent release of the Apple Software, within virtual operating system environments on each Apple-branded computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (…

So basically you can run macOS however you want as long as you're already running macOS on Apple hardware. The question I've always had is how enforceable is that really? Obviously the whole point of Apple making macOS freely available is to run it on Apple hardware. They don't give it out for free to run on other hardware but can they really do anything about that other than require you to enter a serial number to d…

Apple branded machine. I got some of those nifty apple stickers to brand machines. MacBooks and Macpros as well as iMacs have serial numbers. They already have their whole arm ... I will just remind them again. Do not anger Linux wizards. They put Linux on an iPod.

Re: macOS in QEMU in Docker

#150

Post by userbinator »

nine_k wrote: post #13

So, to clarify things: it's QEMU running in a container, and macOS running under QEMU inside it. This is really nice WRT the ease of installation: no manual setup steps and all. This likely expressly violates the [macOS EULA], which says: «you are granted a limited, non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at any one time» — because the point…

Hackintosh has been around for almost 2 decades and AFAIK Apple hasn't threatened legal action on anyone except those trying to profit monetarily from it (the only one that comes to mind being Psystar).

Apple now even publicly distributes macOS from its site with no authentication required, something that certainly wasn't true in the early days of Hackintosh.

Given that some Hackintoshers may be doing it for the purposes of "security research" (bug bounty chasing), which indirectly benefits Apple, I don't think they will change the unsaid stance anytime soon.

On the other hand, its attempts at destroying right-to-repair and third-party OEM parts shows what it actually worries about.

Post reply on HN