How to install Multipass on macOS

See also

Contents:

Check prerequisites

The default backend on macOS is hyperkit on Intel, and qemu on the M1, wrapping Apple’s Hypervisor.framework. You can use any M1 Mac, or a 2010 or newer Intel Mac with macOS 10.14 Mojave or later installed.

Install, upgrade, uninstall

To install Multipass on macOS, you have two options: the installer package or brew. Upgrading and uninstallation options depend on this choice as well.

Use the installer package

Download the latest installer from our GitHub releases page - it’s the .pkg package.

If you want Tab completion on the command line, install bash-completion from brew first.

Activate the downloaded installer and it will guide you through the necessary steps. You will need an account with administrator privileges to complete the installation.

Multipass installer on macOS

There’s a script to uninstall:

$ sudo sh "/Library/Application Support/com.canonical.multipass/uninstall.sh"

Use brew

If you don’t have it already, install Brew. Then, to install Multipass simply execute:

$ brew install --cask multipass

To uninstall:

$ brew uninstall multipass
# or
$ brew uninstall --zap multipass # to destroy all data, too

Run

You’ve installed Multipass. Time to run your first commands! Use multipass version to check your version or multipass launch to create your first instance.

Last updated 15 days ago.

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