Run UBOS in an ARM aarch64 VMWare Fusion virtual machine

/docs/linux/installation/aarch64_vmware/

To run UBOS in a VMWare Fusion virtual machine on ARM, follow these instructions. Not counting download times, this should take no more than 10 minutes to set up.

Note

There is separate documentation for how to run UBOS in x86_64 VMWare Workstation virtual machine.

  1. Download VMWare Fusion and install it if you haven’t already. It appears it is now available free of charge.

  2. Download a UBOS boot image from the Depot. Images for VMware on aarch64 are at depot.ubosfiles.net/green/aarch64/images/index.html. Look for a file named ubos_green_aarch64-vmware_LATEST.vmdk.xz.

  3. Optionally, you may now verify that your image downloaded correctly by following Verify your downloaded UBOS image.

  4. Uncompress the downloaded file. This depends on your operating system, but might be as easy as double-clicking it, or executing

    % xz -d ubos_green_aarch64-vmware_LATEST.vmdk.xz

    on the command line.

  5. In VMWare Fusion, create a new virtual machine:

    • In menu “File”, select “New…”.

    • In “Select the Installation Method”, select “Create a custom virtual machine”. Click “Continue”.

    • In “Choose Operating System”, select “Linux” and “Other Linux 6.x kernel 64-bin Arm”. Click “Continue”.

    • In “Choose a Virtual Disk”, select “Use an existing virtual disk” and then select the file that you downloaded and decompressed earlier.

      • In the file selection box, at the bottom, select “Take this disk away from the virtual machine currently using it”. Click “Choose”.

    • Click “Continue”.

    • In “Finish”, click “Customize Settings”.

      • Save with a suitable name, such as “UBOS (green)”. Accept the default for “Where”.

      • Leave the setting “Share this virtual machine with other users on this Mac” unchanged.

      • Click “Save”.

    • Now there are two windows: the VM (currently off) and the Settings window. In the Settings window:

      • In “System Settings / Processors & Memory”: select a suitable number of processors and the amount of RAM you want to give it. 1024MB is a good start, and you can change that later. Select “Show All”.

  6. Start the VM by clicking the big white triangle. The virtual machine should now be booting.

  7. When the boot process is finished, log in as user root. For password, see I need root.

  8. Now: wait. UBOS needs to generate a few cryptographic keys before it is ready to use and initialize a few other things on the first boot. That might take a few minutes. To determine whether UBOS ready, execute:

    % systemctl is-system-running

  9. Check that your virtual UBOS PC has acquired an IP address:

    % ip addr

    Make sure you are connected to the internet before attempting to proceed.

  10. Update UBOS to the latest and greatest:

    % sudo ubos-admin update

  11. You are now ready for Setting up your first Site and App.