I have a boot disk and an image of a High Sierra boot disk. I'd like to turn either into a VirtualBox VM. How?
Note: creating a new macOS High Sierra and then using Migration or Time Machine is not an option as it is a Server machine and migration does not migrate Server configuration.
How do I create a macOS High Sierra virtual machine from an existing boot disk or image?
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scottgus1
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- Posts: 20945
- Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Windows, Linux
Re: How do I create a macOS High Sierra virtual machine from an existing boot disk or image?
I'm no Mac guru, but Virtualbox essentially provides 'hardware' you can do anything with that you can do with a real computer.
How would you install an image on a real Mac? Do the same to a Virtualbox guest running on a Mac (*). The Virtualbox manual section 1 shows how to start a guest and install an OS from a CD or ISO.
Getting the image into the virtual environment can be tricky. On a Windows PC one could make a VHD virtual disk, mount it on the PC, load the image into the VHD, then unmount it and attach the VHD to the guest as a second drive. Try to figure out how to do something similar on you Mac.
If your image was a Macrium image I would suggest using a Macrium boot CD on the guest with the mounted VHD and restore the image to the guest. How to do this with a Mac image would be a subject for a Google search.
(*) You need to have Mac hardware to legally run a Mac guest. See OSX guests on non-Apple hardware
How would you install an image on a real Mac? Do the same to a Virtualbox guest running on a Mac (*). The Virtualbox manual section 1 shows how to start a guest and install an OS from a CD or ISO.
Getting the image into the virtual environment can be tricky. On a Windows PC one could make a VHD virtual disk, mount it on the PC, load the image into the VHD, then unmount it and attach the VHD to the guest as a second drive. Try to figure out how to do something similar on you Mac.
If your image was a Macrium image I would suggest using a Macrium boot CD on the guest with the mounted VHD and restore the image to the guest. How to do this with a Mac image would be a subject for a Google search.
(*) You need to have Mac hardware to legally run a Mac guest. See OSX guests on non-Apple hardware