4 ms·

How does it compare to https://multipass.run/ https://multipass.run/?

antod 3y ago
Multipass for me suffered from a bunch of Macos networking bugs when on managed Macs. Kernel panics and vms that you couldn't connect to etc. UTM also suffered from these too. Apparently some have been fixed by now though.
- ChrisTownsend 3y ago
  Hi! Yes, the dreaded Apple Firewall bug:( The cause is that somehow the firewall would block macOS's own bootpd process and that it the process responsible for handing out IP addresses to the virtual machine instances. We could never find out why macOS chose to block bootpd though. Anecdotally, the number of users mentioning this issue have been much less lately, but I'm not sure if that is because the new Multipass release which has a newer QEMU made it better, a macOS update fixed it, or users have just given up.
  - antod 3y ago
    I gave up on using VMs on my work Mac (Linux user at home). When I get round to trying the Ventura upgrade, I'll give it another go. The annoying thing was that multipass and UTM would initially work before the firewall killed it a few days later. Makes me think it was learning from heuristics or something rather than being a defined policy.
dakiol 3y ago
Same question. I have been using multipass on my Mac (M1), and so far so good. The current limitation of multipass is that it only runs Ubuntu VMs. Also, setting up fixed IPs for multiple VMs is a bit tricky (if possible at all, I don't remember right now). I have a bash script that uses multipass to setup a few VMs... but still it feels "primitive" compared to what I was using when I had an intel Mac (I was using Vagrant, but the Vagrant experience on M1 is awful: I have tried it with VMWare and it's not very stable in my experience).
- whartung 3y ago
  With my limited use cases, I've found multipass to be really comfortable. Was really easy to get into and make work. I'm not passionate about Linux distros, so Ubuntu is fine for me.
- crmd 3y ago
  Love multipass but 100% useless for anyone doing data plane development.
  - ChrisTownsend 3y ago
    Hi! Would you mind expanding some more on your use case and what is missing in Multipass? If it's static IPs, then as mentioned in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36693413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36693413, there are ways to accomplish this. Thanks for the feedback!
- ChrisTownsend 3y ago
  Hello! Have you seen https://multipass.run/docs/configure-static-ips https://multipass.run/docs/configure-static-ips for configuring static IP's? It's kind of Linux-centric as far as setting up the bridge on the host is concerned, but as long as you create a bridge as you see fit on any host, then the rest of the instructions should work. Thanks for the feedback. We take it seriously!
todotask 3y ago
I found it's a struggle to backup VM where it's store in private folders.
- todotask 3y ago
  Just discover that Multiple 1.12.0 updates appear to be migrating Hyperkit to QEMU-based, there could be a significant change whenever VM can be backup?
mirekrusin 3y ago
Multipass is fantastic, very easy to use, great for local k8s playgrounds and cases where docker doesn't fit (ie. tests that change system clock etc) or simply to have linux box at hand.
- robszumski 3y ago
  I just stumbled across multipass 2 days ago and it's been great for our local dev environment with a script to manipulate a bunch of things with multipass exec. I just wish multiarch containers weren't such a pain to deal with.

Multipass for me suffered from a bunch of Macos networking bugs when on managed Macs. Kernel panics and vms that you couldn't connect to etc. UTM also suffered from these too. Apparently some have been fixed by now though.

ChrisTownsend 3y ago
Hi! Yes, the dreaded Apple Firewall bug:( The cause is that somehow the firewall would block macOS's own bootpd process and that it the process responsible for handing out IP addresses to the virtual machine instances. We could never find out why macOS chose to block bootpd though. Anecdotally, the number of users mentioning this issue have been much less lately, but I'm not sure if that is because the new Multipass release which has a newer QEMU made it better, a macOS update fixed it, or users have just given up.
- antod 3y ago
  I gave up on using VMs on my work Mac (Linux user at home). When I get round to trying the Ventura upgrade, I'll give it another go. The annoying thing was that multipass and UTM would initially work before the firewall killed it a few days later. Makes me think it was learning from heuristics or something rather than being a defined policy.

dakiol 3y ago

Same question. I have been using multipass on my Mac (M1), and so far so good. The current limitation of multipass is that it only runs Ubuntu VMs. Also, setting up fixed IPs for multiple VMs is a bit tricky (if possible at all, I don't remember right now). I have a bash script that uses multipass to setup a few VMs... but still it feels "primitive" compared to what I was using when I had an intel Mac (I was using Vagrant, but the Vagrant experience on M1 is awful: I have tried it with VMWare and it's not very stable in my experience).

whartung 3y ago
With my limited use cases, I've found multipass to be really comfortable. Was really easy to get into and make work. I'm not passionate about Linux distros, so Ubuntu is fine for me.
crmd 3y ago
Love multipass but 100% useless for anyone doing data plane development.
- ChrisTownsend 3y ago
  Hi! Would you mind expanding some more on your use case and what is missing in Multipass? If it's static IPs, then as mentioned in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36693413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36693413, there are ways to accomplish this. Thanks for the feedback!
ChrisTownsend 3y ago
Hello! Have you seen https://multipass.run/docs/configure-static-ips https://multipass.run/docs/configure-static-ips for configuring static IP's? It's kind of Linux-centric as far as setting up the bridge on the host is concerned, but as long as you create a bridge as you see fit on any host, then the rest of the instructions should work. Thanks for the feedback. We take it seriously!

todotask 3y ago

I found it's a struggle to backup VM where it's store in private folders.

todotask 3y ago
Just discover that Multiple 1.12.0 updates appear to be migrating Hyperkit to QEMU-based, there could be a significant change whenever VM can be backup?

mirekrusin 3y ago

Multipass is fantastic, very easy to use, great for local k8s playgrounds and cases where docker doesn't fit (ie. tests that change system clock etc) or simply to have linux box at hand.

robszumski 3y ago
I just stumbled across multipass 2 days ago and it's been great for our local dev environment with a script to manipulate a bunch of things with multipass exec. I just wish multiarch containers weren't such a pain to deal with.