content/blog/2024-05-03-ubuntu-on-macos.org

  1#+date:        <2024-05-03 Fri 00:00:00>
  2#+title:       Deployment Instructions for Running Ubuntu Linux on macOS Using OrbStack
  3#+description: Technical guide outlining the installation and operation of OrbStack to run Ubuntu Linux containers natively on macOS systems with performance considerations.
  4#+slug:        ubuntu-on-macos
  5#+filetags:    :linux:macos:orbstack:
  6
  7Being a macOS user who previously used Linux for many years, I often find myself
  8searching for alternatives to the Linux-native tools and methods that I had
  9become used to over the years.
 10
 11Luckily, there's an option to simply use Linux directly on your macOS device
 12without having to boot the whole device into Linux or having to SSH into another
 13Linux machine.
 14
 15In this post, I use [[https://orbstack.dev/][OrbStack]] to create an Ubuntu Linux machine to take advantage
 16of the Linux system.
 17
 18** Installing OrbStack
 19
 20OrbStack has a [[https://orbstack.dev/download][download page]] if you prefer to use =*.dmg= files to install
 21applications.
 22
 23Personally, I prefer to install everything through Homebrew. For OrbStack, run
 24the following to install the application via Homebrew:
 25
 26#+begin_src sh
 27brew install orbstack
 28#+end_src
 29
 30** Creating a Linux Machine
 31
 32Once installed, you can launch OrbStack and create a Linux machine in a matter
 33of seconds. The creation dialog defaults to Ubuntu.
 34
 35#+caption: OrbStack's Linux Machine Creation Page
 36[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240503-ubuntu-on-macos/create.png]]
 37
 38** Launching the Machine
 39
 40Once created, the dialog will close and you will be presented with your new list
 41of machines. Simply double-click on a machine to run it.
 42
 43When you run the machine for the first time, it may warn you that a program is
 44attempting to run a shell script. You can choose to manually inspect this shell
 45script via the provided path if you wish. When you're comfortable with the
 46script, you can toggle the =Suppress this message permanently= button and click
 47OK to run the machine.
 48
 49#+begin_quote
 50*Quick Tip*!
 51
 52You will always be able to launch the OrbStack application and control the
 53machine via the Machines page, but you can also use the OrbStack icon in the
 54macOS menu bar to quickly control the machine without launching OrbStack itself.
 55#+end_quote
 56
 57** Working in Linux
 58
 59Once successful, OrbStack will launch your default terminal and log you into the
 60Linux machine you created above.
 61
 62In the example below, we can see that the machine is using =Linux ubuntu 6.9.6=
 63and operates similar to a fresh Ubuntu install on bare metal.
 64
 65#+caption: Ubuntu CLI
 66[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240503-ubuntu-on-macos/cli.png]]
 67
 68You can also click the machine's folder icon in OrbStack to open the machine's
 69file system within macOS's native Files app. Within Files, you can double-click
 70to open any files and they will open in the macOS defaults for those file types
 71(e.g., TextEdit).
 72
 73#+caption: Ubuntu Files
 74[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240503-ubuntu-on-macos/files.png]]
 75
 76Here's an example of opening the =test.md= file in the screenshot above, which
 77defaults to opening in Xcode on my system.
 78
 79#+caption: Ubuntu Files
 80[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240503-ubuntu-on-macos/xcode.png]]
 81
 82*** Test Examples
 83
 84As a quick example of the system, I installed =neofetch=, switched to the =zsh=
 85shell, and ran a few common commands.
 86
 87#+caption: Test Examples
 88[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240503-ubuntu-on-macos/test.png]]
 89
 90** Thoughts
 91
 92The installation, creation, and launch processes are seamless and provide an
 93easy way to test or use Linux on macOS with little to no hassle.
 94
 95The shell and file integrations are incredibly snappy and I have not
 96experienced any lag so far. Further, being able to open files in the
 97Files app allows for me to use macOS native applications, such as
 98TextEdit for quick editing without having to resort to other programs
 99that may not be as familiar to macOS users.
100
101I love this method and will be happily looking for further use cases to
102apply.