vee pull

Download (or build) a base image into the local image cache so it can be reused by VMs. vee create pulls the image it needs automatically, so vee pull is only needed when you want to pre-fetch an image ahead of time. If the image is already cached, pull is a no-op.

Images are cached under ~/.vee/iso/.

vee pull <distro> [version] [flags]

Arguments

Version may be a specific version string or latest (the default). The distro and distro-version forms both shell-complete from the built-in list.

vee pull ubuntu            # newest known Ubuntu
vee pull ubuntu 22.04      # a specific version
vee pull ubuntu-24.04      # same, as a single token
vee pull windows win10     # build the Windows 10 ISO
vee pull macos             # newest macOS restore image this host can install
vee pull --list            # list every supported distro and version

macos pulls an Apple Silicon restore image (IPSW, 15-20 GB depending on version) for use with the macos template; it requires an Apple Silicon macOS host. latest asks the host’s Virtualization.framework what it can actually restore. For a specific version, pass an https://…ipsw URL — for example one listed by ipsw.me or appledb.dev:

vee pull macos https://updates.cdn-apple.com/…/UniversalMac_15.5_24F74_Restore.ipsw

Flags

Flag	Description
`--list`	List all supported distros and versions instead of pulling

Supported images

Distro	Notes
`ubuntu`	Cloud image (cloud-init ready) — 24.04, 22.04, 20.04
`arch`	Bootstrap image
`fedora`	Cloud image — 42, 41, 40
`alpine`	Cloud image
`bazzite`	Fedora Atomic gaming ISO
`omarchy`	Omarchy (Arch + Hyprland) desktop ISO
`truenas`	TrueNAS SCALE installer ISO
`windows`	Built on demand, matching the host arch — `win11`, `win10`, `server2025`, `server2022` on x86_64; `win11`, `win10` on arm64

Run vee pull --list to see the exact version strings supported by your build.

Windows ISOs

vee builds Windows install ISOs on demand — there is no manual ISO download step. It resolves the newest full (“feature update”) build through the UUP dump API, downloads the ESD and CAB component packages directly from Microsoft’s servers, integrates them into a single install.wim (via cabextract + wimlib), and assembles a bootable ISO inside a throwaway container using xorriso — hybrid BIOS+UEFI on x86_64, UEFI-only on arm64 (ARM has no BIOS boot path).

Building a Windows ISO requires nerdctl or docker on PATH; no ISO-assembly tooling is installed on the host. The build needs roughly 15 GB of free scratch space, which vee allocates next to the ISO cache (under ~/.vee/iso/) so it works even when /tmp is a small RAM-backed tmpfs.

Note
vee downloads Windows bits from Microsoft’s own servers and assembles the ISO locally — it never redistributes Windows. You still need a valid Windows license key to activate the guest.