May 15, 2025 21:00:00

Lumier lets you run macOS on Docker

Docker , a software platform that allows you to build, test, and deploy applications using containers, has released an interface called ' Lumier ' that can run macOS , the operating system for Mac.

cua/libs/lumier at main · trycua/cua · GitHub
https://github.com/trycua/cua/tree/main/libs/lumier

Lumier is an interface that allows you to run a macOS virtual machine with minimal setup. It uses Docker as a packaging system and connects to a virtualization service running on the host machine to provide a pre-configured environment.

There are four benefits to using Lumier:

- Ready-to-go macOS or Linux virtual machine in minutes
- Browser-based VNC access to virtual machines
-Easy file sharing between host and virtual machine
- Simple configuration using environment variables

To use Lumier, you need to prepare

Apple Silicon compatible Docker and Lume, a virtualization client for running Lumier. Lume can be installed with the following command.
[code]/bin/bash -c '$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)'[/code]

Lumier developer Alessandro reveals that Lumier was inspired by dockur/windows and dockur/macos , approaches to running Windows and macOS virtual machines in Docker containers.

Regarding the differences between dockur/macos, which runs a macOS virtual machine in a Docker container, Alessandro listed the following four points.

- Lumier is an interface designed specifically for macOS virtualization.
- Lumier supports Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4), but dockur/macos only supports Intel CPUs.
Lumier uses the Apple Virtualization Framework (Vz) via the client to create a true virtual machine in Lume, whereas dockur/macos relies on Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).
- Image specs are different, Lumier and Lume rely on Vz specs (disk.img and nvram.bin).

Lumier is distributed under the MIT license and is 100% open source.