Execute x86_64 containers on macOS with apple chip (aarch64)

Description

A script that makes it easier to configure podman to run x86_64 containers on macOS running on aarch64 (Apple Silicon, M1, ...)

In configuration mode, VM is created using podman machine and then VM parameters are modified to use x86 emulation instead of local CPU architecture (Apple Chip). By default the created VM mounts $HOME (i.e. /Users/[username]) so that containers using volumes in the user's home also have access to it (for example, for persistent storage).

In start mode, it overcomes a problem whereby the VM startup time is too slow for podman to wait and mount the volume.

See recording.

Usage

./podmac.sh create|start [name]

• name is the name of the virtual machine, optional, default is intel_64
• env vars can be set to define the VM parameters (memory, cpu, storage)

Pre-requisites

macOS >= 12.6

• jq
• curl
• podman

Note: Missing tools can easily be installed with brew

Virtual Machine: Creation with x86_64 CPU type

Default use:

./podmac.sh create

Advanced use: override default machine parameters with env vars:

NAME=intel_64 CPUS=4 RAM_MB=4096 DISK_GB=40 ./podmac.sh create

Note: The machine name can be provided as first argument or env var NAME

Note: Machine parameters (but name, of course) can be subsequently modified using podman:

podman machine set --cpus=4 --disk-size=40 --memory=4096 intel_64

Virtual Machine: Startup

Often, simple startup results with:

podman machine start intel_64

Starting machine "intel_64"
Waiting for VM ...
Mounting volume... /Users/laurent:/Users/laurent
Error: exit status 255

This is due to the qemu emulator taking too much time to startup the machine and make SSH available soon enough for podman to execute the mount command.

The script solves this issue by slowing down podman: use the start option:

./podmac.sh start intel_64

Starting machine "intel_64"
Waiting for VM ...
Pausing podman
SSH available: Resuming podman.
Mounting volume... /Users/laurent:/Users/laurent

This machine is currently configured in rootless mode. If your containers
require root permissions (e.g. ports < 1024), or if you run into compatibility
issues with non-podman clients, you can switch using the following command:

	podman machine set --rootful intel_64

API forwarding listening on: /var/run/docker.sock
Docker API clients default to this address. You do not need to set DOCKER_HOST.

Machine "intel_64" started successfully

Et voila !

Reference

https://developer.ibm.com/tutorials/running-x86-64-containers-mac-silicon-m1/