Solved Run macOS using WSL and Ubuntu

So I was trying to build a hackintosh, but miserably failed and crashed my windows install. So I looked online and found an old post on an ubuntu formum talking about QEMU.

Turns out that emulating macOS is so simple.

1) Make sure that Windows Subsystem for Linux and Virtual machine platform are enabled.



2) Go into the BIOS and check that SVM mode is on (should be in cpu advanced)

3) Open microsoft store and install Ubuntu. (Don't worry it's free)



4) Open Ubuntu and wait for install to complete. If it says fatal error, you may need to update your WSL.

5) Create a user. It does NOT need to match the WIndows one.

6) Type or copy :

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install qemu-system qemu-system-x86 uml-utilities virt-manager git wget libguestfs-tools p7zip-full make dmg2img tesseract-ocr tesseract-ocr-eng genisoimage vim net-tools screen -y

(It may take a while)

7) Enter this GitHub repo :

cd ~
git clone --depth 1 --recursive GitHub - kholia/OSX-KVM: Run macOS on QEMU/KVM. With OpenCore + Monterey + Ventura + Sonoma support now! Only commercial (paid) support is available now to avoid spammy issues. No Mac system is required.
cd OSX-KVM

8) Then :

sudo modprobe kvm; echo 1 | sudo tee /sys/module/kvm/parameters/ignore_msrs

9) Then :

For Intel Bois :

sudo cp kvm.conf /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf

For AMD Champs :

sudo cp kvm_amd.conf /etc/modprobe.d/kvm.conf

(Basicaly makes sure that it saves the disk properly)

10) Then :

sudo usermod -aG kvm $(whoami)
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $(whoami)
sudo usermod -aG input $(whoami)

(Don't know what the hell this is but it doesn't work without it)

11) After that :

./fetch-macOS-v2.py

Select BIG SUR, because even tho it's not the recommended OS, Big Sur runs so much smoother and boots way faster. (Ventura is slow ass)

12) When that's done :

dmg2img -i BaseSystem.dmg BaseSystem.img

It converts the dmg file to an installation image.

13) Next you need to create a 256 GB VIRTUAL hardrive ( you do not need that much free space !)

14) After that :

sudo ./OpenCore-Boot.sh

(This opens QEMU and starts the machine)


15) Select the already selected disk, and WAIT.


16) When you see the recovery screen, select Disk Utility.

If your mouse doesn't work, sorry bro : (


17) Select the 256 GB SSD, not the smol one ok ?


18) Click on erase and select AFPS format and name it macOS


19) After it's done, close the disk manager, and click on reinstall macOS;.

Select macOS drive and WAIT for an hour or two. (depens on your system)



Whatever it does, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING !




20) Done. You can know configure macOS at your liking. (Just note that mics and sound does not work because of outdated tools, also the resolution is set to 720p max)



Extra step : if you wan't to re launch the machine :

Open Ubuntu, type :

cd OSX-KVM

and then :

sudo ./OpenCore-Boot.sh

then select macOS.

I see there is a Windows version for Qemu and Github and Python. Could this be done running Qemu for Windows? Why use Linux?

Kizyo said:

10) Then :

sudo usermod -aG kvm $(whoami)
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $(whoami)
sudo usermod -aG input $(whoami)

(Don't know what the hell this is but it doesn't work without it)

Click to expand...

the usermod command changes various attributes about a user account. In this particular case, the -a flag says to append that user account to a specific group, and the -G denotes a supplementary group that the user is a part of. The $(whoami) gets the username of the currently logged in user.

So, in these 3 commands, you are appending the currently logged in user into 3 different groups, the kvm group, the libvirt group and the input group.

spapakons said:

I see there is a Windows version for Qemu and Github and Python. Could this be done running Qemu for Windows? Why use Linux?

Click to expand...

It doesn't run well

pparks1 said:

the usermod command changes various attributes about a user account. In this particular case, the -a flag says to append that user account to a specific group, and the -G denotes a supplementary group that the user is a part of. The $(whoami) gets the username of the currently logged in user.

So, in these 3 commands, you are appending the currently logged in user into 3 different groups, the kvm group, the libvirt group and the input group.

Click to expand...

oh thanks : )

Regarding the hackintosh experience, I tried various methods in the past and it was always a pretty poor experience. Just like above, you are usually on an old release, don't have functionality like audio, when you try to update to new versions it craps out, etc.

My recommendation, if you are curious about the MacOS experience, Get yourself a mac mini (any of the newer ones with apple silicon will do fine. 2020 or newer. Doesn't really matter if it's M1, M2, M3 or M4). You can get a new M4 mac mini from Apple via their educational store for $499. The performance will be excellent, the unit runs silent, consumes almost no power. And if you later decide MacOS is not for you, you can easily resell that Mac Mini and get most of your money back.

pparks1 said:

Regarding the hackintosh experience, I tried various methods in the past and it was always a pretty poor experience. Just like above, you are usually on an old release, don't have functionality like audio, when you try to update to new versions it craps out, etc.

My recommendation, if you are curious about the MacOS experience, Get yourself a mac mini (any of the newer ones with apple silicon will do fine. 2020 or newer. Doesn't really matter if it's M1, M2, M3 or M4). You can get a new M4 mac mini from Apple via their educational store for $499. The performance will be excellent, the unit runs silent, consumes almost no power. And if you later decide MacOS is not for you, you can easily resell that Mac Mini and get most of your money back.

Click to expand...

BUT, it cannot upgrade after 4-5 versions of Mac OS, it eventually becomes obsolete and you have to replace it. It cannot install regular Windows 11 for x86-64 CPUs, you can only install Windows 11 for ARM64 in Parallels with too many limitations. Even worse in Greece you would pay an arm and a leg to get one. No thanks!

Thank you for your post on hackintosh experience, very useful.

I am NOT a Windows 11 fan. but W7 is dying off. was seriously thinking about hackintosh. and had got several old PC ready for the mod (HP 800 G3/G4 and Dell 7070, per various forums. they can run hackintosh macOS even 12 Monterey/13 Ventura/14 Sonoma).

have to ponder the plan once more, maybe not worth at all.

pparks1 said:

Regarding the hackintosh experience, I tried various methods in the past and it was always a pretty poor experience. Just like above, you are usually on an old release, don't have functionality like audio, when you try to update to new versions it craps out, etc.

My recommendation, if you are curious about the MacOS experience, Get yourself a mac mini (any of the newer ones with apple silicon will do fine. 2020 or newer. Doesn't really matter if it's M1, M2, M3 or M4). You can get a new M4 mac mini from Apple via their educational store for $499. The performance will be excellent, the unit runs silent, consumes almost no power. And if you later decide MacOS is not for you, you can easily resell that Mac Mini and get most of your money back.

Click to expand...

spapakons said:

BUT, it cannot upgrade after 4-5 versions of Mac OS, it eventually becomes obsolete and you have to replace it.

Click to expand...

My 2013 MacBook pro lasted through Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojava, Catalina, and Big Sur. That's Oct 2013 through November of 2020. That's 8 OS releases and end of life support was November of 2023 on Big Sur., so that's 10 years of supported life.. And I'm still using that MacBook Pro for a handful of things, it's just on an older version of MacOS and I'm fine with that.

Also, in this post, the example showed a VM running Mac OS 11 Big Sur. That's an outdated OS that is EOL without support for over a year now. That's almost 5 releases BACK from the current version.

And just like people on Windows 10 (who don't want to go to 11), and older hardware that doesn't support Windows 11, you don't have to upgrade to the latest version of MacOS to continue to use your device if you want to.

That Mac Mini is a $499 device if you buy under the Educational store (which anybody can, they don't require any proof). I think if it gets 5-8 years of supported OS upgrades, most people would find that to be plenty and probably willing to buy another device if they liked the MacOS experience.

spapakons said:

It cannot install regular Windows 11 for x86-64 CPUs, you can only install Windows 11 for ARM64 in Parallels with too many limitations.

Click to expand...

Some people probably don't care. I don't run Windows on my Mac, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in doing so.

My Mac Mini runs MacOS, and my Beelink mini PC runs Windows 11.

The point is that you can keep an old PC with Windows 11 for more than 10 years, Apple employs planned obsolescence to force you replace your much more expensive Mac, hopefully with a new Mac. If you want to prolong the life of a Mac by installing an alternative OS, your options are either Linux for ARM or Windows for ARM with all the related limitations. You cannot install "proper" Windows versions like in older Intel-based Macs. Well an option is to use UTM (based on Qemu) to emulate an Intel CPU but with a performance penalty. How important is this preformance impairment is up to the individual owner. I would rather stay with Windows 10 for as long as I can to the point I can no longer use the computer due to VERY obsolete software, than use Linux or Mac OS, let alone to waste money on a Mac. With the same amount I can buy a much better PC.

spapakons said:

The point is that you can keep an old PC with Windows 11 for more than 10 years,

Click to expand...

Well, for somebody who wants to use the MacOS rather than Windows, they can do the same thing. My 2013 MacBook Pro is still running, it's more than 10 years old.

spapakons said:

Apple employs planned obsolescence to force you replace your much more expensive Mac, hopefully with a new Mac.

Click to expand...

Well, Mac's seem to sell pretty well and their fanbase does like them. Apparently this forced upgrade cycle isn't the end of the world for these people. I know lots of people in the Windows world who upgrade their PC's every 2-5 years as well.

spapakons said:

If you want to prolong the life of a Mac by installing an alternative OS, your options are either Linux for ARM or Windows for ARM with all the related limitations.

Click to expand...

Almost nobody running a Mac is that interested in continuing to use the hardware with an alternate OS.

spapakons said:

let alone to waste money on a Mac. With the same amount I can buy a much better PC.

Click to expand...

Nobody is going to force you to buy a Mac. And not everybody using a Mac really wants to buy a PC. If they have an iPhone and an iPad, it's quite likely they want to keep everything Apple and have the entire experience.

I've bought a couple of Mac's, and my daughter has had a couple of MacBook's, and I cannot say that any of them felt like a waste of money. Lots of Mac users out there feel this way.



My whole point in this thread, is that I can see the original poster was trying to run MacOS as a VM (or a hackintosh), so clearly there is some desire on their part to run MacOS. I've got experience trying to do the whole hackintosh thing, and honestly I think it's a bunch of wasted effort and just provides a bad overall experience. One of the best things about the Mac (in the laptop) is the touchpad, the ability to go to sleep and come out of sleep immediately, and incredible battery life and great overall performance. You experience NONE of that virtualizing it. But MacBook's can be expensive, hence the reason I suggested a Mac Mini, at $599 retail (and $499 if you go through the educational store front), it's a solid piece of hardware. Obviously you have to add a keyboard, monitor and mouse to it, but i think most of us here in the PC world have most of that readily on hand.

For $500-700, they can get a really solid little computer, try it out and see what they think. Maybe they hate it, and if so, they can turn around and sell it. Or maybe they love it, and will want to buy biggeer, better, faster. Or maybe they will just be middle of the road and neither love it or hate it, but will have had the experience of trying it for themselves, learning something new, and formulating their own opinions.

I'm a PC guy, I really am. If I could ONLY pick 1 machine, it would have to be Windows. But I don't have to stay with just 1 thing, so I also like to dabble with the Mac. I'm not in the Apple is bad, I hate Mac and you should hate them too camp.

I only am interested in virtualizing mac os just so I can be familiar enough to help people when issues arise. I don't have much experience with mac os. IOS I do, but not mac os

andrew129260 said:

I only am interested in virtualizing mac os just so I can be familiar enough to help people when issues arise. I don't have much experience with mac os. IOS I do, but not mac os

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that. It was primary reason I bought the MacBook pro. I wanted my own personal laptop back in 2013, I had windows 7 and 8 systems already, and a work provided windows laptop..so thought what the heck, might as well get some real world hands on experience with the Mac. Mostly to help assist others and increase my overall knowledge. It was a $1500 learning investment.

In 2022, when I decided I wanted an M1 based Mac, I couldn't justify $1000-$1500 on a new laptop....but the Mac Mini I got for around $500 fit the ticket perfectly. The performance bump from my 2013 core i5 model to the M1 was outstanding. And the power usage is absolutely tiny. For me, the Mac Mini is the best option for staying involved in the Apple ecosystem.

My first experience with Mac OS was when I installed Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on an Acer Aspire One netbook (Intel Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, Intel 945G graphics, 120GB 2.5" SATA HDD). I shrank the Windows 7 partition to make room and with a lengthy how-to guide, a lot of typing, custom kexts (kernel extensions aka Mac drivers), patched kernel and a lot of effort, I managed to dual boot Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. I later upgraded to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. All was good until I stupidly upgraded to Mac OS X 10.6.8 which replaced all patched system files and rendered the Mac OS unbootable. Thankfully it was the second partition, so I just deleted it and expanded the Windows 7 partition back to take the whole disk.

My second achievement was to install Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion on a spare disk on my current 3rd generation Intel Core-i3 PC (now upgraded to Core-i7, see my 2nd system specs). From Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks and newer it became increasingly difficult to install Mac OS or a standard PC and was not worth the effort or my time. Let alone the fact that almost all guides demand to have an existing Mac OS system to download the necessary files. How stupid is that! The whole point of a Hackintosh is that you DON'T have a real Mac to start with. But it was a good experience to familiarize with Mac OS and be able to help my Apple friends. For the curious see Insanely Mac forums and similar sites:

My first foray into the hackintosh realm was attempted using a hardware dongle that plugged into the USB header on my motherboard to fool the legit apple installer into believing that I was actually installing on a genuine Mac. It was called the EFI-X dongle.


I was buying a new PC for myself anyway (this was in 2009), it was an Intel Quad Core Q9550, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of drive space, an Nvidia 9800GTX+ that cost about $1,300. The hardware was chosen specifically because it was the most compatible with the hackintosh project at the time. An equivalent Mac Pro would have been about $3,500. So, once I got the PC built, I bought that EFI-X module (for $240) and then bought a legit copy of the Mac OS 10.5.8 (Leopard) (around $100 if memory serves me correctly). I can see on facebook that I got it up and running on Sept 4, 2009. I spent a few months tinkering with the thing, had a good handful of issues crop up that i mostly worked through, but found that I didn't really enjoy much about it, and the juice wasn't worth the squeeze, so I got rid of the Hackintosh setup and just kept it as a Windows PC. Pretty sure I still have that $240 dongle sitting in a junk drawer somewhere.

When I bought the MacBook Pro around end of 2013 or early 2014, that was a far better experience. I had the touchpad with the great gesture support, I had a laptop that went to sleep and woke up from sleep almost instantly with no problems, and I upgraded that from one version of the OS to another without nary a problem for 6+ years. That was my daily driver and main home PC until I decided in 2021 to build myself a new gaming desktop. Obviously went Windows on that one. And we had other Windows computers at home, and I supported tons of Windows desktops/laptops at work...so I never got away from Windows. Windows has always felt more like "home" to me than the Mac, but I do like having one around hence my having my current Mac Mini. At work, I had a choice to run a Mac Laptop or Windows Laptop, and I've always used Windows. My other Linux SE's at work give me crap about it still, but I just feel like i integrate better with all the windows stuff at work and if i problem were to arise, i feel far more capable of troubleshooting it in Windows land than Apple.

spapakons said:

I see there is a Windows version for Qemu and Github and Python. Could this be done running Qemu for Windows? Why use Linux?

Click to expand...

You need the KVM hypervisor which is built into the Linux kernel and is loaded at boot time. QEMU itself is essentially an emulator which can provide paravirtualisation and other facilities for Virtual machines but doesn't provide the core modules needed for the hypervisor itself which is in fact a "separate" mini-OS. This is why these hypervisors (Hyper V is another example) can run VM's far better than other packages such as VMWare which run as an application under OS control in the users own address space.

With a user running a VM with VMware the whole session is closed if the user logs out . Windows - non server versions is a single user system. On Linux which is a multi user system a VM with KVM still runs - even if there's no users logged on to the system at all so long as users are authorised to access the VM.

Note also that the single (monolithic) libvirtd daemon for enabling the virtual machine manager is being deprecated and being replaced by modular daemons -- see the relevant section :


Ubuntu will be using these as default soon. Note though still ensure user is a member of groups libvirt,KVM and QEMU so a non root user can create, start, modify and shutdown VM's.

Cheers
jimbo