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Installing on Windows

Prerequisites:​

  • Windows 10 or Higher
  • Virtualization capabilities
  • 8GB of RAM or more

Step 1 (Installing WSL2)​

Install WSL2. If you have WSL2 already, you can skip this step. Open Powershell as an administrator and run this command

wsl --install

Once it finishes installing, restart your computer. After rebooting, you'll need to check if this command automatically installed Ubuntu. Run wsl -l -v. If that outputs something related to Ubuntu, you are good to go. If not, install Ubuntu with this command:

wsl --install Ubuntu

Once that is done, pick a username and password inside the WSL terminal that pops up. It does not have to be the same as the system.

Step 2 (Getting the files)​

Open a new Ubuntu terminal window, and run this command, replacing the WINDOWS_USER_NAME with your Windows username, not the Linux one.

cd /mnt/c/users/WINDOWS_USER_NAME/Documents

Now clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/notAperson535/OneClick-macOS-Simple-KVM.git

Now cd into the newly created folder

cd OneClick-macOS-Simple-KVM

Step 3 (installing QEMU and more)​

First, install the cpu-checker package:

sudo apt install cpu-checker

Now run this commands to make sure virtualization works:

kvm-ok

This should output Y. If it does not, check your BIOS configuration to make sure nested virtualization is on (search up online based on which CPU you have).

Next, for Intel CPUs run:

cat /sys/module/kvm_intel/parameters/nested

Or for AMD CPUs run:

cat /sys/module/kvm_amd/parameters/nested

If that command returns Y or 1 (depending on CPU type), then you are good to go. If it returns something like N, then go to the bottom of the page for troubleshooting.

Now make sure you are still in the OneClick-macOS-Simple-KVM directory. The path should look something like this:

/mnt/c/users/WINDOWS_USER_NAME/Documents/OneClick-macOS-Simple-KVM

After that, download VNC Viewer here.

Next, run the setup script:

./setup.sh

Once you see a QEMU window pop up, press ctrl+c in the terminal and then run sudo HEADLESS=1 ./basic.sh in the terminal. This will start the VM in "headless" mode, which puts the output of the display onto a local port. Open VNC Viewer, and go to localhost:5900 to connect to the VM using VNC.

Whenever you want to load up the machine again, run sudo HEADLESS=1 ./basic.sh, NOT ./setup.sh or ./basic.sh.

You're done!​

Don't close the terminal when the QEMU window is open, as it will shut down the VM and may cause data loss.

Now head over to installing macOS for instructions on correctly installing macOS​

Troubleshooting​

cat /sys/module/kvm_intel/parameters/nested returns N, but KVM-OK Returns KVM acceleration can be used​

Edit these commands in .wslconfig, which is located in your Windows user directory, replacing the WINDOWS_USER_NAME with the your Windows username, not the Linux one.

nestedVirtualization=true
kernel=C:\\Users\\WINDOWS_USER_NAME\\bzImage
debugConsole=true
pageReporting=true
kernelCommandLine=intel_iommu=on iommu=pt kvm.ignore_msrs=1 kvm-intel.nested=1 kvm-intel.ept=1 kvm-intel.emulate_invalid_guest_state=0 kvm-intel.enable_shadow_vmcs=1 kvm-intel.enable_apicv=1

Getting Your CPU does not support KVM extensions on AMD processors​

For those with AMD EPYC/Ryzen processor or later, Nested Virtualization (required for KVM) is not supported on Windows 10. You will have to upgrade to Windows 11.