Installing Mac OS X on a virtual machine is excellent practice for the real thing: installing Mac OS X on your actual computer. Don't get too comfortable, though. Compared to most computers, Virtualbox virtual machines are very 'vanilla', meaning that they're very compatible with Mac OS X in the first place. After all, ethernet works from the. Install Mac OS X El Capitan on VirtualBox. Before going to install Mac OS X El Capitan, you need to download VirtualBox. After that, you downloaded successfully VirtualBox install the software on your PC. Remember one thing that VirtualBox and VMware Workstation this too is.
Windows, macOS – which one do you want to use today? On a traditional setup, you're stuck with one or the other. But with virtual box, you actually have macOS on a Windows PC.
It's the freedom that computer users have enjoyed with Linux and other operating systems.
But Apple has made it difficult to install their operating system on anything other than their own hardware. All of that is changing, and Virtual Box is responsible for it and the rise of the Hackintosh.
New to hackintosh? Learn more about it in our what is hackintosh? overview.
Note: A lot of people will be able to get a mac virtual machine one Windows running smoothly, but sound doesn't seem to work well. That's really not an issue because you'll still be able to access all of your apps and software.
I also recommend that you have access to a real Mac. You might be able to find some distributions of the High Sierra ISO online, but there is always a risk when downloading from an unofficial source. Instead, borrow a Mac from a friend, or use your own and download the High Sierra OS from the App Store.
Check out our high sierra installation guide for hackintosh
Everything You Need to Get Started with Installing macOS on VirtualBox
Before we go through the steps on how to install macOS on Virtual Box, let's get everything together that you'll need to get started.
- Open up your Mac
- Go to the App Store
- Type in 'High Sierra'
You'll want to search for your desired operating system (we'll be using High Sierra), and Download it.
Note: You'll need a decent computer to be able to run Virtual Box. Your computer will need to meet these minimum requirements:
- Dual core processor
- 4GB Ram or higher
- 64-bit
If your computer doesn't meet these requirements, you won't be able to run macOS properly. You'll be able to download VirtualBox from the official website. I'm not going to go through the installation process, as the website will have all of the information you need to be able to install VirtualBox.
I do recommend that you read all of the documentation and ask any questions that you have in the community section of the website.
VirtualBox 6.0 was just released, so it's definitely a great time to get started with your own macOS.
Extract macOS Sierra
Make sure you've downloaded High Sierra, and then you'll want to run a few commands from your terminal . You'll be able to open the terminal at: Applications > Utilities > Terminal. Once inside of the terminal, you'll want to run the following commands:
Go to your desktop and rename the file, removing the '.cdr' extension. You need this extension to read '.iso' for it to work properly.
You've successfully created your own ISO file so that you can bootup your macOS.
The next step is to copy the file over to your Windows machine (using a large USB drive seems to work best). This file will be mounted in your virtual machine later on in the article, so it's very important that this step is completed successfully.
Creating a mac Virtual Machine on Windows
You'll want to create a virtual machine, and this is really easy. You'll open up VirtualBox and click New. You'll want to have the following parameters selected or entered before clicking Next.
- Name: High Sierra
- Type: Mac OS X
- Version: Mac OS X (64-bit)
Pay attention when selecting the version because you may find that High Sierra is offered as a version when you go to install it. But if it's not, you can just choose the settings I listed above and they should work fine.
You'll then be proceeding through all of the settings.
When you come up to the RAM setting, you'll want to be generous. VirtualBox requires a minimum of 4GB or RAM to run, but the more the better.
Why?
You'll want to provide at least 4GB to your macOS, or 4096MB to be precise. A general rule of thumb is that if you can spare it, supply more RAM to your virtual machine. RAM will allow the operating system to put more information into memory and retrieve it faster.
Roblox for mac os x. For better overall performance, supply as much RAM as you can.
The next steps are also important, and they'll include:
- Hard Disk: Choose the 'Create a virtual hard disk now' setting.
- Choose VDI when choosing the hard disk type.
- Choose Fixed Size instead of Dynamic for added speed.
- Set the size of the drive to at least 25GB.
Sidify music converter for mac. You'll now have your virtual machine using the RAM and disk space properly, and you'll have to work your way through a few screen prompts before having everything setup properly.
Configuring Your VirtualBox to Run macOS High Sierra
We've made a lot of progress so far, and now it's time to configure your virtual machine properly. You'll see in the main window of VirtualBox that 'High Sierra' is listed. Click on this and then click on the 'Settings' button.
You'll want to go to 'System' and make sure that the following are unchecked on the Motherboard tab:
- Floppy
- Network
Click on the Processor tab and make sure that you have 2 or more CPUs set for your virtual machine.
The next few settings are rather simple:
- Display: Video Memory with a minimum of 128MB
- Storage: Click 'Empty' and then click on the CD at the top right. Choose your High Sierra ISO file
Now you'll need to click 'Ok,' and save all of the changes you've made. Close out your VirtualBox now.
Free Mac Iso For Virtualbox
Apple is very strict on the system that their operating system runs on, so it's very important that you do your best to configure your virtual machine in such a way that it tricks the installer to thinking you're on a retail machine.
We'll now be going into the Windowscommand prompt.
You'll do this by:
- Clicking the Start Menu
- Typing 'Command Prompt'
- Right-clicking on the Command Prompt desktop app
- Choosing Run as administrator
It's very important to follow all of the following command prompts exactly. Your goal is to run each command, one by one, hitting the Enter button and waiting for the command to complete successfully.
Remember that VirtualBox needs to be closed before running these commands, or it won't work properly.
You have to make sure that the virtual machine is properly named 'High Sierra' for this method to work. If not, you'll be able to go back and make changes to the name to get everything to work properly.
You've successfully created your own ISO file so that you can bootup your macOS.
The next step is to copy the file over to your Windows machine (using a large USB drive seems to work best). This file will be mounted in your virtual machine later on in the article, so it's very important that this step is completed successfully.
Creating a mac Virtual Machine on Windows
You'll want to create a virtual machine, and this is really easy. You'll open up VirtualBox and click New. You'll want to have the following parameters selected or entered before clicking Next.
- Name: High Sierra
- Type: Mac OS X
- Version: Mac OS X (64-bit)
Pay attention when selecting the version because you may find that High Sierra is offered as a version when you go to install it. But if it's not, you can just choose the settings I listed above and they should work fine.
You'll then be proceeding through all of the settings.
When you come up to the RAM setting, you'll want to be generous. VirtualBox requires a minimum of 4GB or RAM to run, but the more the better.
Why?
You'll want to provide at least 4GB to your macOS, or 4096MB to be precise. A general rule of thumb is that if you can spare it, supply more RAM to your virtual machine. RAM will allow the operating system to put more information into memory and retrieve it faster.
Roblox for mac os x. For better overall performance, supply as much RAM as you can.
The next steps are also important, and they'll include:
- Hard Disk: Choose the 'Create a virtual hard disk now' setting.
- Choose VDI when choosing the hard disk type.
- Choose Fixed Size instead of Dynamic for added speed.
- Set the size of the drive to at least 25GB.
Sidify music converter for mac. You'll now have your virtual machine using the RAM and disk space properly, and you'll have to work your way through a few screen prompts before having everything setup properly.
Configuring Your VirtualBox to Run macOS High Sierra
We've made a lot of progress so far, and now it's time to configure your virtual machine properly. You'll see in the main window of VirtualBox that 'High Sierra' is listed. Click on this and then click on the 'Settings' button.
You'll want to go to 'System' and make sure that the following are unchecked on the Motherboard tab:
- Floppy
- Network
Click on the Processor tab and make sure that you have 2 or more CPUs set for your virtual machine.
The next few settings are rather simple:
- Display: Video Memory with a minimum of 128MB
- Storage: Click 'Empty' and then click on the CD at the top right. Choose your High Sierra ISO file
Now you'll need to click 'Ok,' and save all of the changes you've made. Close out your VirtualBox now.
Free Mac Iso For Virtualbox
Apple is very strict on the system that their operating system runs on, so it's very important that you do your best to configure your virtual machine in such a way that it tricks the installer to thinking you're on a retail machine.
We'll now be going into the Windowscommand prompt.
You'll do this by:
- Clicking the Start Menu
- Typing 'Command Prompt'
- Right-clicking on the Command Prompt desktop app
- Choosing Run as administrator
It's very important to follow all of the following command prompts exactly. Your goal is to run each command, one by one, hitting the Enter button and waiting for the command to complete successfully.
Remember that VirtualBox needs to be closed before running these commands, or it won't work properly.
You have to make sure that the virtual machine is properly named 'High Sierra' for this method to work. If not, you'll be able to go back and make changes to the name to get everything to work properly.
Once all of the commands are completed, and there are no errors, you'll then be able to open up your VirtualBox and get macOS High Sierra installed properly on VirtualBox.
It's a long process, but we're almost done with your installation.
Running VirtualBox and the macOS Installer
You've almost learned how to install macOS on VirtualBox entirely, and we're on the home stretch. You'll want to open up your VirtualBox and then click on your virtual machine that you set up earlier.
Now, click 'Start.'
There will be a lot of information displayed on the screen as everything starts running. I recommend stepping away from the machine and letting it run for a few minutes before coming back. Some errors can hang for 5 minutes or longer.
If you've done everything properly, you can be confident that the installer will boot properly.
You'll eventually be presented with the option to pick a Language. If you've reached this point, you're doing very well and are almost ready to run your macOS.
The next steps can be followed:
- Choose your desired language, and click
- Click 'Disk Utility' and then
- Click 'View' and then 'Show All Devices.'
- Click on your empty virtual drive that has been setup and click 'Erase.'
- Choose the following settings:
- Name: Macintosh HD
- Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Scheme: GUID Partition Map
- Click 'Erase' and close Disk Utility when the process is complete.
- Click 'Reinstall macOS.'
- Click 'Continue.'
You'll come up to one point where you'll be asked to choose a hard drive, and you'll want to select the Macintosh HD partition that you just created with the Disk Utility.
We've successfully copied all of the files on the virtual machine, but we're not done just yet. Last software for mac.
Exit your virtual machine and then go back to your virtual machine's settings. You'll need to change up your Storage settings. Click on your ISO for High Sierra in the 'Storage Tree.' You'll click that CD icon just like we did earlier and then choose 'Remove Disk from Virtual Disk.'
You need to do this to unlink the ISO from your virtual machine.
Start up your virtual machine and you should come across a black screen with the EFI Internal Shell. You'll want to look for FS1. If this is listed in yellow, click on the virtual machine and then type fs1: and hit the Enter button.
You should be in the fs1 directory.
Type in the following commands:
- cd 'macOS Install Data'
- cd 'Locked Files'
- cd 'Boot Files'
Now we'll run the installer by running: boot.efi and hitting enter.
If everything goes well, you'll come across a graphical installer and will just have to work through the prompts. The virtual machine will reboot eventually and then you'll need to go through the settings and the rest of the setup process.
Soon enough, you'll be right inside of macOS, where you'll be able to start using your mac virtual machine on Windows.
Having a virtualbox mac OS is the easiest method of using mac as and when you need it. In addition, using virtualbox is far less complicated than the dual boot hackintosh method we have looked at previously.
This article describes how to install and configure a virtual machine using VirtualBox, a popular virtualization application. VirtualBox runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and features an easy-to-use graphical user interface for creating and managing virtual machines.
Virtualbox To Install Mac Os X
Table of Contents- About virtual machines
- Installing VirtualBox
- VirtualBox on Windows
- VirtualBox on Mac OS X
- Virtual Box on Linux
- Creating a virtual machine and installing an operating system
- Creating a new virtual machine
- Installing an operating system
- More Information
About virtual machines
Virtual machines emulate a computer—they enable you to install an entire operating system within an existing operating system. The virtual machine runs in its own 'sandbox,' safely isolated from the host operating system. Because of this isolation, virtual machines enable you to safely test new features, applications, and configurations without having to worry about harming your existing operating system.
By creating a virtual machine with a configuration that closely matches A2 Hosting's servers, you can safely do testing and development work on your own computer before you roll out the changes to a live site.
Installing VirtualBox
Before you can create a virtual machine, you must first install the VirtualBox application on your computer. To do this, follow the appropriate procedure for the operating system that is installed on your computer:
VirtualBox on WindowsTo install VirtualBox on a Windows-based computer, follow these steps:
- On your local computer, use your web browser to go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.
- Click Windows hosts, and then download the .exe file to your computer.
- Run the .exe file to start the installation.
- Click .
- Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
To install VirtualBox on a Mac OS X-based computer, follow these steps:
How To Install Virtualbox On Mac Mojave
- On your local computer, use your web browser to go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.
- Click OS X hosts, and then download the .dmg file to your computer.
- Double-click the .dmg file to start the installation.
- Follow the prompts to complete the installation.
To install VirtualBox on a Linux-based computer, follow these steps:
How To Install Virtualbox Mac Os X
- On your local computer, use your web browser to go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.
- Click Linux distributions.
- Download the appropriate package file for the Linux distribution your computer uses.
- Use your Linux distribution's package manager to install the package file.
Creating a virtual machine and installing an operating system
At this point, you have installed the VirtualBox application on your computer, but you still need to create a virtual machine. To do this, you specify the virtual machine's settings, and then install an operating system on it.
The following procedures demonstrate how to create a new virtual machine and install CentOS 7 on it. Many A2 Hosting servers run CentOS 7, so it is a good choice for your first virtual machine.
Creating a new virtual machineDownload Virtualbox For Mac
To create a new virtual machine, follow these steps:
- Start VirtualBox.
- On the Machine menu, click New.
- In the Name text box, type CentOS 7. VirtualBox should automatically detect CentOS, and select Linux in the Type list box, and Red Hat in the Version list box.
- Click .
- In the Memory Size dialog box, select the amount of RAM you want to allocate to the virtual machine, and then click .The more RAM your computer has, the more RAM you can safely allocate to the virtual machine. As a general rule, however, you should have at least 512 MB of free RAM to run a Linux virtual machine.
- In the Hard disk dialog box, select Create a virtual hard disk now, and then click .
- In the Hard disk file type dialog box, select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image), and then click .
- In the Storage on physical hard disk dialog box, select Dynamically allocated, and then click .
- In the File location and size dialog box, type a name for the virtual hard disk file, select the size of the hard disk, and then click .The more disk space your computer has, the more space you can safely allocate to the virtual machine's hard disk. As a general rule, however, you should have at least 5 GB of free disk space for a Linux virtual machine.
After you create the virtual machine, you are ready to install an operating system on it. To install CentOS 7, follow these steps:
How To Install Virtualbox On Macos Catalina
- Use your web browser to go to https://www.centos.org/download.
- Click , and then save the .iso file to your local computer.
- In VirtualBox, select the virtual machine you created in the previous procedure, and then click .
- In the Select start-up disk dialog box, click the folder icon.
- In the file selection dialog box, locate and select the .iso file you downloaded in step 2, and then click . VirtualBox boots the virtual machine using the .iso CD image file.
- On the CentOS 7 installation page, select Install CentOS 7.
- On the Welcome to CentOS 7 page, select the language you want to use for the installation process, and then click .
- On the Installation Summary page, complete any items marked with the yellow triangular warning icon, and then click .During installation, you also can (and should) set the root password and create a regular user.
- Follow the remaining prompts to complete the installation.
- After installation is complete, click to restart the virtual machine. You now have a fully-functioning CentOS 7 installation on your local computer.
