Run Vanilla OS X El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra or Mojave in VMware Workstation on a Windows Host

[Matte82]

Okay so I reinstalled and everything seemed to be working fine. I shut down the VM. Went home. Today it does the same thing. The boot screen with the apple logo comes on. The progress bar gets about 80% across the screen, and then the screen maximizes. The window goes black and nothing. I can see some notifications pop up on the top right side. But they're kind of transparent. But the background is all black and I can't find anywhere to click to get it to do anything. If I leave it setting the screen saver eventually pops up. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Matte82]

So I reinstalled for a third time. I have tried to install Clover as recommended, and it doesn't seem to work. The vm boots and works, it just is booting like normal and not going to a clover screen. So for now I'm just not "powering down" the VM. I only "suspend" it. And reboot only when necessary. So far its still working, but wish I could get clover to work.

[backwards]

hey, guys,

 

what if i build the vm on the mac (get it configured and as set up as possible)?

how would these instructions be modified for that? obviously, i would ignore installation, but, what about editing the v files? does that happen before or after the move?

 

thanks,

bw

[midix]

On KabyLake CPU I had to set MAC OS version to 10.7, else VMWare always crashed when attempting to start the VM. It is kinda counterintuitive, because I have 10.12 (Sierra) installed. I tried with and without SMC mods - the same result.

[fusion71au]

Update for macOS High Sierra and Mojave

 

To prepare the High Sierra or Mojave ISO on your Mac or Hack, the macOS_iso_cim.tool script will chain-load Apple's createinstallmedia utility.

 

1.  On your Mac or Hack, download/copy "Install macOS xxx.app" into your Applications folder.

 

2.  Download and unzip the macOS_iso_cim.tool (attached to this post) into your ~/Downloads folder.  The commands in this executable script are shown below for informational purposes.  Note: you will need approx 16GB of free space on your hard disk for the script to complete.

 

 

 

#!/bin/bash
 
 # Create macOS sparseimage of 6200mb with a Single Partition - Apple Partition Map
 hdiutil create -o /tmp/macOS -size 6200m -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J -type SPARSE
 
 # Mount the macOS sparseimage
 hdiutil attach /tmp/macOS.sparseimage -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build
 
 # Chain-load createinstallmedia utility
 /Applications/Install*.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/install_build
 
 # Move sparseimage to desktop
 mv /tmp/macOS.sparseimage ~/Desktop/InstallSystem.sparseimage

 # Unmount the Installer image
 hdiutil detach /Volumes/Install*
 
 # Convert the macOS sparseimage to ISO/CD master
 hdiutil convert ~/Desktop/InstallSystem.sparseimage -format UDTO -o ~/Desktop/macOS.iso
  
 # Rename macOS.iso.cdr to macOS.iso
 mv ~/Desktop/macOS.iso.cdr ~/Desktop/macOS.iso
 
 # Delete macOS.sparseimage file
 rm -f ~/Desktop/InstallSystem.sparseimage

 

 

3.  Open OS X terminal, then run the following commands to execute the script:

cd Downloads
chmod +x macOS_iso_cim.tool
sudo ./macOS_iso_cim.tool

eg

Spoiler

Mac-Pro:~ fusion71au$ cd Downloads
Mac-Pro:Downloads fusion71au$ chmod +x macOS_iso_cim.tool
Mac-Pro:Downloads fusion71au$ sudo ./macOS_iso_cim.tool
Password:
created: /tmp/macOS.sparseimage
/dev/disk4              Apple_partition_scheme             
/dev/disk4s1            Apple_partition_map                
/dev/disk4s2            Apple_HFS                          /Volumes/install_build
Ready to start.
To continue we need to erase the volume at /Volumes/install_build.
If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: y
Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.
"disk4" unmounted.
"disk4" ejected.
Reading Driver Descriptor Map (DDM : 0)…
Reading Apple (Apple_partition_map : 1)…
Reading  (Apple_Free : 2)…
Reading disk image (Apple_HFS : 3)…
.............................................................................
Elapsed Time:  2m  3.679s
Speed: 50.1Mbytes/sec
Savings: 0.0%
created: /Users/fusion71au/Desktop/macOS.iso.cdr

 

 

4.  At the end of the process, you will have a macOS.iso on your desktop - copy this onto an exFAT formatted USB for use on the PC Host later.

5.  Attach the iso to the Virtual Machine on the PC Host and start the installer, run VMware tools etc...

 

 

 

 

The VMware guest settings from post#1 still work for High Sierra 10.13 and Mojave 10.14 (VMware Workstation 12.5 and unlocker 2.0.8, Apple Mac OS X as the Guest operating system and macOS 10.12 as the version).  If the host has sufficient memory, I recommend allocating 3GB or more for a High Sierra VM guest.

 

Workstation 15.0 and Unlocker v3.0 support Mojave OOB but Workstation 15 does not support host CPU older than SandyBridge .

 

macOS_iso_cim.tool.zip

 

Edited June 26, 2019 by fusion71au
Update for Mojave 10.14 and new macOS_iso_cim.tool

[samsam99]

I am having some issues with high sierra, the APFS conversion is messing stuff up for me 12.5.7 + unlocker 2.0.8

 

I guess it means I need to install Sierra and then upgrade with the trick that allows you to avoid converting to APFS. 

 

It there a way to to trigger 

 

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

 

From the terminal? Maybe edit the plist or something? 

 

Anyone running VMWare 12.5.7 with high sierra on APFS? 

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

 

When I run it in terminal in the recovery/install area it complains "Error: could not find OSInstallerSetup.framework" 

[fusion71au]

@samsam99,

 

That's because you haven't specified --applicationpath /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app eg

/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume /Volumes/macSSD --converttoapfs NO --applicationpath /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app

where "macSSD" is name of target volume.

 

Here are some screenshots from the install on "macSSD".  I have booted from the "OS X Base System" installer created with CHSI.tool in post#30, and started terminal from the Utilities menu...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[roswellian]

The method to install clover on VM doesn't work any more for the latest version of Clover.  Clover on VM has been broken for a while, and their dev team seems to have no intention to fix that. I cannot use my passthrough GPU, that's pretty bad  

[fusion71au]

The method to install clover on VM doesn't work any more for the latest version of Clover.  Clover on VM has been broken for a while, and their dev team seems to have no intention to fix that. I cannot use my passthrough GPU, that's pretty bad  

 

The problem is not Clover per se but which toolchain is used to compile it...latest Clover r4223 compiled with GCC5.3 in Linux Mint 18.1 works fine to boot High Sierra 10.13 in VMWare12...

 

Clover r4223 for VMware.zip

[Beefcat]

Please can the guru's help,

 

I have Fusion 8.5 with an old el caption guest os. I'm booting into an old version of clover which then starts up el capitan.It worsk 100% fine, heck even my imessage.

 

The problem:

I cannot find the site that help me to perform this about 2 years ago.

i want to do the same with Fusion pro 10 firing up latest clover and boot into macOs High Sierra

[Beefcat]

Run Vanilla OS X El Capitan, Sierra, Yosemite or Mavericks in VMware Workstation 12 on a Windows Host

 

I wanted to make a simple guide on how to create a vanilla OS X El Capitan virtual machine running on a Windows host.  The virtual machine should be useful for testing El Capitan and also for creating installers for use on a real machine/hackintosh.

 

There are many guides and videos on the net about running OS X on Windows machines using pre-made VMWare disk images but you can never guarantee what else is in there….

 

I’ve gathered info for this guide from various threads in the Multibooting and Virtualisation section of this forum eg

 

• Workstation 11/12, Player 7/12, Fusion 7/8 and ESXi 6 Mac OS X Unlocker 2 by @Donk
• How to Install OS X 10.x from Snow Leopard to El Capitan in VMware Workstation 10/12, Player 6/8 or ESXi 5/6 by @MSOK
• HOW TO: Create a bootable El Capitan ISO for VMware

Credit and thanks to @Donk, @Albert Nietsnie and @MSOK for all their hard work in creating and testing the VMware Unlocker program.

 

Requirements

• Intel PC with four or more CPU cores running Windows 7 X64 or later OS (2 or more cores needed for OS X)
• 4GB or more RAM (2GB or more will be needed for OS X)
• Hard Disk with at least 40GB free for Virtual Machine
• VMware Workstation 12 or later
• VMware Unlocker 2.0.7 or later
• Install OS X El Capitan app and Mac or Hack to prepare installation iso
• 16GB or larger exFAT formatted USB stick to transfer El Capitan iso from Mac/Hack to Host PC

Prepare Installation ISO on your Mac or Hack

1.  On your Mac or Hack, download "Install OS X El Capitan.app" from the App Store into your Applications folder.

2.  Unmount any attached install image/InstallESD.dmg (if currently mounted) by rebooting the system or running the hdiutil unmount command in terminal eg

 

ls /Volumes

hdiutil unmount -force /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System   (if you find 'OS X Base System')

hdiutil unmount -force /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD       (if you find 'OS X Install ESD')

3.  Download and unzip the CECI.tool (attached to this post) into your ~/Downloads folder. The commands in this executable script are shown below for informational purposes….

 

 

 

#!/bin/bash
 
 # Mount the Installer image
 hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_app
 
 # Create El Capitan sparseimage of 7316mb with a Single Partition - Apple Partition Map
 hdiutil create -o /tmp/ElCapitan -size 7316m -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J -type SPARSE
 
 # Mount the El Capitan sparseimage
 hdiutil attach /tmp/ElCapitan.sparseimage -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build
 
 # Restore the Base System into the El Capitan Blank sparseimage
 asr restore -source /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/install_build -noprompt -noverify -erase
 
 # Remove Packages link and replace with actual files
 rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/
 
 # Copy El Capitan installer dependencies
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/BaseSystem.chunklist
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/BaseSystem.dmg
 
 # Unmount the installer image
 hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_app
 
 # Unmount the Base System image
 hdiutil detach /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/
 
 # Convert the ElCapitan spareseimage image to ISO/CD master
  hdiutil convert /tmp/ElCapitan.sparseimage -format UDTO -o /tmp/ElCapitan.iso
 
 # Rename the ElCapitan ISO image and move it to the desktop
  mv /tmp/ElCapitan.iso.cdr ~/Desktop/'EC 10.11.0.iso'
 
 # Delete ElCapitan.sparseimage file
  rm -f /tmp/ElCapitan.sparseimage

 

 

4.  Open OS X terminal, then run the following commands to execute the script:

cd downloads
chmod +x CECI.tool
./CECI.tool

5.  At the end of the process, you will have an El Capitan iso on your desktop - copy this onto an exFAT formatted USB for use on the PC Host later.

 

Update: @shela has created an ISO generating script compatible with OS X 10.6-10.12: create_osx_iso post #362.

 

Install and Patch VMware Workstation 12 on your PC

1.  Download and install VMWare Workstation Player 12 or later

2.  Download and extract Unlocker 2.0.7 or later to your USB stick…

3.  Run the win-install.cmd as administrator by right clicking the file in Windows explorer or run it from an Administrative Command Prompt.

 

VMWare_unlocker207.png

Run Command Prompt as administrator.png

win-install.cmd.png

 

Create an El Capitan Virtual Machine

1.  Double click on the VMware Workstation 12 Player icon on your desktop and click “Create a New Virtual Machine”.  Choose “I will install the operating system later” at the How will you install screen….

 

Create a New Virtual Machine.png

2.  Select Apple Mac OS X as the Guest operating system and OS X 10.11 as the version.  By default, an OS X 10.11 folder will be created in your Documents\Virtual Machines folder.

 

Select a Guest Operating System.png

Name the Virtual Machine.png

3.  Under Specify Disk Capacity, you can leave the default 40GB or set a larger value.  I personally store the virtual disk as a single file.  Click Finish and you will see OS X 10.11 on the Main Screen of Workstation 12.

 

Store virtual disk as a single file.png

Finish.png

4.  Next, we need to edit the virtual machine settings to map the virtual SATA CD/DVD drive to the El Capitan installation iso we created earlier.

 

Edit virtual machine settings.png

Browse for ISO image file or use physical drive.png

 

5.  To prevent the virtual machine from crashing in Windows, the virtualHW.version set in the vmx configuration file needs to be changed from 12 to 10 (alternatively, the line smc.version = "0" can be added to the file).  The OS X 10.11.vmx file can be edited with the WordPad program (navigate to the OS X 10.11 virtual machine folder with Windows Explorer and right click on the file to open in WordPad).

 

Edit vmx file with WordPad.png

Set virtualHW.version to 10 or SMC=0.png

 

6.  For HW10, set USB compatibility to USB 2.0, otherwise your mouse and keyboard might not work in the virtual machine.

 

Set USB compatibility to USB 2.0.png

7.  Finally click “Play virtual machine”

 

Play VM.png

Installation of El Capitan

Installation should be relatively straight forward, just following the prompts of the OS X installer:

1.  Select language, agree to legal terms

 

Select language, agree to legal terms.png

2.  Use Disk Utility from the Utilities Menu to erase and format the virtual hard drive as a single partition GUID Mac OS X Extended.  I’ve named the drive Macintosh HD but you can enter whatever you like eg El_Capitan.

 

OS X Installer Utilities - Disk Utility.png

Open Disk Utility from Utilities Menu.png

Erase disk and name Macintosh HD.png

3.  Quit DU and choose Macintosh HD to install El Capitan on.

 

Choose Macintosh HD.png

4.  After 20-30 min (depending on how fast your system is), the installation will complete and the VM will automatically reboot…

 

Reboot for first time.png

5.  At the welcome screen, choose your country and keyboard layout.  You can skip transfer information, location services and logging in with your Apple ID if you wish…

 

Welcome choose country and keyboard.png

Transfer Information, location services, AppleID, terms and conditions.png

6.  Create a User Account and select your Time Zone.  You can skip sending diagnostics and usage data to Apple….

 

Create a Computer Account.png

Select Time Zone, Send Diagnostics and Usage Data.png

7.  Finally, you will arrive at the El Capitan Desktop.  You should eject the Installation iso now by right clicking and selecting “Eject OS X Base System”.  This will allow you to install VMware Tools….

 

El Capitan Desktop.png

Eject OS X Base System Installer to install VMware Tools.png

Install VMware Tools.png

8.  After rebooting, the VM can now be resized or run at full screen resolution.  Audio and network/internet should also work OOB.

 

System Information.png

 

SMBIOS Customization and iMessage Vars

To make the Virtual Machine more "Mac like", you can edit the vmx file to add unique identifiers from a real Mac's SMBIOS -

eg for an iMac 11,3 SMBIOS, you can enter the following lines....

smbios.reflectHost = "FALSE"
board-id.reflectHost = "FALSE"
board-id = "Mac-F2238BAE"
hw.model.reflectHost = "FALSE"
hw.model = "iMac11,3"
serialNumber.reflectHost = "FALSE"
serialNumber = "W80#######6"

Refer How to spoof real Mac in VMware - Multi-booting and Virtualisation.

 

The critical variables for iMessage/Facetime activation are MLB & ROM.  By default, VMware "reflects" the host's MLB and ROM since it assumes you are running the OSX guest on a real Mac host - see post#42 by @Donk.

 

If the host is a Windows PC, the following lines need to be added to the vmx file (requires virtualHW.version 12 and smc.version = "0")....

efi.nvram.var.ROM.reflectHost = "FALSE"
efi.nvram.var.MLB.reflectHost = "FALSE"
system-id.enable = "TRUE"

and the MLB, ROM and optionally system-id entered manually eg

efi.nvram.var.MLB = "W80######BA1A" (MLB can be 13 or 17 characters long, alphanumeric string)
efi.nvram.var.ROM = "<=>?@A" (ROM is entered here as a 6 character ASCII string)
uuid.bios = "## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##-## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##" <---Optional (if you want to inject a given system-id hexadecimal value)

Note the output for ROM from imessage_debug is a 12 character hexadecimal that needs to be entered here as a 6 character ASCII string eg using an Hex to ASCII converter we find that "3c3d3e3f4041" hex is equivalent to   "<=>?@A".

 

Vanilla Mavericks and Yosemite

The same VM settings for El Capitan will also boot and run vanilla installations of OS X Mavericks and Yosemite .  Attached to this post are installer scripts to create bootable Mavericks (CMI.tool) and Yosemite (CYI.tool) ISOs for VirtualBox and VMware.

 

With the respective OS X installer apps in the Applications folder, download and run the installer tools using terminal ie

 

To create a Mavericks ISO on your desktop

cd downloads
chmod +x CMI.tool
./CMI.tool

To create a Yosemite ISO on your desktop

cd downloads
chmod +x CYI.tool
./CYI.tool

Here is a screenshot of the VM running Mavericks 10.9.5...

 

Vanilla Mavericks on VMware.jpg

 

Enjoy

 

Update for Sierra 10.12

The above settings still work for macOS Sierra after upgrading to VMware Workstation 12.5 and unlocker 2.0.8 - see post #13.

 

Update for High Sierra 10.13

See post#30.

Hi,

 

Does this method work for latest edition of clover, macos high sierra and fusion 10 pro.

 

I have fusion 8.5 and it did work first time when i installed it late 2015 

[fusion71au]

@Beefcat,

 

Sorry, I don't have VMware Fusion on a Mac so I don't know and can't test.  Better to ask @Donk in his thread.

 

The method explained in post#1 was tested with VMware Workstation Player on a Windows host.

 

PS Why do you want to use Clover when your host is a Mac?  It is not required to run the VM or get iMessage working....

[4insmac]

running Sierra (10.12.6) on top of VMware WS12.5.7. Everything seems to work BUT

I cannot connect my iOS devices via USB 2 anymore (

key error symptom: endless connect-disconnect loop of USB connected iPhones and iPad

 

This works with identical host HW and identical VM WS 12 in VM with 10.11.6 though.

Tried unsuccessful w/ 10.12.6 VM:

- VM HW version 9-11

- powered USB hub and all HW USB hubs

 

What else can i try?

Thx for help

[4insmac]

after further systematic tests: different cables, VMtools versions, host USB drivers (vmusb.sys), WS 12 uninstall (incl /clean) and reinstall

I could get 1 iPhone connected after resetting "Settings - General - location & privacy" on iPhone. This did not work for the other iPhone

Looks as if this error could be triggered by several causes and my problem looks to me like a timing problem.

 

any help appreciated

[Juppstein]

running Sierra (10.12.6) on top of VMware WS12.5.7. Everything seems to work BUT

I cannot connect my iOS devices via USB 2 anymore (

key error symptom: endless connect-disconnect loop of USB connected iPhones and iPad

 

This works with identical host HW and identical VM WS 12 in VM with 10.11.6 though.

Tried unsuccessful w/ 10.12.6 VM:

- VM HW version 9-11

- powered USB hub and all HW USB hubs

 

What else can i try?

Thx for help

 

 

Installing 10.12.4 worked for me. The moment I update to 10.12.6, connecting iOS devices to USB will result in the endless loop as you have described. 

 

So at the moment I am forced to sit on 10.12.4, which sucks because my plan was to use the VM for testing out stuff with XCode and the latest Configurator (DEP Provisioning et al) 

 

I would hate to have to have a separate machine on my desk just for OSX, I already have too many machines sitting around here

[fusion71au]

How to install High Sierra 10.13 or Mojave 10.14 on a VMware Guest (without access to Mac or App Store Installer.app)

 

Pre-requisites
1)  On a 16GB NTFS formatted USB volume, renamed "USB",  a "SharedSupport" folder was prepared as described in my guide here, containing the following 6 installer files downloaded from Apple's Software Catalog ....

 

 

 

1. BaseSystem.dmg
2. BaseSystem.chunklist
3. InstallInfo.plist <---Edited, attached example 
4. InstallESDDmg.pkg <---Renamed to InstallESD.dmg 
5. AppleDiagnostics.dmg
6. AppleDiagnostics.chunklist

(Hint - search page for "InstallESD" to find its URL and others nearby)

 

 

2)  macOS guest created in patched VMware Workstation Player (unlocker patch by @Donk), as described in post#1.  Attached blank virtual disk macOS_apfs.vmdk.zip of 50GB size and Clover r4699 installed in its EFI.

 

 

Procedure
1)  Download & extract the contents of BaseSystem_vmdk_generator.zip to your USB.  For my system, the drive letter was D:

 

 

2)  Convert \SharedSupport\BaseSystem.dmg to vmdk by double clicking BaseSystem_vmdk_generator.bat.  The file BaseSystem.vmdk is automatically created in the root directory \ of the USB.

 

Deleting any existing image files and vmdk files...
Could Not Find D:\*.vmdk
Could Not Find D:\qemu-img-win-x64-2_3_0\*.img
Converting BaseSystem.dmg to BaseSystem.img with dmg2img...

dmg2img v1.6.7 (c) vu1tur (to@vu1tur.eu.org)

\SharedSupport\BaseSystem.dmg --> \qemu-img-win-x64-2_3_0\BaseSystem.img


decompressing:
opening partition 0 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 1 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 2 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 3 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 4 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 5 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 6 ...             100.00%  ok
opening partition 7 ...             100.00%  ok

Archive successfully decompressed as \qemu-img-win-x64-2_3_0\BaseSystem.img
Converting BaseSystem.img to BaseSystem.vmdk...
BaseSystem.vmdk created in root directory of USB drive!
Press any key to continue . . .

 

3)  Copy BaseSystem.vmdk from your USB into the VMware macOS guest folder

4)  Attach BaseSystem.vmdk and macOS_apfs.vmdk to your macOS guest as extra hard drives.  When you see the message "Convert existing virtual disk to newer format?", click convert

 

 

5)  Boot your VM to the macOS Utilities screen.  Attach the usb (named "USB" and containing the \SharedSupport folder) to the VM and open Disk Utility, show all devices ---> will see blank 50GB drive for installation, 2GB "OS X Base System" and the USB volume "USB"

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

6)  Erase blank drive, format it to apfs named "macOS"

7)  Close DU and start Terminal...

 

-bash-3.2# cd /Volumes/USB
-bash-3.2# ./startosinstall.command

The startosinstall.command script builds the full "Install macOS ******.app" and chain loads the startosinstall utility on the "macOS" target volume.  It combines both the "small" installer app (approx 15MB in size on "OS X Base System") and the SharedSupport folder from the NTFS volume (mounted on /Volumes/USB).  Note the full installer app is >5GB in size ...

 

 

8)  After a few minutes, Apple's Software License agreement will appear ---> type "A" to agree to the License Agreement ---> install files will be placed in /Volumes/macOS/macOS Install Data ---> System will reboot ---> Phase 2 installation extracting installer pkg files from /macOS Install Data ---> Final reboot into completed system, ready to setup new user account...
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

9)  After setting up a new user account, install VMware Tools to improve the graphics performance of the macOS guest.  You can also delete or archive the "Install macOS ******.app" that remains in /Previous Content

 

 

10)   If you subsequently want to start the VM through Clover, edit the VM's vmx file to add the line bios.bootDelay = "3000"...

 

 

After starting the virtual machine, click in the VM window and quickly press the <F2> key to access the VMware Boot Manager ---> select EFI Hard Drive ---> Boot macOS from macOS at the Clover Main Menu.  Clover nicely fills in the System's details, including a serial number (you can change this later + add custom MLB + ROM for iMessage by mounting the EFI partition and editing Clover's config.plist).

 

 

BaseSystem_vmdk_generator.zip

macOS_apfs.vmdk.zip

Edited October 16, 2018 by fusion71au
Update for macOS Mojave

[kebjjjjoooooa]

I get these messages on VMware 14: EFI VMware Virtual SATA Hard Drive (0.0) ... unsuccessful EFI VMware Virtual SATA CDROM Drive (1.0) ... unsuccessful. Any suggestions?

[fusion71au]

@kebjjjjoooooa,

 

It means the system cannot read your install media.

• Ensure that you download only from official sources ie the installer.app from App Store or BaseSystem.dmg from the Apple Software Catalog URL.  You can compare the SHA1 checksum of your InstallESD.dmg and BaseSystem.dmg (Hint: right click on the installer.app in Finder and "Show Package Contents") with the correct ones at this website.

          Eg for "Install macOS High Sierra.app" 10.13.1_17B48, determine its SHA1 in Terminal..

 

fusion71aus-iMac:~ fusion71au$ shasum /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg 

d815748c242fbbe35754a8f37aea1cfbc7e919f6  /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg

fusion71aus-iMac:~ fusion71au$ shasum /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport/BaseSystem.dmg 

b38e5f4daa014d324f1a78f91c1f30f6d68289ef  /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport/BaseSystem.dmg

 

• Prepare the install media with the tools provided/described in post#1 (Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan ISOs), post#13 (Sierra ISO), #30 & post#41 (High Sierra ISO or vmdk from BaseSystem.dmg).

[elryno_dcb]

I get a boot loop. Looking through the vmware.log file, I see several suspicious things. Any ideas what could be wrong?

2017-12-08T14:24:20.932-07:00| vcpu-3| W115: DarwinPanic: panic(cpu 3 caller 0xffffff801ca9e657): "a freed zone element has been modified in zone kalloc.48: expected 0xc0ffee3c8f1b6b4c but found 0, bits changed 0xc0ffee3c8f1b6b4c, at offset 0 of 48 in element 0xffffff80306634e0, cookies 0x3f0011bcbf7d52bc 0x53521d4324e2ff9"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-4570.31.3/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:1120

2017-12-08T14:24:20.935-07:00| vcpu-0| W115: PVNVRAMSetMacOSROM: Unable to retrieve host value.
2017-12-08T14:24:20.935-07:00| vcpu-0| W115: PVNVRAMSetMacOSMLB: Unable to retrieve host value.

2017-12-08T14:24:51.761-07:00| vcpu-1| W115: DarwinPanic: panic(cpu 1 caller 0xffffff801c16f2e9): Kernel trap at 0xffffff801c60c056, type 14=page fault, registers:
2017-12-08T14:24:51.763-07:00| vcpu-0| I125: DEVICE: Resetting device 'ALL'.

[Deridjian]

I've got a boot loop as well just my kernel panic message in log is different:

vcpu-0| W115: DarwinPanic: panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff801f30fdf0): initproc exited -- exit reason namespace 2 subcode 0x4 description: none 

This is on Workstation 14 Pro on Arch Linux using an Intel CPU. I converted the BaseSystem.dmg downloaded from the regular catalog (there are two in there?) with dmg2img and then installed qemu and used qemu-img from cli with the exact same command. I used unlocker2.1.1 and could successfully select MacOS as operating system in Workstation. The resulting BaseSystem.vmdk was attached as 2nd disk. Apple on black shows up then immediately reboots.

[tachycore]

First, thank you  fusion71au for a very informative and splendid guide.

 

I was able to download High Sierra from the Apple servers and complete a functional installation of v10.13.3 on VMware Workstation Player v12.5.9.

 

However, I came across a couple issues.

 

1) The preformatted 50 GB disk with Clover in post #44 did not appear to be compatible with the BaseSystem for my case.

 

The bootloader screen does launch. However, when I click on the BaseSystem to boot, I get an immediate firmware error and the entire virtual machine quits. I had to create a completely blank disk and go through steps 6-8 to accomplish the installation.

 

2) All iterations of Clover do not seem to work with my virtual High Sierra.

 

I have tried following all instructions and copies of Clover in this thread. The system still immediately goes to the Apple logo and OS starts.

 

 

Has anyone recently gotten the Clover Bootloader to install and run successfully on a VMware High Sierra machine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Pag8]

Hi,

I've one question: I'm using El Capitan on WM Player (Windows 10 x64, ssd, 16gb ram), but my vram is locked to 128mb.

If I'll install Clover, Will I be able to use my graphic card (nvidia 970m) or at least get more vram?

 

Thanks! ^^

[tachycore]

Compilation of Clover with Build_Clover with GNU and launch of Clover using Alt startup was successful, but still getting a similar firmware error as before.

 

This is in spite of applying all settings as suggested in post #5.

 

Will keep working around with it.

 

EDIT:

 

Found ticket in SourceForge for Clover pointing out that SMBIOS was a major culprit:

https://sourceforge.net/p/cloverefiboot/tickets/403/

 

Filled out SMBIOS information with Clover Configurator, but that wasn't enough. Crash persisted.

 

Went back and filled out Rt Variables information and put in Custom UUID under System Parameters.

 

Now, Clover v4416 bootloader is fully functioning, boots the High Sierra virtual machine with updated hardware ID.

 

Will begin experimenting with pass throughs, especially on the graphics card side.

 

Major goal of mine to enable a highly functional version of Osirix.

 

 

EDIT 2:

Guess this should be obvious, but basic Mac profile should mimic whatever CPU setting chosen for the virtual machine.

[rudironsoni]

On 24/02/2018 at 12:51 PM, tachycore said:

Compilation of Clover with Build_Clover with GNU and launch of Clover using Alt startup was successful, but still getting a similar firmware error as before.

 

This is in spite of applying all settings as suggested in post #5.

 

Will keep working around with it.

 

EDIT:

 

Found ticket in SourceForge for Clover pointing out that SMBIOS was a major culprit:

https://sourceforge.net/p/cloverefiboot/tickets/403/

 

Filled out SMBIOS information with Clover Configurator, but that wasn't enough. Crash persisted.

 

Went back and filled out Rt Variables information and put in Custom UUID under System Parameters.

 

Now, Clover v4416 bootloader is fully functioning, boots the High Sierra virtual machine with updated hardware ID.

 

Will begin experimenting with pass throughs, especially on the graphics card side.

 

Major goal of mine to enable a highly functional version of Osirix.

 

 

EDIT 2:

Guess this should be obvious, but basic Mac profile should mimic whatever CPU setting chosen for the virtual machine.

 

 

 

Hi, how the GPU passthrough works?

[DisplayError]

Hi,

 

thanks for the very detailed guide!

I used it to install High Sierra 10.13 on VMWare Workstation running on a Windows 10 (1803, x64) host. I used Donk's unlocker (2.1.1). I installed VMWare Tools from the Workstation menu, and the display looked fine on reboot but as soon as I log in and get to the desktop, after 3 seconds the screen resolution keeps switching back from the native 1920x1080 to scaled down 960x540 HiDPI.

 

When I access the OSX display settings and click 1920x1080 it stays for 1-2 seconds and switches back to 960x540 HiDPI. I can't make it stick...

 

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling VMWare Tools using the Darwin.iso created by the Unlocker, but the result is the same.

 

Running

/Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Tools/vmware-resolutionSet 1920 1080

 in the terminal doesn't fix anything either (with or without sudo).

 

What am I missing..? Help!

 

EDIT: While initially searching for other posts relating to my issue I missed this one that solved it for me.

 

On 12/1/2017 at 9:24 PM, moisiss said:

I was having the same issue with my 10.12 VM in ESXi 6.0.  I would go to display resolution and try to select 1600x900 and it would auto-switch it to 800x450 HiDPI no matter what I did.  I was able to fix it by doing the following:

 

1) Open terminal in the OSX VM

2) Enter the following command (no quotes) "sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist DisplayResolutionEnabled"

3) Enter you admin password

4) Restart the VM

 

When the VM restarts it will now go to 1600x900 and the 800x450 HiDPI setting is gone.

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by DisplayError