Templates

A template saves a configured machine so you can create more like it, with the same system, software, accounts, and settings.

Saving one#

Shut the machine down and choose Save as Template in its menu. The Templates window opens and lists the template, named after the machine.

swiftvm save-template web-server "Web Base"
swiftvm templates

The template is independent of the original machine. You can keep using or delete the original without changing the template.
A suspended machine must be shut down before saving it as a template.
Start a new machine at least once before you save it. A Linux machine creates its account on its first start, and a template from before that has none.

From a snapshot#

A snapshot that was taken while the machine was shut down can become a template too, without going back to it. Right-click it under Snapshots… and choose Save as Template, or run:

swiftvm save-template web-server "Clean Install" --snapshot "Before upgrade"

The machine can stay running, but power actions and snapshots are unavailable until saving finishes. Snapshots that include saved memory cannot become templates.

Creating a machine from one#

In the New Virtual Machine window, choose Template in the Type dropdown, and then the template. Or choose New Machine… next to it in the Templates window.

The new machine uses the template's hardware settings. Use Advanced to change processors, memory, disk size, storage location, or whether to start when ready.

swiftvm create --template "Web Base" --name "Web 2"
swiftvm create --template "Web Base" --cpus 4 --memory 8 --disk 128

`create --template` option	What it sets
`--name <name>`	The machine's name. Without it, the template's name, with a number if that is taken
`--cpus <n>`, `--memory <GB>`	Processors and memory. Without them, what the template has
`--disk <GB>`	A larger disk than the template's. A disk can grow, but it can't shrink, and what the guest does with the new space depends on the guest
`--location <folder>`	Keep the machine in this folder instead of the one for new machines
`--no-start`	Don't start the machine when it is ready

The new machine is a machine of its own, as a duplicate is:

It has everything that was on the template's disk: the system, the accounts, and what was installed. You sign in as you did before.
It gets a new name, address, and SSH name. A Linux machine made with Quick Create takes the SSH name as its host name.
Shared folders and read-only disc images come along. Forwarded ports, writable disk images, and USB devices the original took by itself don't.

The Templates window#

Choose Templates… in the … at the top of the panel, or in the File menu.

In the window	What it does
New Machine…	Creates a machine from the template
Rename…, on a right-click	Gives the template another name
Show in Finder, on a right-click	Shows the template's package
The trash, or Delete…	Moves the template to the Trash. Machines made from it stay as they are
Save as Template	Saves one of your machines that is shut down

swiftvm rename-template "Web Base" "Web Base 2026"
swiftvm delete-template "Web Base 2026"

<template> is a template's name, or its ID from swiftvm templates.

Good to know#

On the same APFS volume, templates and new machines share unchanged disk blocks. Across volumes or on other file systems, they are full copies. SwiftVM shows progress and lets you cancel. swiftvm quit refuses while saving is in progress.
Templates are kept in ~/Library/Application Support/SwiftVM/Templates, each as one .swiftvmtemplate package, named after the template when it was saved. Renaming a template doesn't rename its package. Settings → Storage → Templates → Change picks another folder, on another disk if you like. See Settings.
Everything on the machine's disk is in the template, and in every machine made from it: also the accounts, their passwords, and their keys.
Snapshots aren't part of a template, and a template has none.