How to Make a Virtual Machine on a Mac

Making a virtual machine on an Apple Silicon Mac is a six-step process: install a VM app, decide what the guest OS will be, get the installer image, create the VM in the wizard, install the guest, and tidy up the lifecycle. With Kyvenza 2.3.0 on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, you can have a working VM in under ten minutes — pre-filled defaults, no command-line flags, no QEMU arguments to assemble.

This page walks through each step for the three guest systems Kyvenza supports out of the box: Windows 11 on ARM, an ARM Linux distribution, and macOS. If you have not yet decided which guest to run, start with What is a virtual machine for the background.

Before you start

You will need:

• An Apple Silicon Mac with an M1, M2, M3, M4, or M5 series chip.
• macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
• Kyvenza 2.3.0 — the latest public release.
• An installer image for the guest you want to run. Kyvenza does not bundle or redistribute operating systems, so you bring your own.

The 7-day free trial unlocks every feature without an email or credit card, so you can complete the whole walkthrough below without paying. After the trial, the Pro licence is $49 one-time.

Step 1 — Download and install Kyvenza

Grab the signed .dmg from the Kyvenza download page and drag the app into /Applications. Kyvenza does not require an account to install or use. There is no kernel extension, no login item, no background agent — the app runs as a normal signed macOS application on Apple's own Virtualization framework.

Step 2 — Decide what the guest OS will be

Pick the guest that matches the workload:

• Windows 11 on ARM — for Windows-only applications (accounting packages, vendor utilities, internal portals that need Internet Explorer mode or a Windows certificate store).
• ARM Linux — for matching production servers (Ubuntu ARM, Debian ARM, Fedora ARM), for command-line tooling, or for disposable test environments.
• macOS — for testing a beta, isolating a project on a clean system install, or matching a build environment.

The choice is not permanent: the wizard lets you delete a VM and start over, so treat this as the first decision rather than a commitment. If you are not sure yet, start with Ubuntu ARM — it is the fastest guest to install and the easiest to throw away.

Step 3 — Get the installer image

Kyvenza does not download operating systems for you, but the Create wizard links to the right place for each guest.

• Linux ARM — the wizard points at the project's official download page and pins the ISO to a specific known-good major release. Kyvenza 2.3.0 supports Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Fedora 44, and Alpine 3.24 as the primary targets.
• Windows 11 on ARM — the wizard links to Microsoft's official Windows 11 ARM64 download. You also need your own valid Windows licence.
• macOS — paste in an IPSW from Apple's developer catalog. The wizard walks the install end-to-end.

For Linux, Kyvenza 2.3.0 verifies the SHA-256 checksum of every ISO before booting it, so a tampered file or a rolling-release redirect is deleted rather than installed. Cached ISOs are re-checked before reuse.

Step 4 — Create the VM in the wizard

Open Kyvenza and click the Create Virtual Machine button (or press ⌘N). The wizard walks you through:

1. Pick the guest type — Windows, Linux, or macOS.
2. Select the installer image — the ISO, the Windows ARM64 image, or the macOS IPSW.
3. Confirm the defaults — 4 virtual CPUs, 4 GB of memory, and a 64 GB disk are pre-filled. Most people can leave these alone for a first VM.
4. Choose a display resolution (Windows only) — it is fixed for that boot, with five verified modes up to 2560×1600.
5. Pick the network mode — NAT is the default for all guests. Bridged networking is available for macOS and Linux ARM guests on the direct-download build, which gives the guest its own IP address on your network.
6. Click Create — the VM appears in your library within seconds.

There is no separate "config file" to edit. If you do need to adjust something later, every setting is editable from the VM's detail view while the VM is stopped.

Step 5 — Install the guest operating system

Boot the VM from the library. A window opens on your macOS desktop and runs the guest's installer.

For Linux ARM

Run the normal installer. Once the install finishes, reboot the guest. Clipboard sharing between the host and the guest requires spice-vdagent inside the Linux guest; most distributions ship it as a package you can install from the system package manager (apt install spice-vdagent on Debian / Ubuntu, dnf install spice-vdagent on Fedora).

For Windows 11 on ARM

Run Windows Setup. The installer will reach the network page and stop, because it does not yet recognise the virtual network adapter. Click Install driver in the setup dialog and select the whole KYVENZA-DRIVERS disc that the wizard has already mounted in the VM. That one step installs both the network and display drivers — nothing to download, nothing to extract.

After Windows finishes installing and reaches the desktop, shut the VM down. Click Complete Install in Kyvenza. The next time the VM starts, the display switches over to the virtio adapter and the installer image detaches. From this point the VM behaves like any other: start, stop, pause, snapshot, clone, back up.

For macOS

Follow the macOS IPSW-based install. The wizard walks it end-to-end. macOS guests on Apple Silicon are the most demanding of the three — give the VM at least 8 GB of memory and an 80 GB disk so the install has room to expand.

Step 6 — Shut down, snapshot, and start using the VM

Take your first snapshot right after the guest finishes installing. That snapshot is your recovery point — anything you do from here on out can be rolled back to a clean system by reverting to it. APFS stores snapshots copy-on-write, so the first snapshot takes no extra disk space and subsequent snapshots only consume space once the guest actually diverges from its base.

From here on, the lifecycle is the same for every guest:

• Start the VM when you need it.
• Stop it when you are done.
• Snapshot before risky changes and revert to the snapshot when you need a clean slate.
• Clone a configured VM when you need a second copy of the same setup.
• Delete the VM when the experiment is over. Deleting removes the disk file too, with nothing left behind on the host.

Different ways to make a VM on a Mac

Kyvenza is one path among several. The most common alternatives:

Approach	When it fits
Kyvenza	macOS, ARM Linux, and Windows 11 ARM guests with pre-filled defaults and a one-time price. The path this page walks through.
UTM	When you need QEMU emulation for x86 / x64, older operating systems, or experimental CPU architectures. UTM is free and open-source but exposes more configuration knobs.
Parallels Desktop	When Windows is more than an occasional application, when you need 3D or GPU acceleration in Windows, or when you want Microsoft's authorized path. Annual subscription.
Cloud VM	When the workload is a remote server you do not need to touch locally. Hourly or monthly, no local hardware commitment.

For more on picking between these, see Parallels vs UTM vs VMware Fusion vs Kyvenza.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a virtual machine on my Mac?

Install Kyvenza, open the Create Virtual Machine wizard, pick the guest operating system, point it at an installer image (an ARM Linux ISO, Microsoft's official Windows 11 ARM64 image, or a macOS IPSW), and confirm the pre-filled defaults. Kyvenza 2.3.0 handles the disk, memory, CPU, and network setup; you boot the resulting VM in a window and install the guest as if it were a physical machine.

How do I make a virtual machine step by step?

Step 1: install a VM app such as Kyvenza on the Mac. Step 2: pick the guest OS you want to run. Step 3: download that OS's official installer image. Step 4: in Kyvenza's Create wizard, select the guest, attach the image, and confirm the defaults. Step 5: boot the VM and install the guest. Step 6: shut down, snapshot, and start using it. The whole process usually takes under ten minutes for a Linux guest and a bit longer for a Windows guest because of the driver step.

How do I make a virtual machine on Apple Silicon?

Use a VM app that runs on Apple's Virtualization framework rather than emulating x86 — that means Kyvenza, UTM (configured for ARM), or Parallels Desktop. Pick an ARM guest operating system: macOS, Ubuntu ARM, Debian ARM, Fedora ARM, or Windows 11 on ARM. x86 guests will not run natively on Apple Silicon without emulation, which is why Kyvenza does not support them.

How do I make a Windows virtual machine on a Mac?

Download Microsoft's official Windows 11 ARM64 image and your own valid Windows licence. Open Kyvenza, choose Windows in the Create wizard, select the ISO, and confirm the defaults. Boot the VM, run Windows Setup, and at the network page choose Install driver and pick the whole KYVENZA-DRIVERS disc that Kyvenza has already mounted in the VM — that installs the network and display drivers in one step. After Windows finishes installing, shut the VM down and click Complete Install in Kyvenza to finalise it.

How do I make a Linux virtual machine on a Mac?

Pick an ARM Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora are the three Kyvenza officially validates). The Create wizard points you at the project's download page and pins the ISO to a specific known-good major release, and Kyvenza 2.3.0 checks the SHA-256 checksum before booting. After the wizard finishes, boot the VM and run the normal installer. Clipboard sharing needs spice-vdagent inside the guest; on a Linux guest that usually means installing it from the distribution's package manager.

How do I make a virtual machine without Parallels?

Use a different VM app. On Apple Silicon Macs the leading alternative is Kyvenza, which runs Windows 11 on ARM alongside macOS and ARM Linux for $49 one-time with a 7-day free trial, or UTM, which is free and exposes QEMU directly but expects you to assemble more of the configuration yourself. Both run on Apple's Virtualization framework; neither emulates x86. Pick by the guest you need: Kyvenza if you want pre-filled defaults, UTM if you want full control.

Can I make a virtual machine from an ISO file?

Yes. In the Kyvenza Create wizard, pick the guest operating system, and when the wizard asks for the installer, select the ISO you downloaded. Kyvenza 2.3.0 verifies the SHA-256 checksum against the value published alongside the Linux ISO, so a tampered or corrupt file is deleted rather than installed. Cached ISOs are re-checked before reuse.

How much disk space do I need to make a virtual machine?

The Kyvenza Create wizard pre-fills 64 GB for the VM disk, which is enough for a Windows or Linux guest plus its installed applications. macOS guests need more — typically 80 GB or larger — because the IPSW expands into a full system. Plan an additional 10–20 GB of free space on the host for snapshots, which APFS stores copy-on-write and which only consume real space once the guest diverges from its base.

How much memory does my Mac need to make a virtual machine?

Kyvenza pre-fills 4 GB of memory per VM, which is fine for a Linux server, an Ubuntu desktop, or a basic Windows 11 ARM install. macOS guests and Windows guests with several large applications benefit from 8 GB or more. The memory is reserved from the host's RAM while the VM runs, so a 16 GB Mac running a 4 GB VM still has 12 GB for macOS, while the same Mac running two VMs at 8 GB each will be tight.

How long does it take to make a virtual machine?

For a Linux ARM guest on Kyvenza, about ten minutes from the moment you click Create: the wizard configures the VM in seconds, and the installer runs as fast as the ISO and the host disk allow. For Windows 11 on ARM, plan on 20–40 minutes because the install is larger and includes the driver step. For a macOS guest, the install time depends on the IPSW and the host Mac's disk speed.

Do I need an account to make a virtual machine?

No. Kyvenza does not require an account to download, install, create, or run a VM. The 7-day free trial unlocks every feature without an email or credit card. When the trial ends, the Pro licence is $49 one-time with no recurring account requirement.

Can I make a virtual machine without an internet connection?

Once the VM app and the guest installer image are on the Mac, the VM itself runs offline. Kyvenza does not phone home to a license server, and the macOS and Linux guest paths run entirely on the local machine. Windows guests do need to reach Microsoft's activation servers during the install if you activate the licence, but the VM will boot and run without an active licence for testing purposes.

Next steps

• What is a virtual machine — the background read.
• Parallels vs UTM vs VMware Fusion vs Kyvenza — picking the right VM tool.
• System requirements — the host checklist.
• Create your first VM — the official onboarding guide.
• Kyvenza on kyvenza.com — download and pricing.