User profile for user: superkrzysio
superkrzysio Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

OS X image for VM

I bought M2 Macbook with 96 GB RAM with having VMs in mind. However OS X licensing is blurry for me.

I am programmer and I want to create a OS X VMs on my Mac and use it as workstations for customers to have perfect software and disk isolation.

I tried Parallels but it's not satisfying enough, there's no graphics acceleration, MS Teams can't use camera and is generally glitchy.

I want to try VMWare but how can I obtain Ventura image file? I don't want to download from weird links from rapidshare etc, I want to have legal and legitimate file from apple.com. Is it legal according to licensing? Can I buy another license maybe? Is there any possibility to have decent OS X VM?

I don't want Linux, because I predict problems with software having ARM Linux.

If it's not possible, I'm returning Macbook because it's useless for me.

Posted on Jun 8, 2023 12:34 PM

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User profile for user: BobHarris
BobHarris
User level: Level 9
56,789 points

Jun 8, 2023 1:14 PM in response to superkrzysio

If you want customers to use it, and not just have accounts on your system, then get several base Mac minis and set them up for the customers. You could even have multiple accounts on a few of the Mac minis for customers that do not do any customization to their system.


The cost of a few base model Mac minis would be less than what you paid for a tricked out M2 Macbook


As for installing macOS via VMware Fusion. You point VMware Fusion at the Applications -> Install macOS Ventura app, and VMware Fusion will know how to install macOS from there.


You might also want to try UTM. https://mac.getutm.app


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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
68,528 points

Jun 9, 2023 6:59 AM in response to superkrzysio

How about installing multiple copies of macOS onto an external SSD? As long as you give them unique names it will give you the access to the full abilities of the laptop. You definitely want to make sure to give them unique names when creating the partitions/Containers since macOS is terrible at properly renaming the entire set later (system volume & data volume).



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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
User level: Level 10
123,176 points

Jun 8, 2023 1:02 PM in response to superkrzysio

Any Virtual Machine with any performance for an M2 Mac will definitely be subscription based, and the VM software license and the macOS license are worth fine print reading as a determinant for potential license breach. As observed, accelerated graphics is toast on Virtual Machines, and you have 14 days from purchase to return your Mac if purchased directly from Apple.


I have been running Ventura (now 13.4) on my M2 Mac Mini Pro for several months now and the hardware and operating system are rock solid.

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User profile for user: superkrzysio
superkrzysio Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jun 9, 2023 2:41 AM in response to BobHarris

To be clear:

  • only I will use the computer and all VMs, I just want to have environment separation for different customers I work for
  • I already run Ventura on host
  • I also tried multi-account, but some companies expect my Mac (the computer I work on for them) to enroll in their control system, which allows them to list all installed software and totally wipe the computer. That's why I prefer to enroll the VM, not my whole computer, all data and all user profiles

That's a sad news if hardware acceleration is not supported, operational MS Teams is one of crucial tools.

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OS X image for VM

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