Options / advice on running OS X as both host & guest

[mynick]

So, my Mavericks EULA (https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/OSX109.pdf) reads:

(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple
Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own
or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software
development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d)
personal, non-commercial use.

Now my Mac computer does NOT have OS X Server, but does the above mean that it is OK (since I have the hardware) to download and install OS X Server for the purpose of developing software?

Thing is, I just found out that VirtualBox only supports Mac OS X Server as a guest (viewtopic.php?f=22&t=31104) and since I was unable to install Mavericks as a guest (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=60028&p=279277#p279277) I was hoping I'd be able to at least download and install OS X Server (which seems to be supported)? Or should I just purchase OS X Server from the app store and be done with it?

And in any case, will Mac OS X Server generally work as guest on VirtualBox when the host system is also Mac OS X (non-server, in particular a "Mavericks" version) installation?

Thing is, I'd rather buy an OS X Server license and run it on VirtualBox, as opposed to buying some other virtualization software to run an OS X Mavericks guest... I'll only be using it to run XCode and generally "test" things without risking breaking my actual Mac, so I don't really mind the limitations VirtualBox still has (e.g. only one cpu core, etc.)

Any advice/experience will be appreciated. Thanks!

[socratis]

Now my Mac computer does NOT have OS X Server, but does the above mean that it is OK (since I have the hardware) to download and install OS X Server for the purpose of developing software?

The license changed since 10.7 and it allows you to install Virtualized OSX on Mac hardware. Both client and server. The post that you linked to talks about the 10.6 server and it is about 4 years old.

The problem is not a legal/license. The problem (as you found out) is that the installer checks for your specific hardware model and if it's newer then it won't install (its "signature" is not in the list of allowed "signatures"). I can bet you that you can't install the stock Maverick from the Apple store on your actual hardware as well. There are "tricks" to make it happen. Search the web for install older OSX in newer model.

[mynick]

Thank you for the reply.

I am reviving this thread because recently Apple released Mavericks 10.9.2.

This update seems to work fine even for Late 2013 models. At least, I am now able to download the installer (see https://discussions.apple.com/message/25000913#25000913). I also confirmed the installer works: I used DiskMaker X to create a boot USB stick and booted from the USB stick: the installer now starts fine and allows me to proceed to installation.

So, I thought I'd give VirtualBox a try again and use the "iesd" utility (see http://ntk.me/2012/09/07/os-x-on-os-x/) to create installation media, which I mounted on the virtual CD/DVD drive. Unfortunately I am getting the exact same behaviour.

So, the setup is:

• Late 2013 MacBookPro (Haswell) computer
• OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 as the host
• VirtualBox is current latest stable release ( 4.3.8 )
• Guest is again OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 installer

Unfortunately kernel boots inside the VM, mounts the root file system and then nothing happens (waited several minutes).

[ChipMcK]

I followed How to install OS X on VirtualBox and successfully created an OS X Mavericks virtual machine. The only extra "step" was to remember to format (partition) the virtual hard drive, once the GUI started.

For Mavericks, the article listed two comands; I tried both and both were successful in installing Mavericks in a virtual machine,