Deploying macOS in VMWare on Windows (Full Guide)
This document will guide you on how to setup a macOS virtual machine on your Windows operating system. This guide has a lot of steps, but I promise it's not hard. It's mainly to provide all the context and information to make the setup easy to follow. I've also broken the steps down into multiple sections in order to make it easier to understand.
Before You Begin
Make sure that your PC has Virtualization enabled in the BIOS. If you do not know if you have virtualization enabled, open Task Manager's Performance
tab:
If virtualization is disabled, you need to boot into your PC's BIOS and enable it. Now, enabling it will be different per-vendor, however, here are 2 YouTube videos that may help:
Downloading a Fresh Copy of macOS
The first step in setting up a virtual machine is getting an image that is compatible with our virtualization software, in this case, VMWare. To do this, we will use OpenCore. The following instructions are a shortened form of the full OpenCore Install Guide:
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide/installer-guide/windows-install.html
Note: This method is preferred over downloading an existing ISO from the internet because you never know when the integrity of an ISO from the internet might be compromised.
Pre-requisites
You should have Python installed: https://www.python.org/downloads/
Instructions
Download the latest release of OpenCore.
Download Link: https://github.com/acidanthera/OpenCorePkg/releases
Choose the
zip
file labeled withRELEASE
.
Extract the OpenCore ZIP file, and open the extracted folder.
Navigate into
Utilities\macrecovery
.Holding
Shift
on your keyboard, right-click your explorer window and selectOpen PowerShell window here
.Run the python command corresponding to the macOS version you want to download, found in the OpenCore Install Guide.
Running the command will download the
BaseSystem.dmg
image from Apple's servers
macOS Ventura
If you'd like to download macOS Ventura, use the command below:
This is not recommended for inexperienced users!
Next, cut/copy the
BaseSystem.dmg
file (generated in themacrecovery
folder), to your user profile'sDocuments
folder
Converting the macOS System Image to a VMWare Disk
Now that you have the BaseSystem.dmg
file, we will now need to convert it into a format that VMWare can understand and load. In order to do that, we need to use yet another open-source tool called QEMU
. Follow the steps below to learn how to use it.
Installing QEMU
This is a short guide to show you how to install QEMU
, an open-source tool for working with disk images.
Download
QEMU
for Windows.Download Link: https://qemu.weilnetz.de/w64/
You will see a bunch of folders with years on them. Ignore those. Download the
qemu-w64-setup-XXXXXXXX.exe
installer.
Run the installer once the download completes.
If you get a Windows SmartScreen alert, allow the installer to
Run Anyways
.If you get an error during installation saying a file cannot be written, just click the
Retry
button in the prompt.The installer will install files to
C:\Program Files\qemu
(Optional). You may want to add the
C:\Program Files\qemu
path to your Windows System Environment VariablesThis is optional because I will be using the full path to
qemu-img
in the rest of the guide.If you are non-technical or a beginner, I would skip this step.
Creating the VMDK
Now that we've installed QEMU
, we need to use it to convert the BaseSystem.dmg
to a VMWare .vmdk
disk image.
Open
Explorer
and navigate into yourDocuments
folder (where yourBaseSystem.dmg
is located).Holding
Shift
on your keyboard, right-click your explorer window and selectOpen PowerShell window here
.Run the following command to use
QEMU
to convert the image to a.vmdk
.& "C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-img.exe" convert -O vmdk -o compat6 BaseSystem.dmg recovery.vmdk
You will now have a
recovery.vmdk
file in yourDocuments
folder that you can use with VMWare.
Preparing & Unlocking VMWare
In order for you to even be able to load a macOS system into VMWare, you will need to use a third-party program called Auto-Unlocker
to patch your VMWare installation.
Pre-requisites
You should have either VMWare Workstation Player (free), or VMWare Workstation Pro (paid) installed
VMWare Workstation Player (free): https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html (VMWare Workstation Player 16 download)
VMWare Workstation Pro (paid): https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-pro.html
Instructions (VMWare 16)
Download
Auto-Unlocker
.Extract the downloaded
zip
file.Run the
Unlocker.exe
file.This will bring up a GUI to patch your VMWare installation
The app will attempt to auto-fill the install locations. However, if they are empty, please locate and select your VMWare installation folder.
Click the
Patch
buttonOnce the patching is complete, you may close the Unlocker app.
Instructions (VMWare 15 or Older)
Download
Unlocker
.Extract the downloaded
zip
file.Run the
win-install.cmd
file as an Administrator
Setting up the Virtual Machine
Creating the Virtual Machine
This section will detail how to create the base virtual machine using the recovery disk we created earlier.
Pre-requisites
You should have either VMWare Workstation Player (free), or VMWare Workstation Pro (paid) installed
VMWare Workstation Player (free): https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html (VMWare Workstation Player 16 download)
VMWare Workstation Pro (paid): https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-pro.html
You should have patched your VMWare installation using the Unlocker app
Instructions
Open VMWare and click
File -> New Virtual Machine
Select
Custom Installation
and start navigating through the New Virtual Machine setup screens.On the
Guest Operating System Installation
page, select,I will install the operating system later.
On the
Select a Guest Operating System
page, selectApple Mac OS X
, as well as the corresponding macOS version.On the
Processor Configuration
page, select1
for theNumber of processors
.For the
Number of cores per processor
, select a number that is within your computer's resource constraints.
On the
Memory for the Virtual Machine
page, we recommend the following:Minimum: 4096 MB
Recommended: 8096 MB
On the
Network Type
page, selectUse network address translation (NAT)
.On the
Select a Disk
page, selectUse an existing virtual disk
.On the
Select an Existing Disk
page, browse & select therecovery.vmdk
disk we created earlier.Finish the setup.
Edit your Virtual Machine's settings.
Add a new piece of hardware.
On the
Hardware Type
page, selectHard Disk
.On the
Disk Type
page, selectSATA
.On the
Select a Disk
page, selectCreate a new virtual disk
On the
Specify Disk Capacity
page, enter an amount that makes senseMinimum: 50 GB
Recommended: 80 GB
Complete the Hard Disk setup.
Patching the Virtual Machine (iServices)
This section will detail how to patch your virtual machine in order to properly run macOS and get iServices setup.
Navigate to your virtual machine's files
The virtual machine's files are located here:
C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Virtual Machines\
Create a backup of your virtual machine's
.vmx
fileYou can just copy and paste it into the same directory, appending
.bak
to the filename.
Open your virtual machine's original
Configuration File
(.vmx
) in a text editor (i.e. Notepad)Paste the following line into the
.vmx
file and save it.
If you have an AMD CPU, also add the following to your
.vmx
file.
macOS Ventura
If your VM is macOS Ventura, you may need to add (or edit) the following to enable internet connectivity:
Booting the Virtual Machine
Once you've edited the .vmx
file, you should be able to boot the virtual machine normally.
Common Issues
If you are having issues performing the initial boot for the virtual machine, take a look at the most common issues below.
Stuck on Apple Boot Logo: If you attempt to boot your virtual machine and it's stuck on the Apple Boot Logo, do the following to fix the issue. Power off the Virtual Machine, then open the virtual machine's settings. Once the settings window opened beside the
Hardware
tab click onOptions
. Change theApple Mac OS X
selection toMicrosoft Windows
then click OK. Power on the virtual machine again. Once all installed then go back to settings and set it back toApple Mac OS X
The CPU has been disabled by the guest operating system: Enable virtualization in your computer's BIOS
There are guides on YouTube describing how to do this.
Feature 'cpuid.ds' was absent, but must be present: This is due to a corrupted vmx file. Try using a backup of your
.vmx
file and edit the.vmx
file carefully this time.Make sure that your editor is not converting the quotes (
"
) to "greek" quotes
This virtual machine requires AVX2 but AVX is not present. This virtual machine cannot be powered on: This is due to a corrupted vmx file. Try using a backup of your
.vmx
file and edit the.vmx
file carefully this time.Make sure that your editor is not converting the quotes (
"
) to "greek" quotes
Module 'featurecompat' power on failed: In your
.vmx
file, make sure that your editor is not converting the quotes ("
) to "greek" quotes
Installing macOS
Once you're able to boot into the recovery setup, follow these steps to properly install macOS.
Note: You may want to power off your virtual machine and take a snapshot before continuing. If anything goes wrong during setup, you can always revert back to your snapshot.
Select
Disk Utility
and hitContinue
.On the
Disk Utility
page, select the Hard Disk you created.This is not the one labeled,
macOS Base System
With the Hard Disk selected, click
Erase
in the top right of Disk Utility.This will format the hard disk into a format that macOS can use.
Close Disk Utility.
On the recovery page, select
Reinstall macOS <version>
and hitContinue
.Continue through the setup, accepting the license agreement(s).
When prompted to select the disk to install macOS, select the disk you just formatted.
Wait for the operating system to be installed.
Once the operating system is installed, navigate through the macOS setup.
You do not need to sign into an Apple ID when prompted.
Create your macOS computer account, finish the setup, and login.
Note: Once everything is setup, you may edit the Virtual Machine's settings and remove the recovery.vmdk
Hard Disk. Do not delete the Hard Disk you created manually (to store the install). Note 2: You may want to power off your virtual machine and take another snapshot before continuing.
Fixing iServices
By default, your macOS deployment will not support iServices such as iMessage. In order to support iServices, additional configurations must be done. We will accomplish this by utilizing a tool called Clover Configurator
.
Boot up your macOS virtual machine and login.
Open Safari and download
Clover Configurator
.Open
Clover Configurator
.You may need to allow it to run via
System Preferences -> Security & Privacy
.
Once opened, navigate to the
SMBIOS
tab in the sidebar.Find the up/down arrow button under the large "question mark" image, and to the right of the
Update Firmware Only
checkbox.Click on the up/down arrow button and select any product made in 2019 or newer.
We recommend
MacPro7,1
oriMac16,1
Copy the following configuration to an editor (i.e. Notepad), on your host computer (Windows).
In Clover Configurator, click the
Generate New
button next to theSerial Number
field to generate a new serial number.Copy & paste the following Clover Configurator SMBIOS fields into the configuration from above:
AAA
: Replace with yourBoard ID
(i.e.Mac-XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
)BBB
: Replace with yourProduct Name
(i.e.MacPro7,1
)CCC
: Replace with your generatedSerial Number
In Clover Configurator, click on the
Rt Variables
tab in the sidebar.Click on the
Generate
button next to theROM
text.Copy & paste the following Clover Configurator Rt Variable fields into the configuration from above:
DDD
: Replace with your generatedROM
EEE
: Replace with your generatedMLB
Close Clover Configurator & shut down your macOS virtual machine
Open your virtual machine's
.vmx
file. The same one you edited earlier in the setup guide.The virtual machine's files are located here:
C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Virtual Machines\
Paste your completed configuration above into the
.vmx
file.Find the
board-id.reflectHost
configuration and verify that it is set to"TRUE"
.Find the
ethernet0.addressType
configuration and change it from"generated"
to"static"
In your browser, go to the following link to grab an "OUI" for the configuration:
The OUI contains 3 segments, each containing 2 characters.
It does not matter which OUI you choose. Choose any.
Find the
ethernet0.generatedAddress
configuration and change the first 3 segments to match the 3 segments of your chosen OUI.Example: If my current
generatedAddress
is00:0c:29:bb:91:7f
, and I've selected the OUI,00-1F-F3
, my newgeneratedAddress
will be00:1f:f3:bb:91:7f
It's recommended to use lower-case characters for the alphabetical letters.
Rename the
ethernet0.generatedAddress
configuration to justethernet0.Address
Replace the
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
configuration withethernet0.checkMACAddress = "FALSE"
Save and close the
.vmx
file.
Your macOS virtual machine should be good to go! You now should be able to sign into iMessage and use the other iServices. Boot up your virtual machine and sign into iMessage to verify everything is working correctly.
Note: If something failed during setup and your macOS virtual machine will not boot, restore from an earlier snapshot and redo part of the setup!
Final Checks
Here are a few final checks to make sure that your macOS virtual machine is setup correctly.
When the macOS virtual machine is booted & running, click on the
Apple Logo
and selectAbout this Mac
. Verify that the serial number listed matches the serial number you configured in the steps above.Open
System Preferences
and open yourDate & Time
settings. Verify that your timezone is set correctly and your time is properly synced.If you are unsure, you can open Safari and go to https://time.is to see if your time synchronization is misaligned.
If your time synchronization is misaligned, you can synchronize it by opening
Terminal
and running this command:sudo ntpdate -vu time.apple.com
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