Running a MacOS Catalina 10.15 VM on VMware ESXi

#ESXi #MacOS #Catalina #VM

Full steps can be found at https://i12bretro.github.io/tutorials/0657.html

Downloads and Configuring ESXi
   01. Download a MacOS Catalina .iso https://archive.org/search.php?query=MacOS%20Collection&and[]=mediatype%3A%22software%22
   02. Download Unlocker for VMware ESXi https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vTPELaHXokz-LljB9s3rA3fM947tZxhR
   03. Download WinSCP https://winscp.net/eng/downloads.php
   04. Extract the downloaded Unlocker for VMware ESXi
   05. Rename the extracted folder unlocker
   06. Log into the ESXi web UI
   07. Enable the SSH service by selecting Actions ≫ Services ≫ Enable Secure Shell (SSH)
   08. Extract WinSCP and run the executable
   09. Connect to the ESXi host IP address via WinSCP
   10. Copy the extracted Unlocker folder to the ESXi host /root directory
   11. Connect to the ESXi host via SSH
   12. Run the following commands to install ESXi Unlocker
         # change directory to unlocker
         cd /unlocker
         # make the install script executable
         chmod +x ./esxi-install.sh
         # run the install script
         ./esxi-install.sh
         # reboot esxi host
         reboot

Creating the Catalina VM
   01. Log into the ESXi web UI
   02. In the left navigation pane, right click on Virtual Machines ≫ Create/Register VM
   03. Select Create a new virtual machine ≫ Click Next
   04. Name the VM MacOSX ≫ Set the Guest OS family to Mac OS and Guest OS Version to Apple MacOS 10.14 (64-bit) ≫ Click Next
   05. Select the storage datastore to use ≫ Click Next
   06. Set the Memory to at least 4096
   07. Set Hard disk 1 to 50 GB or more ≫ Expand Hard disk 1 and make sure the
   08. Expand CD/DVD Drive 1 ≫ Make sure Datastore ISO file is selected ≫ Click Browse next to the CD/DVD Media field
   09. Click Upload ≫ Browse to and select the Mac OS installation ISO
   10. Once the upload completes, click the Mac OS ISO to highlight it ≫ Click Select
   11. Back on the Hardware customization screen click Next
   12. Review the summary provided and click Finish Click the new MacOSX VM Click Power on at the top of the page

Installing MacOS Catalina
   01. After an initialization sequence the Mac OS Setup should start
   02. Select a Language ≫ Click the next arrow
   03. Select Disk Utility
   04. Select the VMware Virtual SATA Hard Drive Media ≫ Click Erase
   05. Name the drive MacOS ≫ Set the Format to APFS ≫ Click Erase
   06. Click Done ≫ Close Disk Utility
   07. Click Install macOS
   08. Click Continue ≫ Click Agree ≫ Click Agree again
   09. Select the MacOS disk ≫ Click Install
   10. Wait while Mac OS installs files, the VM will reboot several times
   11. Select your Country ≫ Click Continue
   12. Confirm your languages and keyboard layout ≫ Click Continue
   13. Click Continue on the Data & Privacy screen
   14. Select Don’t transfer any information now ≫ Click Continue
   15. Select Set Up Later ≫ Click Continue ≫ Click Skip
   16. Click Agree ≫ Agree again
   17. Enter a name, user name, password ≫ Click Continue
   18. Click Customize Settings
   19. Click Continue ≫ Select Use or Don’t Use for Location Services
   20. Pick a timezone ≫ Click Continue
   21. Uncheck the Send Mac Analytics box ≫ Click Continue
   22. Click Set Up Later on the Screen Time screen
   23. Uncheck the Enable Ask Siri box ≫ Click Continue
   24. Pick a theme ≫ Click Continue
   25. Welcome to MacOS 10.15 Catalina

Install VMware Tools (optional, but recommended)
   01. Download MacOS Unlocker for VMware Workstation https://github.com/paolo-projects/auto-unlocker/releases
   02. Extract the downloaded .zip file
   03. Navigate into the extracted folder
   04. Hold SHIFT and right click in the white space ≫ Open PowerShell window here…
   05. Run the following command to download VMware Tools for MacOS
         .unlocker.exe –download-tools
   06. Back in the ESXi web UI select Storage from the left navigation menu
   07. Click the Datastore browser icon at the top of the main content pane
   08. Click Upload ≫ Browse to and select the darwin.iso
   09. Once the upload completes click Close to close out of the Datastore browser
   10. Select the MacOSX VM ≫ Actions ≫ Edit settings
   11. Attach darwin.iso to CD/DVD drive 1
   12. Inside the VM, double click the mounted VMware tools and run the installer

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