apple / apple/container

[Bug]: Can't run amd64 container machine on Apple Silicon

Open
#1,843 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
reliability
Dominant language
Swift
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

### I have done the following

- [x] I have searched the existing issues
- [ ] If possible, I've reproduced the issue using the 'main' branch of this project

### Steps to reproduce

Follow the chapter [Bring your own container machine image](https://github.com/apple/container/blob/main/docs/container-machine.md#bring-your-own-container-machine-image) of container machine documentation with `--arch amd64` as parameter:
```shell
container build --arch amd64 -t local/ubuntu-machine:latest .
container machine create local/ubuntu-machine:latest --arch amd64 --name ubuntu
```

Run a command on that machine:
```shell
container machine run -n ubuntu uname -a
```

### Problem description

#### Expected Behavior
The machine information is printed on command line as is with `container run local/ubuntu-machine:latest`, e.g.:
```shell
$ container run --arch amd64 --rm local/ubuntu-machine:amd64 uname -a
Linux 9f6949cd-c2d0-4c47-af46-1b13a33a970e 6.12.28 #1 SMP Tue May 20 15:19:05 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
```

#### Seen Behaviour
Instead it reports an error:
```shell
$ container machine run -n ubuntu uname -a
Error: failed to exec [/sbin.machine/init -s uname] Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=8 "Exec format error"
Error: failed to start process 66c65e9c-3ae1-429a-9fd0-7c61ad5d0134 in container ubuntu-87d6d8 (cause: "internalError: "failed to start process (cause: "internalError: "startProcess: failed to start process: internalError: "vmexec error: internalError: "failed to exec [/sbin.machine/init -s uname] Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=8 "Exec format error""""")"")
```

### Environment

```markdown
- OS: macOS 26.5.1 (25F80)
- Xcode: 26.6 (17F113)
- Container: Container CLI version 1.0.0
```

### Code of Conduct

- [x] I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the documented “Bring your own container machine image” flow in docs/container-machine.md, reproducing the amd64 build, machine creation, and machine run commands. Trace the machine startup path from the reported /sbin.machine/init exec-format error; done means an amd64 machine on Apple Silicon runs uname successfully as the equivalent container run command does.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos, swift
Domain
cli, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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