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Ask HN: Best way to run Linux VMs on M1 Mac with fileSharing/shared networking?

Tried Parallels, but seemed to expensive. Tried UTM, felt too slow. And then, VMWare fusion has file sharing issues in my experience. Are there any other programs that allow running VMs via virtualization (arm64) instead of emulation? Something like WSL for windows.

figomore 3y ago
Maybe https://github.com/containers/krunvm https://github.com/containers/krunvm
vhodges 3y ago
I haven't done it yet, but I am planning to use UTM. Dumb question, did you run an ARM64 image or a x86 on utm?
lesserknowndan 3y ago
I’d suggest trying out Docker. The Docker app itself is free. I’ve been using Docker on macos for the past couple of months and found it extremely flexible. Docker also supports mapping within-container locations to the host filesystem.
- princevegeta89 3y ago
  Docker is only for containers, right? I wanted full VMs.
  - lesserknowndan 3y ago
    It depends on your point of view. Apparently, on macos, Docker can make use of the macos virtualisation framework, which runs the containerised OS on top of a virtualised kernel. That said, if you specifically need to run a specific full operating system, then yes, something like VMWare or Parallels is likely to be more appropriate. The key question is - why do you want full VMs? For example, you can use a Ubuntu base image and then use apt to install any other packages you need in order to get a full virtual server running. I think it would be worth your while to go through the Docker tutorials to get a sense of what it is capable of.
digikata 3y ago
Have you tried lima? https://lima-vm.io/ https://lima-vm.io/ https://github.com/lima-vm/lima https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
- princevegeta89 3y ago
  Looked at it, although the configuration felt messy at times. Need to try it out
  - digikata 3y ago
    I'm using it thru colima and there was very little config needed. Although occasional M1 users seem to run into some form of networking issues, I haven't.
jrjsmrtn 3y ago
Although I have a Parallel license, I'm mostly using UTM. I have Debian/Ubuntu, NixOS, SUSE, Windows 11 VMs all running natively on ARM.
- princevegeta89 3y ago
  How are the file sharing capabilities, especially with Linux?
sigjuice 3y ago
UTM should be running arm64 Linux guests using virtualization and NOT emulation. I have been running arm64 Linux guests on M1/M2 Macs and it is not at all slow. Does your Linux guest have the "Use Hypervisor" setting turned on?

figomore 3y ago

Maybe https://github.com/containers/krunvm https://github.com/containers/krunvm

vhodges 3y ago

I haven't done it yet, but I am planning to use UTM. Dumb question, did you run an ARM64 image or a x86 on utm?

lesserknowndan 3y ago

I’d suggest trying out Docker. The Docker app itself is free. I’ve been using Docker on macos for the past couple of months and found it extremely flexible. Docker also supports mapping within-container locations to the host filesystem.

princevegeta89 3y ago
Docker is only for containers, right? I wanted full VMs.
- lesserknowndan 3y ago
  It depends on your point of view. Apparently, on macos, Docker can make use of the macos virtualisation framework, which runs the containerised OS on top of a virtualised kernel. That said, if you specifically need to run a specific full operating system, then yes, something like VMWare or Parallels is likely to be more appropriate. The key question is - why do you want full VMs? For example, you can use a Ubuntu base image and then use apt to install any other packages you need in order to get a full virtual server running. I think it would be worth your while to go through the Docker tutorials to get a sense of what it is capable of.

digikata 3y ago

Have you tried lima? https://lima-vm.io/ https://lima-vm.io/ https://github.com/lima-vm/lima https://github.com/lima-vm/lima

princevegeta89 3y ago
Looked at it, although the configuration felt messy at times. Need to try it out
- digikata 3y ago
  I'm using it thru colima and there was very little config needed. Although occasional M1 users seem to run into some form of networking issues, I haven't.

jrjsmrtn 3y ago

Although I have a Parallel license, I'm mostly using UTM. I have Debian/Ubuntu, NixOS, SUSE, Windows 11 VMs all running natively on ARM.

princevegeta89 3y ago
How are the file sharing capabilities, especially with Linux?

sigjuice 3y ago

UTM should be running arm64 Linux guests using virtualization and NOT emulation. I have been running arm64 Linux guests on M1/M2 Macs and it is not at all slow. Does your Linux guest have the "Use Hypervisor" setting turned on?