Revm

<p align="center"> <img src="./icon.png" alt="revm logo" width="520" /> </p> <h1 align="center"><b>revm</b></h1> <p align="center">revm helps you quickly launch Linux VMs / Containers</p>

[!WARNING] This project is currently under heavy development

README_EN | README_ZH

A lightweight Linux microVM for macOS powered by libkrun. Two independent modes: chroot mode (run commands inside an isolated Linux rootfs) and docker mode (run a full Podman container engine on Apple Silicon).

Requirements

macOS Sonoma or later

Installation

wget https://github.com/ihexon/revm/releases/download/<TAG>/revm-Darwin-arm64.tar.zst

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine revm-Darwin-arm64.tar.zst

tar -xvf revm-Darwin-arm64.tar.zst

Command Overview

cmd/revm exposes three user-facing subcommands:

| Command | Alias | What it does | |----------------|-------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | revm chroot | _ | Boot a Linux microVM from a custom or built-in rootfs, then run a command inside it | | revm dockerd | _ | Boot the built-in container VM and expose a Podman-compatible API socket on the host | | revm attach | _ | Reconnect to an existing session over SSH, either as an interactive shell (--pty) or a one-off command |

Quick Start

# Run a command inside a rootfs-backed VM
revm chroot --id build --rootfs ~/ubuntu-rootfs -- bash -lc 'uname -a'

# Re-enter the same VM from another terminal
revm attach --pty build

# Start the built-in container engine
revm dockerd --id engine
export CONTAINER_HOST=unix:///tmp/engine/socks/podman-api.sock
podman run --rm alpine uname -a

---

Documentation

| Document | Description | |-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | chroot mode | Linux chroot alternative on macOS — run any rootfs with near-native performance | | docker mode | Full container engine without Docker Desktop — Podman/Docker CLI compatible | | attach | Connect to a running VM instance | | workspace & networking | Session directory layout, reuse/cleanup, and network backends (gvisor / tsi) | | management API | VM management API via Unix socket |

Bug Reports

https://github.com/ihexon/revm/issues

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE for details.

Some parts of this document were written using AI assistance because I was lazy.