macOS Commands

Manage named native macOS VMs, desktop access, restore images, and shared bases.

All options below are present in 1.1.0 and the reviewed development tree.

Native macOS VMs require Apple Silicon, macOS 27+, and the matching Barn.app native app bundle, invoked as the logged-in desktop user. Their state lives under $BARN_HOME/mac and is independent of the Linux inventory.

For an optional name, Barn selects the sole existing VM or mac1; multiple VMs without mac1 require an explicit name. configure, recreate, and destroy always require names. start and stop accept multiple names or --all. At most two macOS VMs can run concurrently across apps on the host, including an active base installation. See machine rules, networking, output, and files.

Mac resource sizes use binary units even for GB, unlike Linux inventory decimal GB; a bare Mac size is bytes. These commands ignore Linux BARN_IMAGE/BARN_ARCH/BARN_CPU/BARN_MEM/BARN_SCALE/BARN_DISK overrides.

barn mac ls

barn mac ls [flags]

Show every machine: its state, address, SSH readiness, macOS version and resources. It reads local records and asks each running machine, and never creates, downloads or starts anything.

Running barn mac without a subcommand also lists machines.

Aliases: list, status, st.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac ls
barn --json mac ls

barn mac up

barn mac up [name] [flags]

Create the named machine (mac1 by default), start it, and wait until SSH and passwordless sudo work. Without a prepared macOS base, up first downloads the restore image from Apple after confirmation and installs it once; later machines clone that base.

Creation options apply to a new machine. For an existing machine, up starts it and rejects options that differ from its configuration; use configure for supported setting changes.

--no-wait returns once the VM is running. First-boot provisioning may still be in progress; run barn mac up NAME again to wait for SSH and finish initialization.

barn mac up
barn mac up dev --cpu 8 --memory 16G --share ~/src --open
barn mac up build --yes --no-wait

barn mac start

barn mac start [name...] [flags]

Start existing machines and wait for SSH without creating machines or downloading images. --recovery boots macOS Recovery with its desktop shown.

Select names or --all, not both. Ordinary start requires completed first-boot initialization; use up to finish an uninitialized VM.

barn mac start mac1
barn mac start --all
barn mac start mac1 --recovery

barn mac stop

barn mac stop [name...] [flags]

Shut machines down normally through macOS. A machine that has not stopped after two minutes is powered off, and the result says so. --force powers off at once, like holding a power button; unsaved work in the guest is lost.

barn mac stop dev
barn mac stop --all
barn mac stop dev --force

barn mac restart

barn mac restart [name] [flags]

Shut a machine down normally and start it again, applying configuration changes.

Accepts at most one name; there is no --all. Omitted names follow the default-machine rule above.

barn mac restart dev
barn mac restart dev --open

barn mac configure

barn mac configure <name> [flags]

Change settings of an existing machine without touching its disk or account. CPUs, memory, shared folders and the network change while the machine is stopped; the clipboard setting can change anytime. Saved configuration, including clipboard changes, applies at the next start; use the menu-bar control to toggle clipboard sharing in the current session.

An explicit name is required. Omitted flags retain their values. --share adds or replaces a named share; --unshare removes one.

barn mac stop dev
barn mac configure dev --cpu 8 --memory 16G --share ~/src
barn mac configure dev --unshare src --clipboard off
barn mac start dev

barn mac recreate

barn mac recreate <name> [flags]

Erase the machine’s disk and start a fresh macOS with the same name, account, resources, shared folders and address. --update uses the newest prepared base (see barn mac image update). Its files, apps and settings are lost.

A terminal asks you to type recreate; scripts require --yes or --force, with no -y shorthand.

barn mac recreate dev
barn mac image update --yes
barn mac recreate dev --update --yes

barn mac destroy

barn mac destroy <name...> [flags]

Power machines off and delete them: disk, keys, password and settings. The shared macOS base and other machines are kept; barn mac image prune removes unused bases.

Explicit names are required. A terminal asks you to type destroy; scripts require --yes or --force, with no -y. Shared host folders are retained.

barn mac destroy dev
barn mac destroy mac1 mac2 --yes

barn mac open

barn mac open [name] [flags]

Show the machine’s desktop window, starting the machine first when it is stopped. Closing the window keeps the machine running in the background; the clipboard is shared while the window is focused.

An uninitialized running VM can be viewed here; for a stopped uninitialized VM use mac up NAME --open.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac open
barn mac open dev

barn mac ssh

barn mac ssh [flags] [name] [-- command...]

Connect with the machine’s own key and pinned host key. Everything before – must be empty or one known machine name, apart from Barn flags. A remote command requires –, and its first argument must not be empty. For exec, pass the program and its arguments separately to preserve argument boundaries, including later empty values. Use sh -c explicitly for shell expressions. A single command string remains supported as shell shorthand for compatibility. exec requires a command. ssh passes the command line to the remote shell like plain ssh. Without a command, ssh opens an interactive session.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac ssh dev
barn mac ssh dev -- 'sw_vers; id'

barn mac exec

barn mac exec [flags] [name] -- command...

Connect with the machine’s own key and pinned host key. Everything before – must be empty or one known machine name, apart from Barn flags. A remote command requires –, and its first argument must not be empty. For exec, pass the program and its arguments separately to preserve argument boundaries, including later empty values. Use sh -c explicitly for shell expressions. A single command string remains supported as shell shorthand for compatibility. exec requires a command. ssh passes the command line to the remote shell like plain ssh. Without a command, ssh opens an interactive session.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac exec dev -- sw_vers
barn mac exec dev -- printf '<%s>\n' 'a b' ''
barn --json mac exec dev -- sh -c 'echo out; exit 3'

barn mac password

barn mac password [name] [flags]

Show the password of the machine’s login account, needed for the lock screen and administrator prompts in its desktop. It is stored next to the machine’s SSH key with the same protection. --copy puts it on the clipboard instead of printing it.

barn mac password dev
barn mac password dev --copy

barn mac ssh-config

barn mac ssh-config [flags]

Print the OpenSSH fragment that lets ssh, scp, rsync and editors reach each machine by name with its own key and pinned host key. The first machine to become ready installs it as one Include in ~/.ssh/config, and lifecycle commands keep it current. –remove deletes only what Barn installed and keeps it out until –install. A name that ~/.ssh/config already uses for another host is published by address only.

--install and --remove are mutually exclusive. This command takes no machine selectors.

barn mac ssh-config
barn mac ssh-config --install
barn mac ssh-config --remove

barn mac logs

barn mac logs [name] [flags]

Show the last lines of the machine’s runtime log: startup, network, shutdown and Apple Virtualization errors.

--lines/-n must be positive and defaults to 100. There is no follow flag; -n means lines, not no-wait.

barn mac logs dev
barn mac logs dev --lines 200

barn mac setup

barn mac setup [flags]

Download macOS from Apple after you confirm, or read –ipsw, and install it once into the unbooted base that every machine is cloned from. up does this automatically; setup lets you do it ahead of time.

barn mac setup --yes
barn mac setup --ipsw ~/Downloads/restore.ipsw --disk 200G

barn mac image ls

barn mac image ls [flags]

List restore images and bases with their state, disk usage and the machines that use them.

This local-state query does not invoke the native runner.

Aliases: list.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac image ls
barn --json mac image ls

barn mac image update

barn mac image update [flags]

Ask Apple for the newest macOS 27 restore image, download it after you confirm, and install it as the default base for new machines. Existing machines keep their base until barn mac recreate –update.

barn mac image update --yes
barn mac image ls

barn mac image prune

barn mac image prune [flags]

List unused bases except the current default base. --installers also includes downloaded restore images and partial downloads. Deletion requires --yes.

barn mac image prune
barn mac image prune --installers --yes

barn mac doctor

barn mac doctor [flags]

Check macOS and Apple Silicon support, the Mac component’s signature, free disk space, the prepared base, and every machine: its files, keys, shared folders, network and SSH. It changes nothing and starts nothing.

No local options beyond --help; global presentation options still apply.

barn mac doctor
barn --json mac doctor

Implementation

command_mac.go

The version baseline identifies the released source and the changes since 1.1.0.