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16 May 2025 01:10

Show HN: Lumier – Run macOS VMs in a Docker (Score: 150+ in 1 day)

Link: https://readhacker.news/s/6uu3A
Comments: https://readhacker.news/c/6uu3A

Hey HN, we're excited to share Lumier (https://github.com/trycua/cua/tree/main/libs/lumier), an open-source tool for running macOS and Linux virtual machines in Docker containers on Apple Silicon Macs.
When building virtualized environments for AI agents, we needed a reproducible way to package and distribute macOS VMs. Inspired by projects like dockur/windows (https://github.com/dockur/windows) that pioneered running Windows in Docker, we wanted to create something similar but optimized for Apple Silicon. The existing solutions either didn't support M-series chips or relied on KVM/Intel emulation, which was slow and cumbersome. We realized we could leverage Apple's Virtualization Framework to create a much better experience.
Lumier takes a different approach: it uses Docker as a delivery mechanism (not for isolation) and connects to a lightweight virtualization service (lume) running on your Mac. This creates true hardware-accelerated VMs using Apple's native virtualization capabilities.
With Lumier, you can:
- Launch a ready-to-use macOS VM in minutes with zero manual setup
- Access your VM through any web browser via VNC
- Share files between your host and VM effortlessly
- Use persistent storage or ephemeral mode for quick tests
- Automate VM startup with custom scripts
All of this works natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) - no emulation required.
To get started:
1. Install Docker for Apple Silicon: https://desktop.docker.com/mac/main/arm64/Docker.dmg
2. Install lume background service with our one-liner:

  /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)"

3. Start a VM (ephemeral mode):

  docker run -it --rm \
  --name lumier-vm \
    -p 8006:8006 \
    -e VM_NAME=lumier-vm \
    -e VERSION=ghcr.io/trycua/macos-sequoia-cua:latest \
    -e CPU_CORES=4 \
    -e RAM_SIZE=8192 \
    trycua/lumier:latest

4. Open http://localhost:8006/vnc.html in your browser. The container will generate a unique password for each VM instance - you'll see it in the container logs.
For persistent storage (so your changes survive container restarts):
mkdir -p storage
docker run -it --rm \
--name lumier-vm \
-p 8006:8006 \
-v $(pwd)/storage:/storage \
-e VM_NAME=lumier-vm \
-e HOST_STORAGE_PATH=$(pwd)/storage \
trycua/lumier:latest
Want to share files with your VM? Just add another volume:
mkdir -p shared
docker run ... -v $(pwd)/shared:/shared -e HOST_SHARED_PATH=$(pwd)/shared ...
You can even automate VM startup by placing an on-logon.sh script in shared/lifecycle/.
We're seeing people use Lumier for:
- Development and testing environments that need macOS
- CI/CD pipelines for Apple platform apps
- Disposable macOS instances for security research
- Automated UI testing across macOS versions
- Running AI agents in isolated environments
Lumier is 100% open-source under the MIT license. We're actively developing it as part of our work on C/ua (https://github.com/trycua/cua), and we'd love your feedback, bug reports, or feature ideas.
We'll be here to answer any technical questions and look forward to your comments!