Create a vanilla Tahoe VM

Create and manage a vanilla macOS Tahoe VM from a local Apple restore image.

Use this guide when you already have Lume installed and need a repeatable local Tahoe VM. The offline unattended setup does not drive Setup Assistant through the display.

Download an IPSW#

Use the latest supported Apple restore image, or provide an IPSW you already downloaded:

IPSW_URL="$(lume ipsw | tail -n 1)"
curl -L "$IPSW_URL" -o ~/Downloads/macos-tahoe.ipsw

Create the VM#

lume create macos-tahoe \
  --ipsw ~/Downloads/macos-tahoe.ipsw \
  --unattended tahoe

The tahoe preset creates the lume user, enables SSH, configures autologin, and disables sleep and screen locking. The default credentials are lume / lume.

Run and inspect it#

lume run macos-tahoe
lume ls
lume ssh macos-tahoe 'sw_vers; id -un'

Use lume run with no --no-display flag when you want the VNC display. Use lume run --no-display macos-tahoe for a headless boot.

Stop or remove it#

lume stop macos-tahoe
lume delete macos-tahoe

Deletion removes the VM disk and its configuration. Clone the VM first if you need a reusable copy:

lume clone macos-tahoe macos-tahoe-backup

Troubleshoot common failures#

Run Lume as the same user that owns its VM directory. sudo lume uses a different home directory and cannot see VMs created under your account.

If Lume reports that auxiliary storage is locked, another lume run process is still using the VM. Stop that process or run lume stop macos-tahoe before starting it again.

Tahoe is the verified unattended preset. Sequoia may still show the Accessibility step of Setup Assistant on its first display boot; track that behavior in issue #2155.

Continue with Manage local VMs, Serve the Lume API, or Use Lume with MCP.