VMWare Fusion supports running Mac OS X Leopard Server. But did you know that with a little hacking, you can easily run Leopard non-Server or even Tiger in VMWare Fusion 2.0? Here is how to:
Patching VMWare
First of all, you’ll need to patch the Mac OS X VMWare Tools ISO, replacing all occurrences of ServerVersion.plist with SystemVersion.plist inside it. This is the only thing Fusion looks at to determine whether you’re trying to run OS X Server or Client (/System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist only exists on OS X Server, while /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist exists on both). Since Fusion uses some signature checking, you’ll need to re-sign all VMWare Tools ISOs with your own certificate, otherwise Fusion will refuse to run.
The German computer magazine c’t (issue 24/2008, page 266) figured all of this out and even wrote a small tool (MultiMac Helper) to automate the process.
Note
Before proceeding, make sure you have an appropriate license for Mac OS X. I.e., don’t install two copies if you only own one — in general, this means you need the Family Pack or an additional copy. Also, make sure that you’re allowed to virtualize your copy of OS X — in Germany that is perfectly fine as limitations imposed by the EULA are effectively not legally binding (which is the reason why the German computer magazine c’t was able to publish MultiMac Helper), but you will need to check what applies in your own country.
Installing Leopard
Installing Leopard is very straight-forward – just pop in your Leopard retail DVD and create a new VM in Fusion (selecting Mac OS X 10.5 Server 64-bit). Now proceed as if you were installing Leopard Server in Fusion. After completing the installation, you can even install VMWare Tools and they’ll run just fine.
Installing Tiger
Installing Tiger is a bit more difficult. Since there are no retail DVDs of Tiger for Intel (it was exclusively shipped with new Macs, and those machine-specific discs refuse to install on anything but the Mac model they came with), you cannot install it by booting it in a VM. So what you’ll need to do is: install Tiger onto an external HD and make an image of it. Then attach a second virtual hard drive to your Leopard VM and from inside the VM, clone the image to the second virtual hard drive. Now remove that virtual hard drive from your Leopard VM and attach it to your Tiger VM. It will boot up and run just fine. However, VMWare Tools will not work in Tiger and your host CPU will probably run at 100%.
UPDATE: Installing Snow Leopard
Works the same as Leopard, just select Mac OS X 10.6 Server 64-bit.
UPDATE: VMWare Fusion 3.0
Existing VMs continue running flawlessly.
If you create a new VM, you need to remove firmware = "efi" from the VMX, or it will complain about the OS not being the server version at some point during boot. If you see the black BIOS-style screen right after powering up the VM, you’re fine. If you see a grey screen with the VMWare logo on it, the VM is set to EFI mode.
UPDATE: VMWare Fusion 4.0
Running Mac OS X 10.4, 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 in VMWare Fusion 4.0
Tags: 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, leopard, mac os x, snow leopard, tiger, virtualization, vmware fusion
[...] in 2009, I wrote about how to install Mac OS X (non-Server) versions in VMWare Fusion. Since then, Apple has released Snow Leopard (which worked just fine using the exact same hints). [...]
“install Tiger onto an external HD and make an image of it. ” – I only have Intel Macs (including an Intel Core Solo Mac Mini). How do I do this?
You need an Intel Mac that shipped with Tiger (i.e. built between mid-2006 and mid-2007). A PowerPC obviously won’t do!
“A PowerPC obviously won’t do!” – why? I was thinking of using my ex-wife’s iMac G4.
“You need an Intel Mac that shipped with Tiger (i.e. built between mid-2006 and mid-2007).” – but you say in the article: “Tiger for Intel (it was exclusively shipped with new Macs, and those machine-specific discs refuse to install on anything but the Mac model they came with).
That’s what I said. You need Tiger for Intel, and the only way to get that was with an Intel Mac. Also you can’t use an Intel Tiger disc on a PowerPC because Tiger wasn’t universal (it shipped in two versions: PPC on the retail discs and together with new PPC Macs, and Intel only with new Intel Macs).
I have the Install disks 1 & 2 from my other Mac Mini “Core 2 Duo” 1.83GHz; which I believe to be OS X 10.4.10 (8R3014).
I also have the OS X 10.4.x PPC Install DVD.
Sorry for the continued confusion:
In the article, you say: “and those machine-specific discs refuse to install on anything but the Mac model they came with…” So it would appear you are saying NOT to use the Intel-Tiger, but now you say to ONLY use the Intel-Tiger.
My Mac Mini’s now have Snow Leopard – how can I use the Install disks 1 & 2 (which are Intel) to install Tiger on an external drive?
How do I clone the external drive once Tiger is installed?
You say: “Now remove that virtual hard drive from your Leopard VM and attach it to your Tiger VM” – how do I get “my Tiger VM” in the first place to attach the newly created virtual hard drive I create in Leopard VM?
Sorry, but I’m still not getting where I’m supposed to be contradicting myself. All the time I’ve been saying that you need an Intel Tiger disc that shipped with an Intel Mac (because they never sold retail) AND that you need the very Mac that the disc shipped with.
For installing Tiger to an external drive, I’m sure you can find tons of how-tos on the internet (hint: it just works the way you’d expect it to). This blog is aimed at people who have some experience with the matter, which is why my blog posts don’t elaborate on any obvious details.
Same goes for cloning: anyone who’s been administering Macs for a while knows how to do it in Disk Utility.
To attach it to your Tiger VM, simply create a new VM in VMWare and tell it to use the existing virtual hard drive.