macOS VM Setup

If you have a Mac with a silicon chip, download this arm server image from here. Otherwise download this image here
Install the UTM application here. UTM will allow you to virtualize Ubuntu and essentially work out of a Ubuntu machine.
Open UTM, select ‘Create a New Virtual Machine’, then ‘Virtualize’, then for the operating system select ‘Other’, allocate a minimum of 4gb of memory
Then choose CD/DVD Image for the boot device and then browse for and select the ubuntu image you just downloaded as the boot ISO image
Specify how much storage you want the machine to have(64GB is sufficient) and continue
No shared directory is needed so continue. Then set the name of your VM and save.
Launch your new VM by clicking the play button and select ‘Try or Install Ubuntu Server’

Select your preferred language, then continue without updating
Until you reach profile configuration, select done for all the next steps(you will have to wait on the ‘Ubuntu archive mirror configuration’ step) and confirm destructive action on the storage configuration
On profile configuration, setup the machine to your liking(as if you were setting up an entirely new computer)
Continue to select Done and do not setup anything with ssh configuration and skip the featured server snaps step(no server snaps are required)
On the installation step, once finished, you will be prompted to reboot your machine. After selecting that option, close your VM and in UTM clear the iso
Launch the machine again and login.
Run the following commands and restart your machine again

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
sudo systemctl start graphical.target
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop