Can I convert a mac pro to a vm image?

Create a bootable backup of the old computer, provided it will be updated to the latest version of OS X or a version later than the one installed on the new computer. Disc images cannot be booted. You will need a spare hard drive or an external hard drive.

Clone Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue button.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

Virtualization Manager for Mac OS X

Features & System Requirements

Key features

• P2V Migration - Migrate a physical system to a virtual environment by converting all installed software and data into a virtual disk of the required virtual machine.
• Migration without rebooting Mac OS X - Migrate a computer to virtual environment without rebooting and interrupting your operating system.
• Selection of virtual machine – Make a virtual clone to use it on VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop or Oracle VirtualBox.

• Safely test new operating systems, applications and updates in isolated environments without damaging your host operating system.
• Backup your Mac in a virtual environment! In case your computer is stolen, out-of-work etc. you can start using its virtual clone on another Mac. It will save your time until you solve the problem with your Mac or buy a new one. Make virtual copies regularly to keep your virtual clone up-to-date!
• Put your Mac in your pocket and use it anywhere, anytime! Create a virtual clone of your Mac, including operating system, drivers and settings, all your applications and files. Save it to a USB hard drive and use it on another computer, just as if you're working from your own one. For example, you can use a virtual clone of your iMac, Mac mini or Mac Pro outside their location on a MacBook.

The manager runs in Lion but does not support VMs running Lion.

there is some fine print.

I only posted part of the details.

I wonder if you were using Lion or ML and had 10.6.8 client VMs and it didn't work that you have something else in the system conflicting. Like having two VM hosts?

And testing is always best on a stripped down test system - I do wish there was more VM support so someone can have different configurations. Mac Pro makes having dual and triple boot scenerio and have 3 OSs on different hard drive/partitions but still, not ideal for testing at all.

It is the OS X EULA terms. A. you need OS X Server for some uses.

CCC (userd it since it was still just out of the oven) - you use to be able to apply updates and such to a DMG but those are not something you mount and run.

Most people use CCC to create bootable images for restore; or just clone to another hard drive as working bootable backups.

It isn't about level of difficulty.

When Lion came out it dropped Rosetta and so running SL in VM would let people use Lion and continue to have their Rosetta too, in a cramped VM.

Lion Server is now an inexpensive upgrade so look into that and what it allows and supports - like multiple OS X clients running I assume Lion (or ML if you have ML Server).

But the HOST has to be running OS X Lion Server to support Lion Clients, is what I was saying.

That's a lot of effort and time compared to my method.🙂 Especially if you don't even need a bootable system - just make a backup of your Home folder. For that you can use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!.

Mac OS X does not allow "regular" Mac OS X to be run in a Virtual Machine. Only the Server version is allowed to be Virtualized.

Then you need to first create and install OS X in a VM. Then copy your Home folder to the VM using Migration Assistant, log out of the initial account and log into your migrated account.