| name | apple-container |
| description | Run Linux containers on Apple silicon Macs using Apple's native Swift-based container tool |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| author | Hermes Agent |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| platforms | ["macos"] |
| metadata | {"hermes":{"tags":["containers","docker","macos","apple-silicon","devops"],"related_skills":["vps-infra"]}} |
Apple Container — Native Linux Containers on Mac
Apple's official tool for running Linux containers as lightweight virtual machines on Apple silicon Macs. OCI-compatible, Swift-native, optimized for Apple silicon.
Prerequisites
- Mac with Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
- macOS 26 or later
- Download from GitHub releases
Usage
Getting Started
container system start
container pull ubuntu:latest
container run ubuntu:latest /bin/bash
container ps
Building Images
container build -t myapp:latest .
container tag myapp:latest registry.example.com/myapp:latest
container push registry.example.com/myapp:latest
Management
container stop <container_id>
container logs <container_id>
container exec <container_id> ls -la
Common Pitfalls
- Requires macOS 26 — does not work on older versions.
- Apple silicon only — no Intel Mac support.
- OCI-compatible but not Docker CLI compatible — different command syntax.
- System service must be running before container operations.
Verification
container --version
container run --rm alpine echo "Hello from Apple Container"