[Request]: ability to run inside of macOS VM

[fkorotkov]

Feature or enhancement request details

It will be great if it will be possible to run containers inside of macOS Virtual Machines. Most CI/CD providers use Virtualization.Framework to run macOS workloads and many CI workloads require running containers. For example, to spin up a server with a database for integration tests on your iOS App.

Reported as FB13693390 but wanted to bring it here as well.

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[andrewcrook]

Does it not work?
if I recall nested virtualisation is supported in macOS but you have to have a M3 or greater because of the required hardware support. If you using such a machine then it’s probably a limitation of Apple containers or deliberately disabled as not all services are currently allowed in VMs.

There is a method isNestedVirtualizationEnabled in the macOS Virtualization framework to test for support.

[fkorotkov]

isNestedVirtualizationEnabled only works for Linux VMs so you can run nested Linux VMs inside of it. Unfortunately, there is no way to run Linux VMs inside of macOS VMs. Not even asking for macOS VMs inside of macOS VMs! This will be some rocket science. 😅

[andrewcrook]

@fkorotkov shame, I suggested to test for compatibility of a Linux VM within a Mac VM to test the hardware meets the requirements. The container runtime runs in a Linux VM so I thought there would be similar mechanisms. I take it that you are using M3 or newer? I have a M1 so it wouldn't work anyway. I hope its not a deliberate restriction of the virtualization framework if you cannot run a Linux VM within a macOS VM then Apples container framework is unlikely to work.

[fkorotkov]

Yes, I double checked it with a macOS Tahoe Beta VM on a macOS Tahoe host and it can't run nested Linux VMs. It seems like a current limitation of Virtualization.Framework

[crosbymichael]

You are correct, nested virt is only supported for Linux guests.