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How to run OS X in a Virtual Machine on my Mac

Cyborg21

Cyborg21

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 2, 2013
332
0
Hi, How can I run OS X in a Virtual Machine for some test on OS X? (I have Retina MacBook Late 2013 so I do not void Terms of Service of Apple.) My Mac came with OS X Mavericks, so I have some questions;

1) Am I able to run OS X Mountain Lion or lower on a virtual machine?
2) Where can I find iso file for OS X Mavericks (or OS X Mountain Lion, Lioni Snow Leopard etc.), or is there another way to run OS X on virtual machine?
3) Does creating an OS X virtual machine or deleting it causes problems?

Thank you.
 
1. Yes you can run ML in a virtual machine on your Mac if you install Parallels or Fusion.
2. You're on your own there.
3. No problems assuming you're using Parallels or Fusion to create the virtual machine. The virtual machine is just a file - you delete the file and the virtual machine is gone.
 
Cyborg21 said:
2) Where can I find iso file for OS X Mavericks (or OS X Mountain Lion, Lioni Snow Leopard etc.), or is there another way to run OS X on virtual machine?
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Just a friendly note regarding our rules, posting links or specifics of downloading OSX other then apple is not permitted.


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Click to expand...
 
1. Yes.

2. You don't have to download an iso file for mavericks anyway.

In parallels you drag and drop the Install OS X Mavericks.app you downloaded from the mac app store into parallels and it creates a bootable dmg file. It is from this dmg file that parallels then creates the virtual machine. It's all perfectly legal. (See method 2 at http://kb.parallels.com/en/118806)

I have 3 versions running now as virtual machines in parallels (10.9 build 13A603 and 10.9.3 build 13D12 - and another one for snow leopard server.)

You can do the same with mountain lion and lion, but there is a different rule for snow leopard - you have to use the server version (this is a legal restraint, not a technical one) - and for snow leopard server, you use a dvd directly, not a dmg file.

3. Just beware that these virtual machines are very big files and can take up a lot of room on your hard drive.
 
Last edited:
tywebb13 said:
1. Yes.

2. You don't have to download an iso file for mavericks anyway.

In parallels you drag and drop the Install OS X Mavericks.app you downloaded from the mac app store into parallels and it creates a bootable dmg file. It is from this dmg file that parallels then creates the virtual machine. It's all perfectly legal. (See method 2 at http://kb.parallels.com/en/118806)

I have 3 versions running now as virtual machines in parallels (10.9 build 13A603 and 10.9.3 build 13D12 - and another one for snow leopard server.)

You can do the same with mountain lion and lion, but there is a different rule for snow leopard - you have to use the server version (this is a legal restraint, not a technical one) - and for snow leopard server, you use a dvd directly, not a dmg file.

3. Just beware that these virtual machines are very big files and can take up a lot of room on your hard drive.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I do not have parallels, is there a way to do this with VirtualBox or VMware Player?
 
And even if there was it wouldn’t help as I believe player has no ability to create virtual machines, just read them.

You you need VMware Fusion.
 
Mac problems

pdjudd said:
And even if there was it wouldn’t help as I believe player has no ability to create virtual machines, just read them.

You you need VMware Fusion.
Click to expand...


I find it so annoying that I have to reboot my Macintosh every time I want to work on a Microsoft program.
Can anybody please tell any other way to do that?
 
Christopher123 said:
I find it so annoying that I have to reboot my Macintosh every time I want to work on a Microsoft program.
Can anybody please tell any other way to do that?
Click to expand...

Installing Virtualbox and then running Windows as a virtual machine would be the way to get around that. The performance won't be good enough for playing GPU intensive games, but will be fine for most other things.
 
To install OS X as a VM in VMware Fusion 6

1. Download VMware Fusion 6 from the VMware site.
2. You may either purchase or install as trial.
3. Download the Mavericks app installer from the Mac App Store.
4. Create a new VM and select the installer app as the ISO.
5. Start it up and install.

To install any other OS as a VM in VMware Fusion 6
1. Obtain the ISO image of the desired OS.
2. Create a new VM and select the ISO to boot from.
3. Start the VM up.

Note: In both cases, remember to install VMware Tools for a smoother experience.
 
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