[HN Gopher] Show HN: Lume 0.2 - Build and Run macOS VMs with una...
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Show HN: Lume 0.2 - Build and Run macOS VMs with unattended setup
Hey HN, Lume is an open-source CLI for running macOS and Linux VMs
on Apple Silicon. Since launch
(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42908061), we've been using
it to run AI agents in isolated macOS environments. We needed VMs
that could set themselves up, so we built that. Here's what's new
in 0.2: *Unattended Setup* - Go from IPSW to a fully configured VM
without touching the keyboard. We built a VNC + OCR system that
clicks through macOS Setup Assistant automatically. No more manual
setup before pushing to a registry: lume create my-
vm --os macos --ipsw latest --unattended tahoe You can write
custom YAML configs to set up any macOS version your way. *HTTP
API + Daemon* - A REST API on port 7777 that runs as a background
service. Your scripts and CI pipelines can manage VMs that persist
even if your terminal closes: curl -X POST
localhost:7777/lume/vms/my-vm/run -d '{"noDisplay": true}'
*MCP Server* - Native integration with Claude Desktop and AI coding
agents. Claude can create, run, and execute commands in VMs
directly: # Add to Claude Desktop config
"lume": { "command": "lume", "args": ["serve", "--mcp"] }
# Then just ask: "Create a sandbox VM and run my tests"
*Multi-location Storage* - macOS disk space is always tight, so
from user feedback we added support for external drives. Add an
SSD, move VMs between locations: lume config
storage add external-ssd /Volumes/ExternalSSD/lume lume clone
my-vm backup --source-storage default --dest-storage external-ssd
*Registry Support* - Pull and push VM images from GHCR or GCS.
Create a golden image once, share it across your team. We're
seeing people use Lume for: - Running Claude Code in an isolated VM
(your host stays clean, reset mistakes by cloning) - CI/CD
pipelines for Apple platform apps - Automated UI testing across
macOS versions - Disposable sandboxes for security research To get
started: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.git
hubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)"
lume create sandbox --os macos --ipsw latest --unattended tahoe
lume run sandbox --shared-dir ~/my-project Lume is MIT
licensed and Apple Silicon only (M1/M2/M3/M4) since it uses Apple's
native Virtualization Framework directly--no emulation. Lume runs
on EC2 Mac instances and Scaleway if you need cloud infrastructure.
We're also working on a managed cloud offering for teams that need
macOS compute on demand--if you're interested, reach out. We're
actively developing this as part of Cua
(https://github.com/trycua/cua), our Computer Use Agent SDK. We'd
love your feedback, bug reports, or feature ideas. GitHub:
https://github.com/trycua/cua Docs: https://cua.ai/docs/lume We'll
be here to answer questions!
Author : frabonacci
Score : 69 points
Date : 2026-01-18 17:53 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (cua.ai)
(TXT) w3m dump (cua.ai)
| whinvik wrote:
| 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?
| frabonacci wrote:
| 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.
| fishtacos wrote:
| 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?
| happyopossum wrote:
| macOS has unattended setup options via MDM or Apple
| Configurator...
| easton wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| re: unattended setup.
|
| You're both right - Apple's official zero-touch setup
| requires MDM + DEP, which needs Apple Business Manager
| (and yes, a DUNS number).
|
| But for VMs specifically, DEP doesn't work anyway - VMs
| don't have real serial numbers that can be enrolled in
| Device Enrollment Program.
|
| VNC-based setup automation is the only practical option -
| it's what the ecosystem has converged on for macOS VMs.
| Lume connects to the VM's VNC server and programmatically
| tabs, clicks, types through Setup Assistant.
| frabonacci wrote:
| 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
| cmckn wrote:
| 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"?
| samtheprogram wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| Mojave never was an IPSW, because it never ran on Apple
| Silicon. I imagine this tool might just not support that at
| all.
| frabonacci wrote:
| LoganDark is right. I've personally never tried, and don't
| think it'd be easy for any macOS predating Apple
| Virtualization Framework. For that you'd need something like
| UTM since they're relying on QEMU - these configs might help:
| https://github.com/adespoton/utmconfigs
| illithid0 wrote:
| I was trying to do something similar last year and gave up
| because it felt futile. That said, it was the push I needed to
| try Rockbox, and I haven't looked back. Managing things via the
| file system is really nice.
| ahmadyan wrote:
| 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)
| frabonacci wrote:
| Correct, Containerization APIs are Linux VMs specific.
|
| There's a kernel-level check in the Hypervisor framework that
| enforces the 2 VM limit, and bypassing it violates Apple's
| EULA.
|
| Nice technical deep-dive on the how here:
| https://khronokernel.com/macos/2023/08/08/AS-VM.html
| eptcyka wrote:
| How is the networking? Tart broke networking in Tahoe. Would love
| to see this work, setting up base images has always been a
| massive pain.
| frabonacci wrote:
| We haven't observed any networking degradation with Lume on
| Tahoe so far - things have been working smoothly in our
| testing. Give it a try and let us know if you run into any
| issues!
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(page generated 2026-01-18 23:00 UTC)