Show HN: Lume 0.2 – Build and Run macOS VMs with unattended setup

4 comments

• ahmadyan 4 minutes ago
  I believe this is using Virtualization.framework and not Containerization API from Tahoe, right?

  Is there a limit on number of instances you can have per physical mac? i recall there was a hard limit of 2 because of EULA, unless Apple has changed it. (Cupertino really likes to sell you their Macs)
• cmckn 43 minutes ago
  I tried to set up a macOS VM recently so I could run an old version of iTunes to manage my iPods. I found it nearly impossible to even download an installer for older versions of the OS, and could never get it working. Where can one acquire an IPSW for, say, macOS Mojave? My understanding is this is not the same thing as the “Install macOS.app”?
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  • samtheprogram 35 minutes ago
    For a version of macOS that old, you’d probably want a dmg, which you can create with createinstallmedia if you have the Install macOS.app. Not sure if it’s supported with Lume as it’s the first time I’ve heard of it.
  • LoganDark 12 minutes ago
    Mojave never was an IPSW, because it never ran on Apple Silicon. I imagine this tool might just not support that at all.
• whinvik 2 hours ago
  Sorry for the naive question but specifically for running Claude on a sandbox, why do people decide to use lume as opposed to running it on Docker?
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  • frabonacci 2 hours ago
    Docker on Mac runs Linux containers inside a Linux VM - you can't run macOS in Docker. So if you need Claude / Codex / OpenCode to interact with:

    - macOS GUI apps (Xcode, Numbers, Safari, etc.) - macOS desktop automation (screenshots, mouse/keyboard input, accessibility APIs) - macOS CI/CD (building iOS/macOS apps, running XCTest)

    ...you need an actual macOS VM, which is what Lume provides.

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    • fishtacos 1 hour ago
      I wonder what the additional layer of virtualization changes with respect to this in a project like this one: https://github.com/dockur/macos

      The unattended setup is a large improvement, which also begs the question: Mac OS doesn't have an unattended.xml alternative for its installer?

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      • frabonacci 9 minutes ago
        re: https://github.com/dockur/macos

        A closer comparison here is Lumier, which provides a "Docker-like" interface to spin up VMs with a noVNC server: https://cua.ai/docs/lume/guide/advanced/lumier/docker

        The key difference: dockur/macos uses QEMU+KVM, which only works on Linux hosts. It can't run on macOS hardware since Apple doesn't expose KVM. See: https://github.com/dockur/macos/issues/256
      • happyopossum 1 hour ago
        macOS has unattended setup options via MDM or Apple Configurator…
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        • easton 1 hour ago
          Can you do zero touch without having an Apple Business account (so, a DUNS number) and a MDM?

          I thought this was a silly way to do it too, but upon reflection I don’t know if you can zero touch setup a Mac without registering a device in DEP.
• frabonacci 3 hours ago
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