Orka Desktop 3.0 FAQs

Тopic	FAQ	Answer
Orka Tiers and Licensing	What is the difference between Orka Desktop, Orka Engine, and Orka Cluster?	Orka is a suite of virtualization and orchestration tools for macOS, which is composed of three separate tools: Orka Desktop is designed for local virtualization. It includes a UI for local VM operations and allows easy image sharing sharing via registries. Orka Engine (available Fall 2024) is designed for rapid spin up and tear down of VM operations on an individual server or backend machines. Orka Engine runs on-prem, in AWS, in MacStadium, or anywhere else there is a Mac acting as a server. It has a CLI and API to automate VM operations and image sharing. *Orka Cluster is designed for teams wanting to orchestrate workloads across a Mac Compute that is hosted nn-prem, AWS, or elsewhere.
Orka Tiers and Licensing	How is Orka licensed?	Orka Desktop is a free, no obligation, virtualization tool, designed to be deployed on individual macOS workstations. Orka Engine and Orka Cluster are commercial products and require a license fee. For more information, contact a MacStadium salesperson to learn more: [email protected] .
Where to find	Where can I download Orka 3.0 Desktop?	MacStadium website: https://www.macstadium.com/ MacStadium GitHib repo: https://github.com/macstadium/orka-desktop/releases
Where to find	How do I get Orka Cluster?	Orka Cluster is available for purchase as a 2-node cluster, via the MacStadium Portal or by contacting a MacStadium salesperson: [email protected] .
Terminology	What is IPSW?	IPSW (iPhone Software) is a file format used to install iOS and macOS firmware devices equipped with Apple silicon.
Terminology	What is OCI?	The Open Container Initiative (OCI) is an open governance structure for the express purpose of creating open industry standards around container formats and runtimes. Users can deploy a VM using a compatible image from a private or public registry, as well as store those images in a user registry.
Terminology	What does Push mean?	Push (POST) or Pull (GET) allows users to upload or download an image to/from OCI compatible registries. By Pushing an image to a compatible registry another user can download and use that same image, which is helpful for sharing an image across a team, inside or even outside of you organization. For example, an IT Admin can create and configure an image and push it to a shared location, then team members can access and use a copy of that image. Developers may also push an image to a registry for testing purposes to validate compliance with the OCI distribution specification.
System Requirements	What are the requirements and what should be installed on my machine before downloading Orka 3.0 Desktop?	Apple M1 with 8GB RAM and 50GB disk space macOS X 13.0+ (Ventura)
Creating and Using VM	How do I create a new VM with Orka Desktop?	There are two options for creating a new VM: Clean Install, where the image is created from an existing IPSW file. Pull Image, where the image is pulled from an Image Repository (based on an existing OCI image that is available via a Container Registry).
Creating and Using VM	Where can I download IPSW files?	Download the appropriate files from http://developer.capple.com/lander
Creating and Using VM	How do I console into a VM?	Orka Desktop automatically starts a Console (screen share) session with the VM when Start is selected. Think of this functionality as a graphical console, which opens the VM display in a UI screen. In other words, it opens a new screen for interactions with a guest OS.
Creating and Using VM	Can I use my Apple ID inside a VM?	Apple does not allow VMs to sign into Apple iCloud or the App Store. This is a limitation that is changing with the release of macOS Sequoia. https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/707682
Creating and Using VM	Can I install Xcode?	For information about Xcode and recommendations about installing Xcode, see https://docs.macstadium.com/docs/cloud-automation#xcode
Creating and Using VM	Can I use the host OS clipboard to copy/paste into the guest OS?	The current functionality does not allow this, however there are workarounds, such as emailing or sending instant messaging between the host and guest.
Creating and Using VM	Can I run a different macOS than what is running on the host machine?	A VM can be configured to run a different version of macOS from the host, so users can test the same software in two different environments.
Creating and Using VM	How many VMs can I run simultaneously on a single host machine?	Apple’s Virtualization Framework currently limits two or fewer running VMs per host machine. This maximum count includes the deployment of a new VM (even while restore image is downloading) as well.
Creating and Using VM	Can I test MDM profiles?	Yes, IT Admins can test Mobile Device Management (MDM) profiles using VMs, which is easily done without maintaining several Mac mini machines. MDM profile testing can be performed on a VM that was created by Orka Desktop. However, Apple currently prohibits the ability to login to iCloud and install apps via the App Store in a VM. This current limitation prevents users from testing the capability of an MDM profile.
Creating and Using VM	Can I copy a VM that I created?	Yes, by using the Duplicate function and creating a copy of the existing VM. Then testing can be performed on the new VM.
Creating and Using VM	How can I share images with Orka Desktop?	Users can publish any image to a container registry, for example, GitHub Packages or DockerHub and then pull it into the Orka.
Debugging and Troubleshooting	Is there a Log File?	Yes and it is found in the following directory from root ~/local/state/orka under your machine’s user/home folder name. The log file has four sections, with the following information: Node Info (Contains system details, for example, chip, cores, memory, OS version, and so on). Image Info (Lists images, creates new image, deploys new VM based on an image). VM Details (For each running VM, there are actions like, Open Screenshare, Open SSH, Stop, Save, Save As, View Log actions). Logs (Running logs, and any other useful information for debugging.)
Debugging and Troubleshooting	I have problems pushing or pulling with the GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io). What tips are available?	Always verify network connectivity if any errors are encountered attempting to download a VM. However, some users may experience instant failures when attempting to push or pull (private images) from their GitHub Container Registry, if your organization is using SSO with GitHub. In that case, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is needed with the “Configure SSO” option set to your organization. The PAT is used to Push or Pull private images from the container Repo hosted by GitHub (ghcr.io). Users must first create a PAT under developer settings and use those credentials. NOTE: Other Container Repos may only use a username and password for credentials. Please consult the instructions on the Container Repository being used. To use GitHub Packages: Your packages, at home with their code with Orka Desktop, consult the GetHub documentation: GitHub.com Help Documentation
Using OCI Registries	Which OCI registries does Orka support?	Orka supports any OCI compliant registry. Some examples include GitHub Container Registry, Docker Container Registry, AWS ECR, and so on.
Support	Is there a support community of Orka 3.0 Desktop users?	MacStadium recommends using the GitHub project for any support needs. There is a Discussion section for questions, feedback, or sharing information related to use cases, and an Issues section for filing bugs or feature requests.
Supported Devices	What kind of virtualized devices are supported, for example, GPU or Sound?	Orka Desktop supports access to GPUs, however, audio support currently has a limited capacity.
Supported Devices	Is a USB storage device access supported?	USB devices are only passthrough at this time, although Apple has introduced some beta functionality: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/usb_devices
Security	How does Orka Desktop provide network isolation between VMs and the host machine?	Users must determine if this is needed and implement it themselves. MacStadium doe not provide any type of network isolation.
Security	Does MacStadium maintain any agents inside the VM, for direct access to the VM by passing the SSH?	No. Provided images have MacStadium guest tool installed, but they are not used for access. They are helper tools for images used inside Orka Cluster
Networking	What is the overhead of device implementation for networks and file I/O?	MacStadium uses the Apple Hypervisor API and incurs overhead / limitations per that framework.
Images	Do two or more VMs from the same image consume 3x times the image size?	Orka Desktop takes advantage of APFS clones, which is a feature specific to macOS systems. When an image is created from a VM, only diff data for the VM is written to the disk. VM images are compressed when stored in an OCI registry, which ensures that sparseness is preserved. However, images are not compressed once pulled to the host.