Anyone got MacOS running in UTM?

[benwiggy]

Can anyone give me some guidance on how to get old versions of MacOS running in UTM? I've got the ISO images from the installers, and tried various different OSes -- Mountain Lion, El Capitan, Mavericks -- but I just get some kind of shell prompt in the VM.

Most of the internet posts seem to use QEMU on the command line, and I can't see a way to get those arguments into UTM. The arguments can't be edited.

UTM used to host Classic MacOS 9 on their gallery, but that seems to have gone now.

Surely, in 2025, there should just be a config file for a given OS?

 

[startergo]

GitHub - adespoton/utmconfigs: Config files for booting Mac OS 7-9, OS X and macOS on UTM emulator

Config files for booting Mac OS 7-9, OS X and macOS on UTM emulator - adespoton/utmconfigs

github.com

GitHub - quickemu-project/quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

Quickly create and run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines - quickemu-project/quickemu

github.com

 

[benwiggy]

Thank you! I've been looking at various github sites, but didn't find that one. Crazy that it still requires someone to have done so much work beforehand, though.

Even the SunSparc image on UTM's gallery doesn't work for me.

 

[benwiggy]

.. Still can't copy over any files to the VM, though; or get the internet passed-through.

You'd think there would be a list of parameters for specific Mac hardware.

 

[startergo]

Enable clipboard sharing:

-device virtserialport,chardev=vdagent,name=com.redhat.spice.0
-chardev spicevmc,id=vdagent,debug=0,name=vdagent

vdagent (SPICE VD Agent) enables clipboard sharing between host and guest
This allows copy-paste to work bidirectionally

SPICE Protocol Settings:

-spice unix=on,addr=B30A5CD4-C7D5-4568-BE11-0DF2FC40EFD3.spice,disable-ticketing=on,image-compression=off,playback-compression=off,streaming-video=off,gl=on

The SPICE settings that affect copy-paste:

• unix=on - Uses Unix socket for SPICE connection
• disable-ticketing=on - Disables authentication (affects clipboard access)

Virtual Serial Port:

-device virtio-serial

This enables the virtio-serial device which is required for the SPICE agent communication.

Guest Agent:

-device virtserialport,chardev=org.qemu.guest_agent,name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0
-chardev spiceport,name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0,id=org.qemu.guest_agent

The QEMU guest agent can also facilitate clipboard operations.

1. VD Agent - The most important component for clipboard sharing
2. SPICE Protocol - Provides the communication channel
3. Guest Agent - Additional clipboard support
4. virtio-serial - Required transport layer

You probably need to install guest agent too:

OSX Client

www.spice-space.org

 

[Bigwaff]

@benwiggy Are you trying to run older Intel macOS version guests in UTM in emulation on Apple Silicon host? Or is your host an Intel Mac and UTM is virtualization?

 

[benwiggy]

Are you trying to run older Intel macOS version guests in UTM in emulation on Apple Silicon host?

Yes. Half the problem seems to be getting the right QEMU arguments (which I can't edit in UTM; only add new ones.); and the other half seems to be getting the right kind of iso format.

Mavericks won't load the kernel, even using the settings from the github page.

 

[Bigwaff]

Yes. Half the problem seems to be getting the right QEMU arguments (which I can't edit in UTM; only add new ones.); and the other half seems to be getting the right kind of iso format.

Mavericks won't load the kernel, even using the settings from the github page.

I believe in UTM (aka QEMU) x86 emulation mode on Apple Silicon you would be essentially creating a "Hackintosh". Hence, you would need OpenCore in order to boot macOS.

Virtualizing OpenCore and x86 macOS on Apple Silicon (and even iOS!)

Recently I purchased an M1 equipped 13” MacBook Pro. Overall the machine has been absolutely amazing however I have 1 big issue transitioning from my old Intel Hackintosh:

khronokernel.com

 

[startergo]

I believe in UTM (aka QEMU) x86 emulation mode on Apple Silicon you would be essentially creating a "Hackintosh". Hence, you would need OpenCore in order to boot macOS.

Virtualizing OpenCore and x86 macOS on Apple Silicon (and even iOS!)

Recently I purchased an M1 equipped 13” MacBook Pro. Overall the machine has been absolutely amazing however I have 1 big issue transitioning from my old Intel Hackintosh:

khronokernel.com

I already linked the UTM config files:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/anyone-got-macos-running-in-utm.2463813/post-34074931