Create VM
Create VM
Anka makes it very simple manage your macOS CI infrastructure-as-a-code.
Use anka create command to create macOS VMs from the .app installer app.
anka create --ram-size 4G --cpu-count 2 --disk-size 80G --app /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app Hisierravm
Note For Catalina Anka VMs, –ram-size value should be 4G and –disk-size should be 80G.
By default anka create creates macOS VM with administrative user - anka and password - admin. You can change this default user by using these ENV variables with anka create command.
ANKA_DEFAULT_PASSWD=passwd ANKA_DEFAULT_USER=usrname anka create --ram-size 4G --cpu-count 2 --disk-size 60G -a /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app HiSierravm
anka create [OPTIONS] {vmNameOrUUID}
Creates a VM
Options:
-m, --ram-size TEXT ram size in G [default: 4G]
-c, --cpu-count INTEGER the number of cpu cores [default: 2]
-d, --disk-size TEXT sets the disk size when creating a new disk, G/M suffix
needed [default: 80G]
-a, --app PATH Path to Install macOS Application (downloadable from
AppStore)
-p, --pkg PATH Additional package to be installed
-s, --postinstall PATH Postinstall scripts (to run with root credentials at first
boot)
--help Show this message and exit.
Note - While creating VM with anka create, make sure to specify enough –disk-size.
anka create --ram-size 4G --cpu-count 2 --disk-size 80G --app /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app build73sierra
Installing macOS 10.13...
Preparing target disk...
Copying addons...
Converting to ANKA format...
Waiting for installation to complete in the guest (about thirty minutes approx.)...
vm created successfully with uuid: 8f0e1111-a14b-11e7-aaa4-003ee1cbb8b4
The output of anka create command is a VM created and it's in suspended state. anka start from suspended state bypasses the full boot and starts the Vm in 1-2 seconds.
Note VMs are created with SIP/Kext Consent disabled by default. It's strongly advised to keep these settings for optimal Anka performance.
If you need to re-enable SIP/Kext Consent, then use this command anka modify {vmNameOrUUID} set custom-variable sys.csr-active-config 0.
Note VMs created are in suspended mode to enable fast boot/Instant Start.
Run VM
The VM can now be successfully started. The VM is preconfigured with a default administrative username anka and password admin. You will see the VM boot up and have to complete the macOS keypad setup steps.
anka start 133b387
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| uuid | 49b35a9c-1659-11e8-a71d-003ee1cde439 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| name | 133b387 (20rel) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| description | nineteen |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| created | Jul 01 07:24 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| cpu_cores | 4 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| ram | 8G |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| display | 1 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| hard_drive | 40Gi (43.8Gi on disk) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| addons_version | 2.0.0.107 (update recommended) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| status | running |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| vnc_connection_string | vnc://:admin@xxx.xxx.xx.xxx:5901 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
Validate by running the following command anka run {vmNameOrUUID} ls -l from the host. It should display ls -l contents of the host current directory. The VM is correctly created.
You can manually work within the VM with anka view sierravm. This will open the VM window.
Do anka show {vmNameOrUUID} to view IP and other runtime details of the VM.
anka show 133b387
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| uuid | 49b35a9c-1659-11e8-a71d-003ee1cde439 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| name | 133b387 (20rel) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| description | nineteen |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| created | Jul 01 07:24 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| cpu_cores | 4 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| ram | 8G |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| display | 1 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| hard_drive | 40Gi (44.1Gi on disk) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| addons_version | 2.0.0.107 (update recommended) |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| status | running |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| ip | 192.168.64.38 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| vnc_connection_string | vnc://:admin@xxx.xxx.xx.xxx:5901 |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
port_forwarding
+--------------+------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| guest_port | protocol | name | host_port | time_sync | host_ip |
+==============+============+=========+=============+=============+===========+
| 22 | tcp | jenkins | 10000 | 0 | 0.0.0.0 |
+--------------+------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
Upgrading macOS VM inside Anka VM
Anka supports softwareupdate and also the System Preferences method of upgrading.
Work inside the VM
There are multiple methods to install various software packages and work inside the VM.
Manual method
You can manually work within the VM with anka view sierravm. This will open the VM view window.
anka view supports working in full screen and also retina mode. Retina mode is supported for Anka VMs running Mojave or later.
Automated methods
SSH to the VM and execute commands
SSH into the VM from the host where its running with the following command.
ssh anka@ip, where ip is the Vm IP shown in anka show {vmNameOrUUID} command.
To SSH into the VM from another host, first enable ssh port forwarding. Use anka modify command.
anka modify {vmNameOrUUID} add port-forwarding --host-port 0 --guest-port 22 ssh
rule added successfully
When the port forwarding rule is successfully added, you will see the following in the anka show {vmNameOrUUID} output.
port_forwarding
+--------------+------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| guest_port | protocol | name | host_port | time_sync | host_ip |
+==============+============+=========+=============+=============+===========+
| 22 | tcp | ssh | 10000 | 1 | 0.0.0.0 |
+--------------+------------+---------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
Access it with ssh anka@hotsip -p host_port
Use anka run and execute commands
Similar to docker exec, anka run allows execution of commands inside of a VM.
Example
anka run -n -N {vmNameOrUUID} ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
anka run -n {vmNameOrUUID} sudo gem install xcode-install
#saving user/pass of app store
echo FASTLANE_USER=user >> appstore_login
echo FASTLANE_PASSWORD=password >> appstore_passwd
anka run -f appstore_login -nE {vmNameOrUUID} xcversion install 10.1
Refer here for more details on how to use anka run command.
Using an ISO file to create Anka VM - Yosemite & ElCapitan VMs
Use create_macos_install_image.sh included in the Anka package to first create an .iso from your Yosemite and ElCapitan .app installer.
If you already have .iso file, you don't need to execute this step.
/Library/Application\ Support/Veertu/Anka/tools/create_macos_install_image.sh
Usage: create_macos_install_image.sh install_macos.app [OPTIONS]...
Options:
--g,--guest-addons Embed Anka guest addons in the installer
--o,--output output.iso Specify output image file, if not specified the image will be created in working directory
--p,--pkg path/to/pkg Specify additional packages to include into the installer
For example:
/Library/Application\ Support/Veertu/Anka/tools/create_macos_install_image.sh /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app
To create a VM from .iso, you will use anka create command as you typically would. It will create an empty VM.
Note - > While creating VM with anka create, make sure to specify enough –disk-size parameter. Currently, it's not possible to change the disk size for an existing VM.
anka create --ram-size 2G --cpu-count 2 --disk-size 60G sierravm
vm created successfully with uuid: dfaa97c5-2154-11e8-881d-acbc32ad1d59
Then, start the VM with the sierra ISO attached.
anka start -v -o sierra.iso sierravm
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
| uuid | dfaa97c5-2154-11e8-881d-acbc32ad1d59 |
| name | sierravm |
| cpu_cores | 2 |
| ram | 2G |
| hard_drive | 60 GB (11.2 MB on disk) |
| addons_version | not found |
| status | running |
| vnc_connection_string | vnc://:admin@10.0.1.12:5900 |
| view_vm_display | anka view sierravm |
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------+
Complete the macOS setup inside the VM. Then, stop the VM.
Start the VM again with guest addons ISO installed.
anka start -v -o /Library/Application\ Support/Veertu/Anka/guestaddons/anka-addons-mac.iso sierravm
Complete the guest addons installation inside the VM. Shutdown the VM with anka stop {vmNameOrUUID}.
Validate by running the following command anka run {vmNameOrUUID} ls -l from the host. It should display ls -l contents of the VM. The VM is correctly created.
Anka Guest Addons also create a default user - anka, passwd - admin for the VM.
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