README.md

libvirt on M1

This repo helps you to install and run libvirt and virt-manager natively on macOS on Apple Silicon Macs.

# Add my repo to Homebrew
brew tap Menci/libvirt-m1

# Remove any old version installed
brew uninstall --force --ignore-dependencies libvirt virt-{manager,viewer} gtk-vnc

# Install my patched version of the packages
brew install --build-from-source Menci/libvirt-m1/virt-manager \
             --build-from-source Menci/libvirt-m1/virt-viewer \
             --build-from-source Menci/libvirt-m1/gtk-vnc
brew install --head Menci/libvirt-m1/libvirt # Skip this if you don't need to run VMs locally

# Install QEMU (skip if already installed)
brew install qemu

# Disable QEMU security features in libvirtd's config
echo 'security_driver = "none"' >> /opt/homebrew/etc/libvirt/qemu.conf
echo "dynamic_ownership = 0" >> /opt/homebrew/etc/libvirt/qemu.conf
echo "remember_owner = 0" >> /opt/homebrew/etc/libvirt/qemu.conf

# Start libvirtd
brew services start libvirt

# Start virt-manager
virt-manager --debug --no-fork

References

• jeffreywildman/homebrew-virt-manager#184 (comment) to for gtk-vnc patch.
• Damenly/homebrew-virt-manager for virt-manager and virt-viewer formulaes.
• ARM64 VM on macOS with libvirt + QEMU for disabling QEMU security features and enabling HVF.
• gitlab.com/Menci/libvirt@3a70188e my patch to get libvirtd working.