GUI App

GhostVM.app is a native SwiftUI application for managing your virtual machines with a visual interface.

Main Window

The main window shows all registered VM bundles with their name, OS version, status, and custom icon. From here you can:

• Create new macOS VMs
• Start a VM by clicking the play button
• Drag and drop .GhostVM bundles to add them to the list
• Access the Images window to manage restore images

VM Window

When a VM is running, it opens in a dedicated window with a toolbar providing:

• Guest Tools status — three-state indicator (connecting, connected, not found) so you always know the current state
• Port Forwards — view and edit active port mappings, with auto-detected ports and process names
• Clipboard Sync — toggle sync mode (bidirectional, host-to-guest, guest-to-host, or disabled)
• Icon Chooser — switch the workspace Dock icon between Generic, Glass, App, and Stack modes. Glass mode renders any app icon with a frosted overlay. Drag and drop icons into the icon slots for quick customization
• Capture Inputs — toggle to send all keyboard input directly to the VM, bypassing host shortcuts
• File receive — accept files queued by the guest
• Shut Down / Terminate — graceful shutdown or force stop

Context Menu

Right-click any VM in the list to access additional actions:

• Start / Boot to Recovery
• Stop / Terminate
• Clone — duplicate the workspace with APFS copy-on-write
• Rename — change the workspace name and bundle filename
• Edit Settings (CPU, memory, disk, shared folders, port forwards)
• Snapshot management (create, revert, delete)
• Show in Finder / Remove from List / Delete

VM Menu

The VM menu in the menu bar provides keyboard shortcuts for common actions when a VM window is focused:

Settings

Open Settings (Cmd+,) to configure:

• IPSW cache location
• IPSW feed URL (for discovering restore images)
• App icon style (System / Light / Dark)
• Automatic Updates (check for updates, download automatically)

Restore Images

The Restore Images window lists available macOS versions from the configured IPSW feed. You can download, resume, cancel, or delete restore images. Downloads are resumable and include SHA-1 verification to ensure integrity.