Mac OS X Virtual Machines
Several, non-Microsoft/non-Azure, cloud-hosting services offer either dedicated, or virtualized machines running Mac OS X (with the OS running on Apple hardware, due to Mac OS X licensing). Examples include http://macstadium.com/, http://xcloud.me/, and http://www.macincloud.com/, among others.
Being able to provision a Mac OS X machine on Azure, using Azure pricing, and potentially, Azure Virtual Networking, would be useful for developers wishing to set up build machines for iOS apps, and potentially other use-cases.
David Ludwig
shared this idea
16 comments
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Roger Pack
commented
azure pipelines offers a macOS option, startlingly: https://github.com/marketplace/azure-pipelines (I don't think this is like full blown VM's)...
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Hélder Pinto, I find your link interesting from a technical perspective, however, presuming that Microsoft is backing their servers off non-Apple hardware, it would be against Apple's licensing restrictions for macOS. That legal-issue, alone, would prevent me, and I imagine many others, from relying on it in a production environment.
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Hélder Pinto
commented
Does this help? http://wp.sjkp.dk/running-macos-using-virtual-box-in-azure/
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Anonymous
commented
+1
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Anonymous
commented
+1
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Jeremy
commented
+1
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Mike Binnix
commented
Would be very helpful even just for testing web apps so we can verify appearance performance in the safari browser on macOS.
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To be clear, such a feature should, ideally, extend to newer versions of macOS, ones that no longer carry the "X" in their name (and are just called, "macOS", by Apple). :-)
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Sondergaard
commented
Would support this. We develop on both Windows and Mac OS, and having for instance Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery hosted on a Mac Virtual machine in Azure would have a lot of appeal.
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Brandon Spilove
commented
+1
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Michael Watkins
commented
Having a Mac virtual machine would bring Azure into a one shop resource.
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Mark Duivesteijn
commented
Also for test automation this would be a huge added value.
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Elton Schivei Costa commented
I am a Windows / Linux user and developer and have lost many jobs for not having an equipment to compile and distribute applications for the Apple platform. If it were possible to allocate this feature using Microsoft Azure, I would certainly be able to improve my earnings and centralize all my resources in a single environment. Here in Brazil, Apple platforms or even the allocation of resources such as those cited are very expensive.
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Gurpreet Singh
commented
Agreed! A must to have feature to support smooth Xamarin development. I can't have local Mac systems.
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A similar, UserVoice-requested feature (for Mac VMs) is also at https://feedback.azure.com/forums/34192--general-feedback/suggestions/6655478-provide-a-way-to-run-mac-based-remote-build-agents . It appears limited to build-agent use, though.
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Alternatively, if this were made available, and a larger cost were necessary (as is the case with many Azure VM types) in order to cover costs of Apple hardware, that'd be fine. Regarding "Azure pricing", the thought there is to make OS X VMs available through one billing provider (Azure).