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Using macOS instances with AWS

Costs

MacOS instances use dedicated hosts which are charged for a minimum of 24h from allocation.

MacOS dedicated hosts are expensive! - Make sure you understand the cost implications. Dedicated hosts are charged while allocated, even if no instances are run on it.

Allocate a dedicated host

For DynamicLabs to launch macOS instances, an available dedicated host must be allocated in the AWS account/region.

If you receive an error like the following, then no allocated instances are available:

│ Error: creating EC2 Instance: InsufficientHostCapacity: You do not have a host with a matching configuration and sufficient capacity. Either target a host resource group that can automatically allocate hosts on your behalf, or manually allocate a new host to your account and then try again.
│ 	status code: 400, request id: 826810a4-e6ba-4704-874d-xxxxxxxxxxxx
│ 
│   with module.macos_arm64.aws_instance.macos_arm64["macGS101"],
│   on Apple/macOS_arm64/instance.tf line 53, in resource "aws_instance" "macos_arm64":
│   53: resource "aws_instance" "macos_arm64" {
│ 
╵

If the dedicated host is not in an "Available" state, you might receive the following error message:

│ Error: creating EC2 Instance: InsufficientCapacityOnHost: Dedicated host h-xxxxxxxxxx has insufficient capacity to launch the instances in this request.
│ 	status code: 400, request id: 490a8256-77d4-4cd7-80ad-xxxxxxxxxxxx
│ 
│   with module.macos_arm64.aws_instance.macos_arm64["macGS101"],
│   on Apple/macOS_arm64/instance.tf line 53, in resource "aws_instance" "macos_arm64":
│   53: resource "aws_instance" "macos_arm64" {

This can happen after an instance is destroyed due to the background tasks happening on the host as described here https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/understanding-the-lifecycle-of-amazon-ec2-dedicated-hosts/. In this case it can take up to 50 minutes for the host to be available again. In the AWS console the state will show as pending.

The dedicated host id for MacOS system instances needs to be passed to Dynamic Labs in the lab template as the option "dedicated_host_id".

Note that when deploying the template, MacOS instances can take several minutes before they are deployed. This can be monitored in the AWS console. The state of the EC2 instances will be `initializing``. Wait for the state to be running and the re-run the Dynamic Labs deployment step.

Using AWS console

To allocate a MacOS dedicated host using the AWS console follow the steps below:

  1. Ensure that the region matches the region in the template (e.g. eu-west-1)
  2. Allocate a dedicated host:
    1. Navigate to EC2 > Dedicated Hosts
    2. Select Allocate Dedicated Hosts
    3. Use the following options:
      • Name tag - choose a name
      • Instance family - mac2 for arm64 and mac1 for x86_64
      • Instance type - mac2.metal or mac1.metal depending on the instance familiy
      • Availability Zone - any
      • Instance auto-placement - Enabled
      • Host maintenance - Disabled
      • Quantity - as needed by your lab template
    4. Select Allocate

Make note of the "Host Id" value.

Using AWS cli

Alternatively you can use the AWS cli to allocate a MacOS dedicated host.

For example with the following command:

aws ec2 allocate-hosts \
--instance-type mac2.metal \
--availability-zone eu-west-1a --auto-placement on \
--quantity 1 --region eu-west-1

Ensure that:

  • the selected region matches the region in the lab template
  • the instance type matches the architecture of the systems defined in the lab template (mac2.metal for arm64 and mac1.metal for x86_64)

Declaring a MacOS host

The MacOS host can be added as a system in the lab template.

The option dedicated_host_id must be specified for MacOS instances. Currently AWS "Auto Placement" doesn't seem to work with Terraform and an explicit value must be specified.

systems = [

[...]

    {
        module            = "apple_macos_arm64"
        os_version        = "ventura"
        size              = "mac2.metal"
        network_id        = "1"
        hostname          = null
        private_ip        = null
        public_ip         = true
        class             = "MC"
        id                = "01"
        dedicated_host_id = "h-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
        features          = [
            {
                name = "AD_Join_MacOS"
                value = [
                    {name = "domain_name", value = "dynamic.lab"},
                    {name = "domain_dns_server", value = "10.1.1.10"},
                ]
            },
            {
                name = "MacOS_User"
                value = [
                    { name = "macadmin", 
                      password = "ApfelStrudelWithRaisins123",
                      groups = "admin" }
                ]
            },
            {
                name = "MacOS_Authorized_Keys"
                value = [
                    { 
                       user = "macadmin",
                       type = "asset",
                       key_path = "macadmin_id_rsa.pub"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                name = "MacOS_Remote_Desktop",
                value = [ ]
            }
        ]
    }
]

Connecting to a MacOS Host

When a MacOS host is deployed in a "candidate" network, only SSH is exposed to the candidate IP ranges. Apple Remote Desktop (VNC on port 5900) is not. To connect to a MacOS host via Apple Remote Desktop (when enabled with the MacOS_Remote_Desktop feature), use SSH to the host itself or to the management server to redirect port 5900, e.g.:

# SSH to the management server public IP at x.x.x.x and redirect port 5900 from macOS host with internal IP y.y.y.y
ssh -i management_key.pem [email protected] -L5900:y.y.y.y:5900

# SSH directly to macOS host public IP z.z.z.z and redirect local port 5900
ssh -i macuser_key.pem [email protected] -L5900:localhost:5900

Then connect to localhost port 5900 using a VNC client compatible with Apple Remote Desktop, such as RealVNC Viewer.