Elyra
 Elyra The coding agent eTerm The terminal that knows where each command ends Starf An activity monitor for Apple silicon that never invents a number etrans An SSH and SFTP client for macOS Elyra VM Virtual machines for macOS, Linux and Windows on your Mac Litr A small, native web browser for macOS Notr A notebook for macOS e The native code editor Elyra Grove Native local development environment Askr The real server for Laravel & PHP Elyra Framework Rust + Svelte 5 framework for desktop apps Elyra Conductor Local project conductor Refr Local-first PDF workspace for macOS Elyra Workspace A desktop workspace for coding agents Elyra SQL Server MySQL-compatible SQL server in Rust Elyra Félagi Agents as teammates on one board Elyra SQL Client Native desktop SQL workbench Elyra SQL Anywhere Replication-ready SQL engine Elyra Sjá SEO & GEO workspace for macOS Elyra DataGrid Server-driven data grid for Laravel
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User guide
Getting started
The library
Keyboard shortcuts
Using Elyra VM
Creating VMs
Running VMs
VM settings
Snapshots
Elyra VM Tools
The command line
AI agents (MCP)
Guests
macOS guests
Linux guests
Windows guests
Reference
Licence and updates
Troubleshooting
Limitations
Changelog
Elyra
Elyra
Elyra VM
Limitations

Limitations

What Elyra VM 0.31.1 does not do yet. The roadmap has the plan.

Systems

  • Windows guests have no 3D graphics, and can't use the Mac's own USB devices (disk images plug in as USB disks). They need macOS 15 or later; nested virtualization (WSL 2, Hyper-V) an M3 or later. Their display follows the window once virtio-win's display driver is in (Windows guests).
  • Linux guests need ARM64 (aarch64). Intel (x86_64) systems don't run.
  • 3D for Linux needs macOS 27. On older macOS, Linux guests have Apple's GPU, without 3D, so desktops that need a GPU, such as Omarchy's Hyprland, draw in software: slow, and heavy on the Mac's processors. On macOS 27, 3D graphics give Linux OpenGL (up to OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenGL 2.1), not yet Vulkan: programs that need OpenGL 3.1 or later, such as the kitty terminal, don't start. A VM with it can't be suspended. Hyprland keeps the size it started with while the window is resized (the picture is scaled to fit), and takes the window's size when you log in again.
  • Omarchy can't be downloaded yet: Omarchy has no ARM64 images out. An image or ISO of your own can be imported.

Creating and installing

  • The catalog has one version of each system: the newest macOS, Ubuntu 26.04 and Fedora 44. For another, use From an IPSW or ISO…. Windows 11's ISO is downloaded by you, from Microsoft.
  • A Linux installer comes out when the guest stops with a system on its disk. A live ISO booted on purpose in a VM that already has a system comes out at its first shutdown too.
  • Six systems are set up for you (Ubuntu Server, Fedora Cloud and Debian, as servers and with a desktop); other Linux systems install from their installer, and get Elyra VM Tools by hand. A desktop is installed from the distribution's servers at the first boot, so that boot needs the internet, and takes some minutes.
  • Parallels import takes Linux VMs only, and not disks split into parts. It has been tested with VMs written to Parallels' published formats, not yet with VMs from Parallels Desktop itself.

Elyra VM Tools

  • Files can be dragged out of macOS guests only: Linux desktops (Wayland) don't let Elyra VM Tools see a drag that begins in another program. Use elyravm cp or a shared folder.
  • The clipboard in macOS guests takes text, formatted text and pictures up to 32 MB a copy, and files copied in Finder up to 1 GB; their files are sent when they are copied, not when they are pasted.
  • cp copies into the VM as root unless --user is given.
  • An agent of 0.9.0 can't update itself, nor stream exec or cp: install it again once in the guest.

Settings

  • Bridged networking acts as Shared, until Apple grants the entitlement it needs.
  • A disk can only grow, and the system in the VM must extend its partition itself.
  • Processors, memory and the permissions change at the next start; only the name, shared folders and network change while a VM runs.
  • No camera: Apple's framework has no camera for VMs, in macOS 27 either.
  • USB devices can't be passed through to a VM yet: macOS 27 lets an app pass one through, with an entitlement Apple grants on request. Disk images can be plugged in as USB sticks (running VMs).

Running

  • A VM renamed while it runs keeps its old name in the Dock until it next starts: macOS lets a running app's name be changed only through private interfaces.
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