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 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:
Yes, we support offline macOS installations now - see this document 🎉
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 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.
Use lscpu if you are not sure.
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)
7. Sonoma (14) - RECOMMENDED
8. Sequoia (15)
9. Tahoe (26)
Choose a product to download (1-9): 7
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/$USER/g" macOS-libvirt-Catalina.xml > macOS.xml
virt-xml-validate macOS.xml
Create a VM by running the following command.
virsh --connect qemu:///system define macOS.xml
If needed, grant necessary permissions to libvirt-qemu user,
sudo setfacl -m u:libvirt-qemu:rx /home/$USER
sudo setfacl -R -m u:libvirt-qemu:rx /home/$USER/OSX-KVM
Launch virt-manager and start the macOS virtual machine.
Headless macOS
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. We would like to resume our testing and
documentation work around this area. Please reach out to us
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 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.
Need a different resolution? Check out the notes included in this repository.
Trouble with iMessage? Check out the notes 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. 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.
Gabriel Somlo also has some thoughts on the legal aspects involved in running macOS under QEMU/KVM.
You may also find this 'Announcing Amazon EC2 Mac instances for macOS' article 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 a lot harder than it needed to be. This is how I got interested in Hackintosh systems.
一套脚本和 OpenCore 配置,用于在 Linux 主机上通过 QEMU/KVM 把 macOS 当作虚拟机运行,支持 Monterey、Ventura、Sonoma 等较新的 macOS 版本。