Get Started

Quick setup of Anka Build macOS cloud on Mac hardware

In this blog post, we will discuss how you can very quickly set up a macOS cloud using Anka Build exclusively on Mac Hardware. Anka Build cloud management software component is packaged as Linux Docker containers, and most common implementation architecture is to run them on a Linux instance. However, if you don’t have access to a Linux instance, you can set up a test/POC environment for Anka Build all on Mac hardware. The Mac hardware can be a single Mac machine (your MBP) or a cluster of Mac machines. We recommend this setup for quick proof of concept purposes, but you can use it for small-scale iOS CI operations.



Setup on a single Mac machine



Anka Build runs on all Mac hardware, including the latest 6-core 2018 mac minis. Follow these steps to get started.

  • Step 1 – Download Anka Build and Anka Build Controller and Registry for Mac packages from the Anka Build download page after trial registration. Note – Make sure there is enough free space on the Mac machine (at least 60GB).
  • Step 2 – Install AnkaBuild.pkg mac application on the Mac. https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/getting-started/#anka-package-installation-and-upgrade-on-mac-hardware
  • Step 3 – Install the anka-controller-registry-mac-X.X.XX package. This package contains the management pieces of Anka Build macOS Cloud software. The controller gets installed as a docker container and registry is installed as a Mac application, Follow the instructions under Mac installation in https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/getting-started/#registry-and-controller-installation-and-upgrade
  • Step 4 – Join the AnkaBuild node to Controller using ankacluster join command. https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/using-controller/. For controller-address[:port], you will use https://localhost:8090.
  • Step 5 – Create your macOS VM template on the mac machine using AnkaBuild CLI. https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/creating-vms/#using-macos-installer-application-recommended-to-create-mojave-hisierra-sierra-vms.
  • Step 6 – Connect the mac machine to the Registry using anka registry add [OPTIONS] REG_NAME REG_URL command. https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/using-registry/#adding-a-new-registry. For REG_URL, you will specify the IP of your Mac. It’s the same value that you specified in step 3 in anka-controller. Docker file ENV REGISTRY_ADDR variable.
  • Step 7 – Push your macOS VM template to the registry using anka registry push command. https://ankadoc.bitbucket.io/using-registry/#pushing-vms-to-registry
  • Step 8 – You will now see this VM template under templates in Controller Portal dashboard.

    • You have now completed the setup of a single node macOS cloud and have one macOS VM template that you can use to provision on-demand VMs.

  • Step 9 – Go to Instances page on the portal dashboard and test using “Create Instances”.



    • Setup on Multiple Mac machines



    In this setup, it assumed that you want to set up a multi-node Anka Build macOS cloud. You will install the AnkaBuild package on all the Mac machines.



    Install the anka-controller-registry-mac-X.X.XX package on only one Mac machine, where you want to run the cloud management services. Follow the same instructions as Step3 outlined in the earlier section. Install the anka-controller-registry-mac-X.X.XX package on only one Mac machine, where you want to run the cloud management services. Follow the same instructions as Step3 outlined in the earlier section.



    Join all the Mac machines running AnkaBuild package to the Controller to create a multi-node cloud.



    Select one of the Mac machines to create VM templates from the nodes and execute steps 5.6.7 from the earlier section.



    You should now see multiple nodes in the portal dashboard.


    For additional questions, you can join the slack channel at https://slack.veertu.com/.

    Share this post

    anka-and-kubernetes
    On-Demand macOS VMs in Azure DevOps Pipelines with Anka
    Run macOS VMs in Azure DevOps Pipelines with Anka. Anklet-style on-demand agents are blocked by Microsoft self-hosted pools today; use a registered agent plus per-job Anka VMs.
    Read More
    AWS + Anka Build Cost Diagramv3
    Ephemeral macOS VMs on AWS EC2 Mac with Anka
    Run ephemeral macOS VMs on AWS EC2 Mac with Anka and Anklet. Pack more iOS CI capacity per instance, start jobs in seconds, and cut cost.
    Read More
    Screenshot 2025-01-08 at 2.16
    Enterprise macOS GitHub Actions Runners with Anka
    Run self-hosted macOS GitHub Actions at enterprise scale with Anka and Anklet: ephemeral Apple Silicon VMs, more control than hosted runners.
    Read More
    The Anka product ladder: Develop, Flow, Build, and EC2 Mac as four ascending steps, with Crypt, MCP, Anka Scan, and AMI Scan named below
    Which Anka Product Do You Actually Need? A Walkthrough of the Whole Lineup
    A situation-first guide to every Veertu product: Anka Develop, Anka Flow, Anka Build, AWS EC2 Mac, Anka Crypt, Anka MCP, Anka Scan, and EC2 Mac AMI Scan, including the moment you move from one to the next.
    Read More
    anka2024v1-1536x768
    A Year of Anka: Highlights from 2024
    We’re starting a new annual tradition here at Veertu with our A Year of Anka blog posts. We want our customers to know how the product has grown over the past year and think this is a great avenue to do so. Please enjoy and happy holidays from all...
    Read More
    anka-or-1
    Anka vs Orka in 2024
    It has been several years since we made our first side by side comparison between Anka and Orka. A lot has changed, and we believe it’s important to make sure the information out there is accurate. We’ll be specifically addressing a newer...
    Read More
    networking-performancev1
    Unlocking Superior macOS VM Network Performance: Introducing Anka's new networking mode for Apple Silicon
    Large and complex enterprises using Anka have many different demands, and we have worked to continue to develop innovative technology to meet these demands. Enterprise infrastructure hardware is often on the cutting edge, and they need advanced capabilities...
    Read More
    gitlab-with-anka
    Anka Cloud Gitlab Executor
    Veertu’s Anka and the new Anka Cloud Gitlab Executor Veertu’s Anka is a suite of software tools built on the macOS virtualization platform. It enables the execution of single or multi-use macOS virtual machines (VMs) in a manner similar to Docker....
    Read More
    mac-scan-v1
    Real-Time CVE Scanning of your macOS Build Systems
    It’s common that an organization’s macOS build system will download thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of third-party dependencies every hour. When building and testing iOS applications, it typically downloads and installs third-party...
    Read More
    anka-on-silicon-v1
    The ONLY Fully Automated Apple Silicon macOS VM Creation Solution
    Starting in Anka 3.1 we announced that Anka is now able to fully automate the macOS installation processes, disabling SIP, and enabling VNC — all previously manual steps users had to perform inside o the VM. At the time of writing this article,...
    Read More