Create an x86-64 virtual environment using UTM and Vagrant

This tutorial describes how to create a development environment in a virtual machine which uses the x86-64 architecture. This development environment can be used for any CITS3007 work, but will typically run more slowly than an ARM64 environment.

1. Navigate to development environment directory

   Open Terminal and navigate to your development environment directory:

   cd ~/CITS3007_development_environment

2. Create and enter an x86_64 subdirectory

   • Create an x86_64 subdirectory:

     mkdir x86_64

   • Change to the x86_64 subdirectory:

     cd x86_64

3. Initialize the Vagrant project

   Run:

   vagrant init utm/bookworm

   This initializes a Vagrant project with the “utm/bookworm” box, which is built for x86-64 emulation. (Ensuring that the VM emulates x86-64 hardware is critical.)

4. Overwrite the Vagrantfile with a custom x86-64 configuration

   Execute the following command to replace the Vagrantfile with a custom configuration:

   curl --output Vagrantfile https://cits3007.arranstewart.io/labs/lab00-mac-x64-Vagrantfile.rb

   You can alter the configuration if desired before bringing up the virtual machine, by editing the Vagrantfile (e.g. with nano or vim). The Vagrantfile contains (commented out lines) which configures a virtual machine with 8GB RAM and 6 CPU cores – uncomment these and adjust as needed. But note that for our purposes, that amount of RAM and that many CPU cores are typically not needed.

5. Launch the x86-64 environment

   • Start the VM by running:

     vagrant up --provider=utm

   • Once the VM has successfully started, you should be able to start an SSH session on the VM by running

     vagrant ssh

6. Optional: extra development packages

   The previous steps should provide you with a development environment that can be used for nearly all labs – it includes basic development tools like the GCC compiler and make.

   For an environment that more closely matches the standard CITS3007 environment – running the following command from within the VM will install extra packages that include documentation, fuzzers, and debugging tools:

   curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cits3007/ubuntu-vagrant-box/refs/heads/master/provision-mac.sh | sudo bash

This tutorial was written by Steve Beaver, with additions from Arran Stewart.