🥧 Tart Image Bakery

Automated macOS virtual machines for Tart using HashiCorp Packer, with provisioning via shell script or Ansible.

Important

This project bypasses Setup Assistant on macOS 26 and below, which may have unexpected side effects. Not indended for production use ⚠️ On macOS 27 it uses the official VZMacGuestProvisioningOptions mechanism.

Please make sure to read and accept the license agreement of the macOS version you're installing.

Features

• Automatic IPSW download handling: Specify version to download the correct IPSW file
• Fully unattended installation: Automated macOS setup without Setup Assistant interaction
• System Integrity Protection (SIP) management: Optional automated SIP disabling during setup
• Customizable resources: Configure CPU count, memory size, and disk size
• Minimal provisioning: Default minimal provisioning for base images
  • Passwordless sudo enabled
  • Screensaver, sleep, and lock screen disabled
  • SSH and VNC services enabled
  • Python installed (when Ansible is used)
• Optional Ansible provisioning: Bring your own Ansible playboooks

Installation

brew install hashicorp/tap/packer
brew install openai/tools/tart
brew install ansible # Optional
packer init macos

Usage

Basic VM creation

packer build -parallel-builds=1 -var version=26 macos

Custom VM configuration

packer build -parallel-builds=1 \
  -var version=26 \
  -var cpu_count=8 \
  -var memory_size=16 \
  -var disk_size=100 \
  -var recovery_partition=relocate \
  -var username=developer \
  -var password=hunter2 \
  macos

Disable SIP

packer build -parallel-builds=1 \
  -var version=26 \
  -var disable_sip=true \
  macos

Pre-release macOS versions

packer build -var -parallel-builds=1 version=27-0 macos

With Ansible provisioning

packer build -parallel-builds=1 \
  -var version=26 \
  -var ansible_playbook=playbook.yml \
  macos

Override provisioning script

packer build -parallel-builds=1 \
  -var version=26 \
  -var provisioning_script=/path/to/custom-setup.sh \
  macos