Since Apple's new macOS Big Sur dropped a little over 2 weeks ago, some of you may want to tinker around with the new OS in your homelab.
Below I'll list out the steps I used to get this up and running in my lab environment.
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This guide is primarily written for an Intel based machine running a Type 1 bare metal hypervisor.
For AMD machines. Please refer to the comments at the end of this guide for any workarounds. One of my readers named Vince Whistonfound a solution to his AMD issues using VMware Workstationhere.
02/01/2022 - This guide has been updated below.
Installing macOS 12 Monterey on VMware ESXi 7 Update 3
Quick Navigation
Prerequisites
macOS 11 Big Sur ISO
Download macOS 11 Big Sur ISO
Mount Installer then Convert to ISO
Clean Up
Transfer ISO to Datastore
macOS Unlocker Install
Download the Unlocker
Upload to Datastore
SSH into ESXi Host to Install Unlocker
Install Unlocker Patch
Validate Successful Patch Install
macOS 11 Big Sur VM Install
Create New Virtual Machine
Install macOS 11 Big Sur
Prerequisites
We'll need these items above to complete this entire process. Don't worry, I'll walk you through all the steps in obtaining these items.
Ok first off we'll need the macOS 11 Big Sur iso. Throughout the vast interwebs, you can search and find the Big Sur ISO all over the place to download.
So go get it! But...
...if you do go this route, make sure you look up how to validate the SHA1 and MD5 hash values of the iso before using it.
I, for one, like to create it myself using another macOS native machine like a Macbook. I know some of you don't have access to a dedicated macOS environment and it's probably the reason why you are following this guide. 🙂
I just like to know that the iso is clean and not injected with anything malicious.
With this...Can I use iCloud, iMessage, etc...?
Download macOS 11 Big Sur ISO
- On your macOS dedicated device, navigate to download the Big Sur official release here.
- Once you've clicked the link, the App Store App will open prompting you to Get Big Sur.
Once you've clicked on the Get button. Continue downloading Big Sur which sits at roughly 12.18 GB. Depending on your network connection the download time may vary.
DO NOT CLICK CONTINUE!
Once the download completes, you'll be prompted with the install window to Continue. Instead of continuing, simply click on Command + Q to close the window.
You'll now have the Big Sur App listed under your application folder. This is what we'll use to convert it into an iso in the next step.
Mount Installer then Convert to ISO
Next we'll need to run a series of commands to mount the installer to ultimately convert to an iso to be used by ESXi.
Launch terminal and run the following command.
sudo -i
This command will then prompt you for the administrator password for your specific device. Once you enter it in, you'll be logged in as the root user which is the account we'll use to execute the rest of the commands.
From the root# prompt, enter the following command.
hdiutil create -o /tmp/bigsur -size 12900.1m -volname bigsur -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J
*Update 06/17/21* - A few of my readers in the comments below suggested changing the size of the image to 12900.1 & 13100.1 to account for all the current OS updates as this guide was written for the initial release of Big Sur. So please ignore the screenshot below that has a volume size of 12700.1m and follow the command above.
This will create the directory /tmp/bigsur.dmg
Next we are going to mount the dmg using the following command.
hdiutil attach /tmp/BigSur.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/BigSur
This should result in the following output below.
Then we'll create the install media from our mount with this command.
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/bigsur --nointeraction
The output below is what you should see while making the disk bootable.
Afterwards, eject the attached disk using the command below
hdiutil eject -force /volumes/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur
This should result in the disk being ejected.
Then finally we need to convert the image to a .cdr with the following command. A .cdr is essentially a macOS version of an .iso. Not to be confused with a Compact Disc Recordable.
hdiutil convert /tmp/bigsur.dmg -format UDTO -o /Users/erickdimalanta/Desktop/BigSur.cdr
Make sure you change the /Users/erickdimalanta/Desktop/BigSur.cdr to your own username for the path you are working in. Once you run the command below you should see a BigSur.cdr file on your desktop which sits at about 13.32 GB.
Now all we need to do is simply rename the file to .iso. I like running the mv(move) command in place below to essentially do a rename of the file.
mv /Users/erickdimalanta/Desktop/BigSur.cdr /Users/erickdimalanta/Desktop/BigSur.iso
Don't forget to change the username path to your own username. Or you can simply rename the actual file by:
- Select file
- Press Return/Enter
- Rename .cdr to .iso
- Confirm the change to Use .iso
Clean Up
I hate leaving trails of data all over the place. So let's cleanup after ourselves. If you remember initially we created the bigsur.dmg in the following path /tmp/bigsur.dmg. Let's clean up this directory with the following command.
rm -rf /tmp/bigsur*
This command force removes everything in the directory specified without prompting for confirmation. So we are removing everything in the /tmp folder with anything that begins with bigsur.
Transfer ISO to Datastore
Next we need to navigate to the VMware homelab environment and transfer the newly created BigSur.iso to either a datastore or Content Library if you are running a vCenter. For purposes of this guide, I'll simply upload it to a datastore.
- Login to your ESXi host
- Navigate to Storage and select the Datastore you want to place the .iso in.
- Click on Datastore Browser
- Select the Datastore if not selected already
- Select the folder you'll place the .iso in. I'll use the ISO folder.
- Then click on Upload
Navigate to the directory of the BigSur.iso we created. Select the BigSur.iso and click on Open.
Review the Recent Tasks then monitor to completion.
Now that the .iso is in the datastore, it's time to prep the host to be able to run macOS in a VM. There is an unlocker written in python that modifies the vmware-vmx file to allow macOS to boot. Without this unlocker, it simply doesn't work and just does a boot loop. It'll show the Apple Logo loading screen and then ultimately displays an error.
Your computer restarted because of a problem. Press a key or wait
a few seconds to continue starting up.
Disclaimer:This unlocker should not to be run in a production environment. This workaround is only to personally evaluate and have a macOS environment for purposes of testing.
Download the Unlocker
You'll first need to download the unlocker zip file here if you didn't do a git clone.
I ran the git clone to obtain the esxi-unlocker-301.tgz file.
However, if you simply downloaded the unlocker zip file, your downloaded file should be named esxi-unlocker-master.zip
Upload to Datastore
Once you've obtained the esxi-unlocker-301.tgz oresxi-unlocker-master.zip. Upload this to the same location we uploaded the BigSur.iso in the steps above.
esxi-unlocker-301.tgz
esxi-unlocker-master.zip
SSH into ESXi Host to Install Unlocker
SSH into your host and navigate to the unlocker location. Once there, unzip the unlocker using the following command.
For esxi-unlocker-301.tgz
tar xzvf esxi-unlocker-301.tgz
Uhh...the heck is a TAR or .tgz file?
For esxi-unlocker-master.zip(skip if you've done the above step)
unzip esxi-unlocker-master.zip
Install Unlocker Patch
Now that we've extracted the archive, we can run the install patch. There is actually a validation checker to make sure the patch is successful when installed. Let's do that first. Run the following command to validate.
./esxi-smctest.sh
We see the result obviously shows false since we've not yet installed the patch. Now let's do that. Run the following command to install the patch.
./esxi-install.sh
For the esxi-unlocker-master.zip version, you'll need to navigate down to the extracted folder using the below command. From here you'll be able to view all the above files to run the patch.
cd esxi-unlocker-301/
Before running the patch you may receive a "Permission denied" error. Simply navigate back one level using the command "cd .." (without the quotes) and run the following command against the root folder to grant permissions to the folder and all the files recursively within.
chmod 775 -R esxi-unlocker-301/
After running the permissions command, we can navigate inside the folder again using "cd esxi-unlocker-301"
Once we've run the install "./esxi-install.sh", we'll need to now reboot the server for the configuration changes to take effect. In the same command window, you can simply type reboot then hit Enter.
reboot
Validate Successful Patch Install
Once the ESXi host is back up, ssh into the host and navigate to the same location where we unzipped the Unlocker file. We are going to want to run the validation command again to see the result.
./esxi-smctest.sh
Now we see the result is quite different. It now shows that smcPresent = true. We should now be able to install macOS without running into that boot loop.
Yey we're almost there.
Now that the unlocker has been installed and verified, let's now continue on to install Big Sur.
Create New Virtual Machine
Let's navigate to the Virtual Machine menu item on the left then click on Create / Register VM.
Then select Create a new virtual machine and click on Next
Next type out a name for your new VM. Select the following options from the drop down menu for the rest of the categories. When finished, click on Next.
From here, you'll want to select your storage on which datastore to place your machine.
The next option is to configure the hardware specs of the VM.
So set your CPU, Memory, Storage size, type of provisioning, Network, and most importantly configure your CD/DVD Drive to boot from the BigSur.iso we've created. Remember, this is located on the datastore we've uploaded it to in an earlier step. Once done, click on Next.
Then finally validate your settings, then click on Finish when complete.
Power On VM & Format Hard Disk
Finally, let's power on our newly created VM to see if it bypasses the boot loop since applying the Unlocker patch.
Woot! Success! No more boot loop. 😀
Ok so let's continue on with the install. Choose your language of choice and click on the bottom right arrow.
We'll need to format the newly provisioned disk so that macOS can recognize the disk to install itself to.
Select the Disk Utility and click on Continue
Highlight the VMware Virtual SATA Hard Drive Media and click on the Erase button.
Enter the Name for your Disk and keep the defaults for Format - APFS & Scheme - GUID Partition Map
Once done, click on Erase
The formatting process will begin. Once complete click Done.
Now quit Disk Utility by navigating to the top menu and selecting Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility
Install macOS 11 Big Sur
From here click on Install macOS Big Sur then click on Continue.
Click Continue here
Click on Agree twice to Accept the Software License Agreement.
Select the newly formatted HDD then click on Continue.
Big Sur will now start to install...
Don't be fooled by the initial time it tells you the install will be done by. In reality it took over an hour or so.
Anyway, install complete. I won't go through the rest of the self-explanatory setup.
You now have your macOS 11 environment to play around in. Enjoy! 🙂
**Credits to shanyungyang's github and everyone else involved that helped me put this simple guide together and making this work.**
FAQs
How to install Mac OS on ESXi 7? ›
- Patch ESXi 6.7.
- Restart the ESXi host.
- Create a new VM, select ESXi 6.7 compatibility. Prefer using SSD disks for deploying VMs running Mac OS X 10.14.
- Select the OS version Apple macOS 10.14.
- Mount the Mojave. ...
- Start the virtual machine and install macOS Mojave.
- Run Parallels Desktop, and in the Mac menu bar click File > New... .
- Select Install Windows or another OS option and click Continue.
- Select Install macOS Big Sur. ...
- Continue to accept creating a new file on Mac disk, then click Save.
If you're still having problems downloading macOS Big Sur, try to find the partially-downloaded macOS 11 files and a file named 'Install macOS 11' on your hard drive. Delete them, then reboot your Mac and try to download macOS Big Sur again.
How many VMs can I run on ESXi 7? ›Maximum number of virtual machines per host: 1024.
Can I install macOS on VM? ›You can install Mac OS X, OS X, or macOS in a virtual machine. Fusion creates the virtual machine, opens the operating system installation assistant, and installs VMware Tools. VMware Tools loads the drivers required to optimize a virtual machine's performance.
Which macOS works best on VMware? ›According to Apple's licensing policies, VMware only supports the virtualization of Apple Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) client or server, Apple Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) client or server, Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) client or server, Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) client or server, Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) client or server, ...
How do I enable 3D acceleration on macOS 11 Big Sur virtual machines? ›- Download VMware tools 11.2. 0 from VMware Downloads.
- Install VMware tools 11.2. 0 in macOS Big Sur guest.
- In the virtual machine's 'Settings' click 'CD/DVD' mount darwin. iso, click 'Connect CD/DVD driver', then power on the virtual machine and install tools from guest's CD/DVD.
Starting with Big Sur, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is no longer the default when using Time Machine. Time Machine's default is now APFS.
Is VMware compatible with macOS Big Sur? ›Windows operating systems are available for purchase separately from Microsoft and other retailers. Fusion 12.0. x supports Macs with macOS 10.15 Catalina and macOS 11.0 Big Sur.
How do you make macOS run faster on VMware? ›If your CPU has eight cores, assign four of them to the macOS VM. Give your macOS VM enough RAM - try half of the real RAM on your PC. Finally, ensure it's got ample space free on its HDD and that the VM's files are stored on a fast storage device - preferably an SSD if not NVMe.
How to install macOS Big Sur step by step? ›
To download macOS Big Sur, open the App Store on your Mac and click the "Get" button. macOS Big Sur will then download and install automatically. Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to restart your Mac. After restarting, you should now have macOS Big Sur up and running.
Which is better macOS Big Sur or Monterey? ›If you're using an older macOS version, you should update to Monterey. macOS Monterey has a few improvements over Big Sur. For example, if you're using a third-party antivirus application, you may want to consider updating to a new version of Monterey.
How long should it take to install macOS Big Sur? ›Depending on your internet connection speed, this can take 15-60 minutes. Note: If your Mac has the latest software installed, it will say, "Your Mac is up to date -- macOS Big Sur 11.7." Be patient. After the download completes, the computer will prepare the update.
What do you do if you get stuck on the installation of macOS Big Sur? ›- Turn off MacBook;
- Hold shift, turn on MacBook, it should launch to desktop in Safe mode;
- Open App Store, search "big sur" and press "Get", System Preferences should open with downloading of full Big Sur update (~12GB);
A good rule of thumb that we have seen empirically is that with a dual 6 core server, you may run up to 7 virtual machines and with a quad 6 core machine, you would be able to run 15 virtual machines.
How many VMs per host is too many? ›Balancing RAM and processor resources
So if there are 128 processors per physical machine, the total assigned processors for all VMs on that host should be no more than 64. Similarly, if there are 500GB of RAM, then the combined assigned RAM among all the VMs on the host should not exceed 250GB.
ESXi 7.0 requires a minimum of 8 GB of physical RAM. Provide at least 8 GB of RAM to run virtual machines in typical production environments. To support 64-bit virtual machines, support for hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI) must be enabled on x64 CPUs.
Does macOS support VMS? ›Virtualization programs such as Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion run on the macOS, but allow you to create a Virtual Machine – or VM – that mimics the hardware of a Windows PC. So you can create a VM on your Mac and then install Windows – or another operating systems, such as Linux – on the VM.
How to install macOS VM on VMWare? ›- Run VMWare macOS Unlocker.
- Download macOS VMware VMDK disk image file from Google Drive.
- Create macOS VMware Workstation Virtual Machine.
- Edit the Virtual Machine settings.
- Attach the recovery VMDK disk image.
- Boot virtual machine from the recovery disk.
- Run Disk utility to erase the OS disk.
One thing I love about VMWare Fusion is its speed. Running Windows in a virtual machine on my MBP does not slow down macOS in any way. With its ease of deployment, anyone should be able to set it up as it provides a guide.
What is the most used version of macOS? ›
- System 6.0. ...
- Mac OS 8.6.
- OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
- macOS 10.13 High Sierra.
If you have the latest drivers and your GPU is decently powerful, always enable hardware when you see the option. You'll have a much smoother experience with that application after enabling hardware acceleration.
Should I enable 3D acceleration in VirtualBox? ›In addition, enabling 3D acceleration gives the guest direct access to a large body of additional program code in the Oracle VM VirtualBox host process which it might conceivably be able to use to crash the virtual machine.
How do I enable direct3d acceleration? ›- Open Display Properties. ...
- Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
- On the Performance tab or on the Troubleshooting tab, move the Hardware Acceleration slider all the way to the right (the Full position).
- Click OK, and then click Close.
If you need to format a drive, use the APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format for best performance. If your Mac is running macOS Mojave or later, use the APFS format. When you format a drive, any data on the volume is deleted, so make sure you create a backup if you want to keep the data.
What is the best drive format for Mac Time Machine? ›APFS or APFS Encrypted disks are the preferred format for a Time Machine backup disk. If you select a new backup disk that's not already formatted as an APFS disk, you get the option to erase and reformat it.
What is the difference between Mac APFS and Mac OS Extended? ›The main difference between the two is that the APFS format is faster, while the Mac Os Journaled format can work on any Mac Os since it has reverse compatibility. APFS works mainly with SSD and flash drives whereas Mac Os extended is mostly used on Mechanical hard drives.
What version of VMware is needed if you have a Mac Apple? ›Fusion 12.2.
Any Intel-based Mac that officially supports macOS 11 Big Sur or later. Minimum 8 GB of memory. 16 GB or more recommended for running multiple virtual machines.
- MacBook (2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (2013 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Late 2013 or later)
- Mac mini (2014 or later)
- iMac (2014 or later)
- iMac Pro (2017 or later)
- Mac Pro (2013 or later)
How do I get the best performance out of my VM? ›
- Know the difference between your host PC and the guest environment.
- Be aware of resource requirements.
- Keep the OS updated.
- Keep the VM software updated.
- Install VM tools for enhanced accessibility.
- Set up a share between VM and your host system.
- Solution 1. Add a SSD to VM.
- Solution 2. disable system visual effects.
- Solution 3. Optimize VM Physical memory usage.
- Backup VM to protect the data.
If you don't provide enough CPU resources for a VM, software inside the VM might run slowly with lags. To fix this, set a VM to use more CPU cores or add more virtual processors. Also, consider upgrading the hardware of your host machine if you have an old processor with a low number of cores, cache, and low frequency.
Will installing macOS Big Sur delete everything? ›A clean installation of macOS Big Sur basically means the entire hard drive – including the system itself, all data, all apps, user accounts, literally everything – is erased, and then a fresh clean install of macOS Big Sur is installed onto the Mac.
How much space does macOS Big Sur need to install? ›After installation, macOS Big Sur takes up at least 14.94GB of storage. Remember that the operating system needs at least 5-10GB of extra space at minimum to function well during routine use. Unless your Mac isn't compatible, you may want to skip Big Sur and update directly to macOS Monterey.
Do you need to backup Mac before installing Big Sur? ›Make sure you backup your Mac before you install the macOS Big Sur 11.6. 8 update. Before you click on install, make sure your important files are backed up to the cloud. We also recommend having a local Time Machine Backup handy.
How do I install macOS 12.5 on VMware? ›- Step 1: Download the Prerequisites. ...
- Step 2: Install the Prerequisites. ...
- Step 3: Unlock VMware to Install macOS Monterey on Windows. ...
- Step 4: Create a New Virtual Machine. ...
- Step 5: Edit macOS Monterey VMX File. ...
- Step 6: Start macOS Monterey Virtual Machine. ...
- Step 7: Complete Basic macOS Account Settings.
- Run VMWare macOS Unlocker.
- Download macOS VMware VMDK disk image file from Google Drive.
- Create macOS VMware Workstation Virtual Machine.
- Edit the Virtual Machine settings.
- Attach the recovery VMDK disk image.
- Boot virtual machine from the recovery disk.
- Run Disk utility to erase the OS disk.
- Open the Management Console of the VMware ESXi hypervisor.
- In the Navigator pane, select the Storage section.
- Select the Datastores tab.
- Click Datastore browser. ...
- Select the data storage and the folder in which you want to upload the ISO file.
- Click the Upload button. ...
- Select the file and click Open.
VMware Fusion 13 can run on Intel or Apple Silicon Macs that support macOS 12 and later.
How do I install macOS Big Sur 11 on an unsupported Mac? ›
- Find Time Machine on your Mac and launch it.
- Select the Select Backup Disk option.
- Choose the location for saving the files, such as the external drive.
- Turn on Time Machine through the On function, which is on the left of your screen.
- From the Apple menu in the corner of your screen, choose System Settings or System Preferences. If you chose System Settings, click General on the left side of the window. ...
- Software Update then checks for new software. If Software Update finds new software, click the button to install it.
Overview. The Virtualization framework provides high-level APIs for creating and managing virtual machines (VM) on Apple silicon and Intel-based Mac computers. Use this framework to boot and run macOS or Linux-based operating systems in custom environments that you define.
Are there macOS VMs? ›Virtualization programs such as Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion run on the macOS, but allow you to create a Virtual Machine – or VM – that mimics the hardware of a Windows PC. So you can create a VM on your Mac and then install Windows – or another operating systems, such as Linux – on the VM.
How do I import a VMDK file into ESXi 7? ›- Copy the vmdk file to datastore.
- Log into vCenter > right-click an existing virtual machine > select Edit Settings.
- In Virtual Hardware, click ADD NEW DEVICE.
- Select Existing Hardware Disk > select the vmdk file in datastore > click OK.
- Enable remote login on the ESXi server.
- Copy the ESXi installation package to the ESXi server using WinSCP.
- Install the ESXi driver using an SSH client.
- Exit maintenance mode from the vSphere client.
- Go to VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 7.0 Download Center.
- Login or create an account.
- Click Register.
- Register for ESXi (Enter some personal information) ...
- Download VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7.0 - Binaries.
- Install ESXi to your Hardware (Create a Bootable ESXi Installer USB Flash Drive)
- Navigate to Manage -> Licensing.