Creating VMs

Click + in the toolbar, press ⌘N, or choose File ▸ New Virtual Machine….

From an IPSW or ISO

From an IPSW or ISO… asks for an installer file you have. What the VM will be follows from the file:

The VM is named after the file, and its installer is attached to it as a USB stick until you take it out (VM settings). Linux ISOs must be for ARM64 (aarch64).

macOS VMs install from the IPSW in their window when first started (macOS guests); Windows VMs from their ISO, as on a PC (Windows guests).

From the catalog

The menu also lists systems by name: macOS 27, Windows 11, Ubuntu 26.04, Fedora 44, and the systems ready to use: Ubuntu Server 26.04, Fedora Cloud 44 and Debian 13, and, with a desktop, Ubuntu 26.04 Desktop, Fedora 44 Desktop and Debian 13 Desktop. Omarchy is there too, greyed out until it is out for Apple silicon (Omarchy). Choosing one makes a VM with that name and system.

• macOS 27 downloads the newest macOS your Mac can run when the VM first starts, and installs it (macOS guests).
• Ubuntu 26.04 and Fedora 44 download the newest release of that version for ARM64 (Ubuntu Desktop 26.04.1, Fedora Workstation 44) when the VM first starts, check it, and boot its installer (Linux guests).
• Ubuntu Server 26.04, Fedora Cloud 44 and Debian 13 (ready to use) download the distribution's cloud image, and are set up at their first boot with your user, your SSH keys and Elyra VM Tools, with nothing to install (Linux guests).
• Ubuntu 26.04 Desktop, Fedora 44 Desktop and Debian 13 Desktop (ready to use) are the same cloud images, given GNOME and a browser at their first boot, with you logged in by itself (Linux guests).
• Windows 11 says where Microsoft gives out its ISO for Arm64, and makes the VM from the ISO you download there (Windows guests).

What a new VM gets

A name that is taken gets a number: Ubuntu 26.04 2. New VMs go to the end of the list.

Importing from Parallels

Import a VM or Disk Image… in the + menu (or elyravm import <path.pvm>) brings a Parallels Desktop VM over: choose its .pvm, usually in ~/Parallels. The VM keeps its name (numbered if taken), system, processors and memory, and its disk as it is now, Parallels snapshots included, converted to Elyra VM's sparse disk. The Parallels VM is left as it was.

A row stands in for the VM while its disk is converted, saying how far it is, and becomes the VM when it is done. A disk of tens of gigabytes takes about as long as copying it.

• Linux VMs for ARM (from Parallels on a Mac with Apple silicon) are imported. They boot from the system's fallback EFI loader (EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI), which Ubuntu, Fedora and most distributions install.
• macOS VMs can't be imported: a macOS VM is bound to the virtual Mac it was installed on. Make a new one in Elyra VM.
• Windows VMs can't be imported yet. Make a new one in Elyra VM.
• A disk split into parts (an option in older Parallels versions) can't be imported yet.

Shut the VM down in Parallels first, so its disk is not being written as it is read.

Importing a disk image

Import a VM or Disk Image… (or elyravm import <path>) also takes a disk image of an installed Linux for ARM64: a qcow2 (.qcow2), as QEMU and UTM use, or a raw disk (.img, .raw). The image becomes the new VM's disk, converted to Elyra VM's sparse disk (a raw image is cloned, at once); the image is left as it was.

• The VM is named after the file, and its system follows from the name: omarchy, ubuntu, fedora or debian in it make an Omarchy, Ubuntu, Fedora or Debian VM; anything else a Linux VM.
• The disk is as large as the image says; make it larger in the VM's settings, then let the system grow its partition.
• The image must hold a whole disk with a partition table, which boots by EFI from EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI. A file system alone (such as Ubuntu's cloud .tar.gz) is refused, and an image for Intel PCs (x86_64) doesn't boot.
• Nothing sets it up: log in as the image says. Elyra VM Tools comes from the shared folders (Elyra VM Tools).

Omarchy

Omarchy is in the + menu, greyed out: Omarchy is made for Intel PCs, and its images for ARM64 virtual machines, from Omarchy M, aren't out yet. When they are, Omarchy will download and set itself up like the systems ready to use. Until then, an Omarchy ARM64 disk image or ISO of your own can be brought in: import the image as above, or choose the ISO with From an IPSW or ISO…; a file with omarchy in its name makes an Omarchy VM, with its icon.

Omarchy's desktop, Hyprland, draws with the GPU, and Apple's Virtualization framework gives Linux no 3D: in a VM it draws in software, which works, but is slow and keeps the Mac's processors busy (Limitations).

Duplicating

Duplicate (⌘D, or in the … menu) makes a clone right below the original, named … copy. The clone is made with APFS's clonefile, so it is instant and takes no space until the original or the clone changes.

The clone is a VM of its own: it gets a new id, a new MAC address and a new machine identity, and it does not get the original's saved state or logs. A suspended VM's clone therefore starts from a cold boot.

Deleting

Move to Trash (⌘⌫, or in the … menu) asks first, then moves the VM's folder to the Trash, where you can take it back until the Trash is emptied. A running VM must be shut down or suspended first.