Verified after a reboot: desktoppr reports the configured image. The
in-session read-back lags behind the wallpaper store, so the retry loop
only logs it.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
WallpaperAgent drops choices whose file is outside the user's space
("No files include in the descriptor" for /Library/Desktop Pictures); from
~/Pictures the choice is written to the wallpaper store and persists.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
macOS refuses to mount a volume over /Users (firmlink), and a failing fstab
entry also suppresses the automount. Point NFSHomeDirectory at the automounted
volume instead. Profile: Dock entries need tile-type/file URL; wait for the
wallpaper store before shutting down.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
Apple's built-in QEMU guest agent (AppleQEMUGuestAgent, launched by launchd
when a virtio console port org.qemu.guest_agent.0 appears; guest-exec as root)
is attached by vmix run --macos and the NixOS module. AppleVirtIO.kext on x86
Tahoe drives virtio-fs, block, console, input, net — verified in QEMU.
- customizeImage: `bootScript` — online step through the guest agent (driver
mode qga): boot the image, run the script as root with the VMIX volume, shut
down through the agent. `as_user` runs commands in the logged-in session.
- templates.software: pkg/app (offline in the PE), script/homebrew (online).
- templates.profile.settings: widgets, wallpaper (pinned desktoppr — Apple
Events need TCC consent that a headless session cannot give), dock apps,
autohide, dark mode, hidden files.
- generalize: persistHome (fstab LABEL=vmix-home /Users), hideWidgets offline.
- formatVolume: formats a blank disk image as APFS by booting the PE (~35 s);
idempotent.
- NixOS module: macos.guestAgent (/run/vmix/qga-<name>.sock), shares via
virtiofsd + vhost-user-fs (Apple automount tag for the first share, others
mounted through the agent), macos.homeDisk (created + formatted on first
start, virtio-blk), SPICE keeps -vga vmware for macOS.
- CLI: vmix run --macos --share DIR --home FILE --qga PATH.
- qemu.nix helpers; README section.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
nix build --rebuild exits non-zero when the byte-wise different qcow2 does not
match the previous output; that is not a failed install.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
The OSX-KVM ESP ships Lilu 1.6.8 / VirtualSMC 1.3.3 / WhateverGreen 1.6.7,
which disable themselves on macOS 26; Apple's SMC driver then runs on QEMU's
isa-applesmc stub and the restart path panics (SMCWDT smcWriteKey
kSMCBadCommand → nested panic after MACH Reboot). Overlay pinned current
releases (upstream.json opencore.kexts) and drop isa-applesmc: with the stub
present VirtualSMC steps aside ("multiple devices present"); alone it carries
the OSK and reboots work (PE restart test: 10 s, clean). RestrictEvents with
revpatch=memtab silences MacPro7,1's "Memory Modules Misconfigured".
- makeOpenCore: kext overlay + Kernel.Add entries for overlaid kexts,
--memory-mb (4 DIMMs), bootArgs default revpatch=memtab
- qemu.nix: deviceArgsFor { appleSmc } (default false); cli: --applesmc for
images built before this change
- vm-driver: reboot-death detection (reset 60 s after a guest reboot request
that never comes back), panics wait for XNU's own auto-reboot, debug dir
works across nixbld users
- generalize: QEMU USB keyboard declared ANSI (no Keyboard Setup Assistant)
- README: architecture, reliability handling, debugging
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
Replace the screenshot/OCR/keystroke driving of Apple's Recovery with a
"PE": BaseSystem.dmg (a journaled HFS+ volume, writable from Linux) with one
LaunchDaemon added (makeRecoveryPE) that runs /Volumes/VMIX/run.sh as root at
boot, records the status and powers off. launchd loads it alongside its signed
cache (verified on Tahoe 26.6.2); same idea as AutoNBI/Imagr NetBoot images.
- makeImage: the PE runs vmix-install.sh (erase, installer app, SharedSupport
pkgdmg, startosinstall). Progress is read from the serial console
(boot-args serial=3 -v, VMIX-* markers) and screenshots (brightness only).
Fully offline; prepare now takes ~5 min instead of ~10.
- customizeImage: boots the PE with the image attached and runs the template
offline against the mounted System/Data volumes; OpenCore ScanPolicy
restricted to HFS+/SATA so only the PE can boot. One PE boot ~30 s. The
installed macOS is never booted for customization, so nothing depends on
launchd/BTM approval or a first-boot agent (removed).
- templates rewritten for offline use: generalize creates the user with
dscl -f (admin, home, auto-login kcpassword, Setup Assistant suppression,
hostname, locale, timezone, keyboard type, container resize); remote-access,
no-updates, performance edit the target's plists.
- makeBootDisk: build-time OpenCore variant (serial console, ScanPolicy).
- vm-driver.py rewritten: passive observation only (serial markers, kernel
boots, panics, brightness), disk+serial-aware hang watchdog, reboot-death
reset, halt/loginwindow detection. No OCR/tesseract.
- OpenCore: four SMBIOS DIMMs for MacPro7,1 (no "Memory Modules
Misconfigured" warning).
- tools/soak.sh: repeatability harness.
Verified on daku: base install 23 min end to end; basic + generalize in three
~30 s PE boots; the result auto-logs into the desktop with the created user.
Root cause of the "first-boot hang" (from the serial log): the guest's restart
path panics (IOPlatformHaltRestartAction -> AppleSMC, SMCWDT smcWriteKey
kSMCBadCommand, nested panic) because the pinned OSX-KVM Lilu disables itself
on macOS 26, so VirtualSMC never loads. Handled by the driver (reset within
60 s); kext update to follow.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
The base image (macos.images.tahoe.upstream) now installs and boots end to end
with no dependency on Apple's servers — proven on the KVM host: the finished
qcow2 boots standalone (OpenCore from its own ESP) to the macOS 26.6.2 loginwindow.
Install driving (vm-driver.py, screenshot + OCR over QMP):
- map the whole InstallAssistant.pkg as a raw disk and dd it byte-exact into the
app as SharedSupport.dmg (it is a pkgdmg: xar + koly footer — the bare xar
member fails startosinstall with "pkgdmg is missing a footer")
- offline install: no NIC + /etc/hosts blackhole of Apple install/verify
endpoints so startosinstall's calls fail fast instead of hanging
(SecureBootModel=Disabled allows the sealed-volume install offline)
- keep the recovery display awake with a tiny mouse jiggle; coarse settle
fingerprint so the cursor is not seen as a change
- guest watchdog re-erases/retries a startosinstall attempt that stalls or runs
too long (prepare is intermittently slow)
- disk-aware boot watchdog: QMP system_reset only when the screen is dark AND the
disk is idle (never interrupts a slow-but-working boot); recovery-restart if a
post-prepare reboot lands back on recovery
- detect the bright loginwindow and power the VM down (install complete); a
black + disk-idle screen is treated as a completed halt
- copy OpenCore into the image ESP so it boots standalone
recovery.file pins a content-addressed local BaseSystem.dmg (Apple's CDN
load-balances Sequoia/Tahoe during the rollout). fetchRecovery retries to the
pinned hash when used instead.
Not yet done: .generalize (user creation) — the first-boot agent LaunchDaemon is
blocked by Ventura+ Background Task Management on headless boots; next step is
offline user injection from the agent pkg postinstall.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
Add a macOS image pipeline mirroring the Windows one: unattended install,
generalization and user creation, driven end to end in QEMU on a KVM host.
lib/images/macos:
- makeOpenCore: OSX-KVM OpenCore ESP with a config.plist rewritten per image —
SMBIOS model + serial/MLB (macserial) + UUID + ROM=en0 MAC (built-in NIC pinned
to PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x12,0x0)) for Apple ID / iMessage / App Store; boot disk;
OpenCore self-entry hidden. ident.nix derives MAC+UUID from a seed so the NixOS
module and CLI know the NIC MAC at eval time.
- makeImage: one QEMU session driven by vm-driver.py (QMP + screenshot settle
detection + OCR of the menu bar) — boots the recovery via OpenCore, opens
Terminal (Ctrl-F2 -> Utilities -> Terminal), types the bootstrap command;
vmix-install.sh erases the disk as APFS, lays down the host-extracted installer
app skeleton + a byte-exact SharedSupport.dmg (raw disk mapped to that byte range
of the pkg, dd'd in — Recovery's xar truncates an 18 GB member), runs
startosinstall with the vmix agent pkg. OpenCore is then copied into the image's
ESP so it boots standalone with OVMF.
- customizeImage / templates: boot the image with a FAT-then-HFS+ VMIX volume; the
vmix agent (LaunchDaemon) runs a script as root, records status and powers off —
the macOS counterpart of Windows Audit Mode. generalize creates the admin user +
auto-login (kcpassword), suppresses Setup Assistant, sets hostname/timezone,
grows APFS, and assigns a fresh SMBIOS identity. Templates: noUpdates,
performance, remoteAccess (ssh + screen sharing).
- fetchRecovery: Apple recovery BaseSystem, retried until the pinned Tahoe build
(osrecovery load-balances Sequoia/Tahoe during the rollout). makeAgentPkg builds
a distribution flat pkg on Linux (xar+bom+cpio) for startosinstall --installpackage.
CLI: vmix build/copy/run for macOS (run --macos --vnc, reads the image's MAC from
its ESP), and a `vmix macserial` helper. NixOS module: disks.os.file carrying
_vmixOsType="macos" auto-enables the macOS QEMU profile (AppleSMC+OSK, Skylake
CPU spoof, AHCI system disk, VMware SVGA, pinned NIC); macos.{enable,cpu,mac}.
Status: proven through the installer prepare phase (SharedSupport.dmg mounts,
version 26.6.2 read, SU catalog loads). Two blockers remain, documented in
lib/images/macos/README.md: (1) startosinstall's OSISVerifyBaseSystemOperation
rejects the byte-identical plain-UDIF SharedSupport as "pkgdmg missing a footer"
in this Tahoe recovery/VM; (2) Apple's CDN unreliably serves the Tahoe recovery
during rollout (self-hosting the verified BaseSystem is the robust fix).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XsESshRCoBoUVWV9qKURUF
