Cua Docs

Create your first local macOS VM with Lume

Install Lume and create a vanilla macOS Tahoe VM from an Apple restore image.

This tutorial walks through one complete local VM setup on an Apple Silicon Mac. You will install Lume, download a Tahoe restore image, create a vanilla VM, and connect to it over SSH.

Before you start#

You need an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 13 or later, 8GB of available memory, and at least 50GB of free disk space. The restore image requires additional download and VM disk space.

Install Lume#

Run the installer:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)"

Check the installed version:

lume --version

Download the Tahoe restore image#

Ask Lume for the latest supported restore image URL and download it locally:

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

Create the VM#

The Tahoe preset prepares the installed guest offline. It creates the lume user, enables SSH, configures autologin, and disables sleep and screen locking.

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

Creation includes a temporary boot, offline disk setup, and an SSH health check. The VM is stopped when creation finishes.

Run the VM#

Start the VM with its display:

lume run macos-tahoe

The default guest credentials are lume / lume. In another terminal, verify the guest account over SSH:

lume ssh macos-tahoe 'id -un'

The command prints lume. Change the password before using the VM for anything sensitive.

Next steps#