Root & administrator access

Your machine is dedicated to you, with full root/administrator privileges. You can install software, manage users, change system settings, and configure macOS exactly as you would on a machine on your desk.

Running privileged commands

Your default account is an administrator. Use sudo for privileged actions:

sudo installer -pkg ./Tool.pkg -target /

Caution

Root access means you can also break things. Avoid disabling SSH or the Screen Sharing service, and don’t lock out your admin account — those are your only ways in.

Good practices

• Create a separate admin user before hardening the default one.
• Add an SSH key for reliable, passwordless access.
• Keep macOS and your tools updated (see Reboot & reset for safe restarts).

What you can run

Because it’s bare metal, you can run Docker, Anka and other virtualization layers, CI runners, and heavy build workloads. See CI/CD & automation.