macOS Mojave v10.14.6 VB guest VM in a 2012 MBP?

[ant]

Is anyone running macOS Mojave v10.14.6 VB guest VM in an old MBP like my 13(.3)" 9,2; April/mid-2012; MD102ll/A model; unibody, Intel Core i7 CPU (2.9 GHz; dual core, 4 MB L3 cache (Turbo Boost up to 3.6 Ghz)), updated macOS Mojave v10.14.6 (for old 32-bit apps) & 64-bit W10 Pro with Boot Camp, 8 GB of 1600 MHZ DDR3 SDRAM, Intel HD graphics 4000, & Micron 500 GB SSD (FileVault enabled; replaced its 5400 RPM HDD due to a physical drop)? If so, then how is it? Is it slower than macOS El Capitan v10.11 guest VM?

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering.

[granada29]

Hmmm
That's a little confusing.

1. What OS are you actually running on the host - you mention both macOS and Windows.
2. Which version of macOS are you trying to install as a guest?

I am running a late 2012 macMini with similar specs to your MBP but more disk capacity. It runs Catalina as the host OS and Linux in the VMs using VirtualBox 6.1.50. The linux VMs are headless (i.e. no GUI)

I am not sure that a Mojave VM is going to run very well at all and I would expect it to be a bit sluggish compared to an ElCapitan VM although the only real test is to try it out.

[ant]

Hmmm
That's a little confusing.

1. What OS are you actually running on the host - you mention both macOS and Windows.
2. Which version of macOS are you trying to install as a guest?

I am running a late 2012 macMini with similar specs to your MBP but more disk capacity. It runs Catalina as the host OS and Linux in the VMs using VirtualBox 6.1.50. The linux VMs are headless (i.e. no GUI)

I am not sure that a Mojave VM is going to run very well at all and I would expect it to be a bit sluggish compared to an ElCapitan VM although the only real test is to try it out.

1. Host is Mojave v10.14.6.
2. I want guest to be the same too. I just don't like experimenting softwares in my host and making a mess.

Yeah, El Capitan guest VM is really slow in this 12 yrs. old MBP. I wonder if Mojave guest VM would be better.

[granada29]

Yeah, El Capitan guest VM is really slow in this 12 yrs. old MBP. I wonder if Mojave guest VM would be better.

I'd suggest try it and see - my feeling is that Mojave will be slower but it may still perform well enough for your needs.

One thing that you can do is to enable Screen Sharing in the guest and then connect over the network with the VirtualBox VM window minimised. This will give you drag/drop file sharing and no need for Guest Additions in the VM.

[ant]

Yeah, El Capitan guest VM is really slow in this 12 yrs. old MBP. I wonder if Mojave guest VM would be better.

I'd suggest try it and see - my feeling is that Mojave will be slower but it may still perform well enough for your needs.

One thing that you can do is to enable Screen Sharing in the guest and then connect over the network with the VirtualBox VM window minimised. This will give you drag/drop file sharing and no need for Guest Additions in the VM.

I could never get drag and drop to work in macOS El Capitan guest VM in this MBP. Can I do screen sharing to try that or does it need the newer macOS Mojave guest VM version?

[granada29]

I could never get drag and drop to work in macOS El Capitan guest VM in this MBP. Can I do screen sharing to try that or does it need the newer macOS Mojave guest VM version?

If you use Screen Sharing (built in to macOS) then there is no need for guest additions in the VM. I have no idea how the VirtualBox Guest Additions differ between El Capitan and Mojave as I don't use them. I do understand that they have limitations and are regarded as experimental.

[ant]

I could never get drag and drop to work in macOS El Capitan guest VM in this MBP. Can I do screen sharing to try that or does it need the newer macOS Mojave guest VM version?

If you use Screen Sharing (built in to macOS) then there is no need for guest additions in the VM. I have no idea how the VirtualBox Guest Additions differ between El Capitan and Mojave as I don't use them. I do understand that they have limitations and are regarded as experimental.

I tried to do a screen sharing in my old guest VM, but couldn't get host to see this VM in Finder.

[granada29]

I tried to do a screen sharing in my old guest VM, but couldn't get host to see this VM in Finder.

The VM has to be using a bridged adaptor. i.e. it has to have an IP address on your LAN.

[ant]

I tried to do a screen sharing in my old guest VM, but couldn't get host to see this VM in Finder.

The VM has to be using a bridged adaptor. i.e. it has to have an IP address on your LAN.

Thanks. I still didn't see it in my Finder, but did work with vnc://IPnatAddress method. Wow, screen sharing my guest VM is much faster than using the actual guest VM! I did a few hiccup lags.

Now, I need to get the dang Mojave's installer app into DMG/ISO. Ugh! I really wished VB could use APP file directly. I'm too tired to do that so that will be for another day!

[rot13pwz]

This isn't Mojave virtualized on Mojave, but I just installed a Yosemite VM on a 2012 15" MBP (2.6 GHz Core i7, 16 MB RAM) Mojave host using VB 6.1.50. The pointer movement in the VM was sluggish, but after following granada29's advice, things work more smoothly. That is, after enabling screen sharing in the guest VM and using the Virtual Box Manager to switch from "NAT" to "Bridged Adapter" in the Network settings (of the guest VM) I was able to remotely connect to the VM from the host using Apple's built-in Screen Sharing app. The pointer responsiveness was improved.

Now, I just launch the Yosemite VM as a Headless VM and use Screen Sharing to control the VM. Yosemite is still much more performant when run from an external drive, but for occasional trips into Yosemite, the VM seems OK. Drag and drop to and from the VM worked when using Screen Sharing, which means that the host's APFS drive can be accessed by the Yosemite VM, which is advantageous because Yosemite cannot mount an APFS drive.