How Lume prepares vanilla macOS VMs
Understand the offline setup flow behind Lume's unattended macOS VMs.
Lume creates vanilla macOS VMs from Apple restore images. The unattended setup prepares the installed guest on disk, so the workflow does not depend on GUI clicks or a particular Setup Assistant layout.
The setup sequence#
When you run lume create with --unattended tahoe or --unattended sequoia,
Lume:
- Installs macOS from the IPSW into a new VM disk.
- Boots the VM once so macOS materializes its first-boot state.
- Stops the VM and mounts its Data volume on the host.
- Patches the guest account and login configuration offline.
- Enables SSH, autologin, and the no-sleep settings.
- Boots the VM again and verifies SSH before finalizing creation.
The default account is lume with the initial password lume. Change that
password before using the VM for sensitive work.
Why the setup is offline#
GUI automation depends on display timing, window state, and the controls that a particular macOS release exposes. Disk setup writes the desired guest state directly and keeps the verification step small: Lume checks that the guest boots and accepts SSH.
Presets and images#
The tahoe and sequoia presets use the same offline patcher. Tahoe is the
verified preset for the current vanilla workflow. Sequoia can still show the
Accessibility step of Setup Assistant on its first display boot; see issue
#2155.
The IPSW flow creates a fresh vanilla guest each time. Registry snapshots remain available for workflows that need a previously prepared disk, but they are not required for unattended setup.