Investigate non-Linux platform testing (macOS, Windows, FreeBSD)

[kergoth]

Context

We now have container-based testing for Linux distros (Ubuntu, Arch, Chimera) via test/containers/. This issue tracks research into testing options for the remaining platforms where containers aren't a viable option.

macOS

• UTM / Parallels — Full macOS VMs, manual setup
• Tart — macOS-native VM tool using Apple Virtualization framework, designed for CI use
• Anka — Commercial macOS VM solution (Veertu), popular in CI/CD pipelines
• GitHub Actions — macos-latest runners available, but limited to what GHA provides (no persistent state)

No container option exists for macOS.

Windows

• Windows Sandbox — Lightweight, disposable, WIP-level support for automation
• Windows containers — Limited to Server Core / Nano Server images, not full desktop Windows
• Vagrant + VirtualBox/Hyper-V — Full VM, heavier but more realistic
• GitHub Actions — windows-latest runners available

FreeBSD

• Vagrant boxes — Official FreeBSD boxes exist and are well-maintained
• bhyve / QEMU — Native FreeBSD hypervisor or QEMU for local VMs
• Cirrus CI — Supports FreeBSD natively (GitHub Actions does not)
• FreeBSD Docker images — Community-maintained and limited; not a realistic test environment
• Firecracker / cloud-hypervisor — Linux-only microVMs, won't help for FreeBSD

Questions to Answer

• Which platforms are worth automating tests for vs. manual-only?
• What's the minimum viable test: just script/bootstrap + chezmoi init, or full setup-full?
• Should we use CI (GHA, Cirrus) or local VMs or both?
• Cost/complexity trade-offs for each approach

Related Issues

• Investigate VM-based testing tooling for dotfiles validation #58 — VM-based testing tooling investigation
• Test os-install scripts (Arch, Chimera) via VM-based automation #59 — OS installation script testing (Arch, Chimera)

[kergoth]

Lima now supports FreeBSD guests — merged in lima-vm/lima#4627, targeting Lima v2.1.0.

limactl start --mount-none template:freebsd now works on macOS hosts.

This does support more than just macOS hosts now, so will require additional consideration and re-evaluation.

[AkihiroSuda]

Limitations

Those limitation are already resolved, and Lima is not macOS-centric any longer.
The CI rather uses Linux hosts for testing the FreeBSD guest support.

#58 (comment)