OrbStack

OrbStack is a fast, lightweight Docker Desktop alternative + Linux machine manager for macOS. Built with native Swift, it uses ~0.1% idle CPU, releases memory dynamically, and starts in 2 seconds.

Requirements: macOS 13.0+

# Install via Homebrew
brew install orbstack

# Or download from
# https://orbstack.dev

Auto-installs: docker, docker compose, docker buildx, kubectl, orb, orbctl

# Migrate Docker Desktop data
orb docker migrate

# Switch to OrbStack
docker context use orbstack

# Switch back to Docker Desktop
docker context use desktop-linux

# Create Ubuntu machine
orb create ubuntu my-machine

# Specific version
orb create ubuntu:jammy my-machine

# x86 on Apple Silicon
orb create --arch amd64 ubuntu my-x86

# With password
orb create --set-password ubuntu my-vm

Available distros: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, NixOS, Alma, CentOS, Rocky, Oracle, openSUSE, Devuan, Gentoo, Kali, Void

orb list                    # List all machines
orb start <machine>         # Start machine
orb stop <machine>          # Stop machine
orb restart <machine>       # Restart machine
orb delete <machine>        # Delete machine
orb rename <old> <new>      # Rename machine
orb default <machine>       # Set default machine
orb info <machine>          # Machine info
orb logs <machine>          # Boot logs

# Shell into default machine
orb

# Shell into specific machine
orb -m my-machine

# Specific machine + user
orb -m my-machine -u my-user

# Run command on default
orb uname -a

# Run on specific machine
orb -m my-machine uname -a

OrbStack provides full Docker CLI compatibility as a drop-in replacement.

# Docker socket location
/var/run/docker.sock

# View Docker config
orb config docker

# Restart Docker engine
orb restart docker

# View Docker logs
orb logs docker

Uses Rosetta (2x faster than QEMU on Apple Silicon)

# Run x86 container
docker run -it --rm \
  --platform linux/amd64 alpine

# Set default platform
export DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM=linux/amd64

docker run -it --rm \
  -v /run/host-services/ssh-auth.sock:/agent.sock \
  -e SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/agent.sock \
  alpine

Built-in SSH server on port 32222

Key location: ~/.orbstack/ssh/id_ed25519

# Default machine
ssh orb

# Specific machine
ssh ubuntu@orb

# Specific user
ssh myuser@orb

# Specific user + machine
ssh myuser@ubuntu@orb

1. Install "Remote - SSH" extension
2. Connect to orb host
3. Access Linux machines directly

# Mac files from Linux
/Users/foo/...
/mnt/mac/Users/foo/...

# Linux files from Mac
~/OrbStack/<machine-name>/

# Docker volumes from Mac
~/OrbStack/docker/volumes/

# Docker images from Mac
~/OrbStack/docker/images/

# Linux → Mac
orb pull ~/foo.txt

# Mac → Linux
orb push ~/bar.txt

# To specific machine
orb push -m my-machine ~/bar.txt /dest/

# Container domains
container-name.orb.local

# Compose domains
service.project.orb.local

# Machine domains
machine-name.orb.local

# Index page
http://orb.local

# Automatic HTTPS
https://container-name.orb.local

# Single domain
docker run \
  -l dev.orbstack.domains=foo.local \
  nginx

# Multiple domains
docker run \
  -l dev.orbstack.domains=foo.local,bar.local \
  nginx

# Wildcard domains
docker run \
  -l dev.orbstack.domains=*.foo.local \
  nginx

# Custom port
docker run \
  -l dev.orbstack.http-port=8080 \
  nginx

# Mac from container
host.docker.internal

# Mac from machine
host.orb.internal

# Docker from machine
docker.orb.internal

Throughput:

• Mac ↔ Linux: 45 Gbps
• Machine ↔ Machine: 115 Gbps

# HTTP proxy
orb config set network_proxy http://example.com

# HTTPS with auth
orb config set network_proxy \
  https://user:password@example.com:8443

# SOCKS5
orb config set network_proxy \
  socks5://user:password@example.com:1081

# System proxy
orb config set network_proxy auto

# Disable proxy
orb config set network_proxy none

# Start cluster
orb start k8s

# Stop cluster
orb stop k8s

# Restart cluster
orb restart k8s

# Delete cluster
orb delete k8s

Set imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent in your manifests to use local Docker images.

# cluster.local domains
curl service.namespace.svc.cluster.local

# LoadBalancer/Ingress
*.k8s.orb.local

# NodePort
localhost:PORT

# ClusterIP
# Access directly by IP

# Pod IPs
# Directly accessible

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/controller-v1.8.1/deploy/static/provider/cloud/deploy.yaml

# Run Mac command
mac uname -a

# Link command for direct use
mac link pbcopy

# Unlink command
mac unlink pbcopy

# Mac notification
mac notify "Title" "Body"

These work directly without mac prefix:

• open
• osascript
• code

macOS executables run directly via binfmt_misc:

# Compile and run macOS binary
mac gcc -o foo foo.c && ./foo

# Enable Rosetta
orb config set rosetta true

# Memory limit (MB)
orb config set memory_mib 8192

# CPU % limit
orb config set cpu 50

# Expose SSH on LAN
orb config set ssh.expose_port true

# Docker Swarm node name
orb config set docker.node_name mynode

# Clear Docker data
orb delete docker

# Factory reset
orb reset