Running a MacOS 14 Sonoma VM in VMware 🌱

Installing and Configuring VMware

💡 NOTE: MacOS higher than version 12 requires a CPU with AVX2 instruction support

  1. Download a MacOS Sonoma .iso Download OR create your own https://youtu.be/JFMvUpdCMwo
  2. Download VMware Workstation Player Download
  3. Download MacOS Unlocker for VMware Workstation Download
  4. Install VMware Workstation Player, accepting the defaults
  5. Extract the downloaded MacOS Unlocker for VMware Workstation
  6. Inside the extracted file, right click Unlocker.exe > Run as administrator
  7. Click the Patch button
  8. Wait for patching to complete before continuing

Creating the Sonoma VM

  1. Launch VMware Workstation Player
  2. Click Continue to use Workstation Player for free for non-commercial use
  3. Click Finish
  4. Click Create a New Virtual Machine on the right side of the application
  5. Select Installer disc image file (iso) > Browse to and select the downloaded MacOS Sonoma .iso > Click Next
  6. Select Apple Mac OS X and macOS 13 > Click Next
  7. Name the VM MacOS14 and set the path to store the VM files > Click Next
  8. Adjust the disk size if necessary > Click Next
  9. Click Finish
  10. Open File Explorer and navigate to the VM files
  11. Edit the .vmx file in a text editor
  12. Search for board-id.reflectHost and set the value to "FALSE"

    board-id.reflectHost = "FALSE"

  13. Search for ethernet0.virtualDev and set the value to "vmxnet3"

    ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"

  14. Then paste the following options at the bottom of the file

    board-id = "Mac-AA95B1DDAB278B95"
    hw.model.reflectHost = "FALSE"
    hw.model = "MacBookPro19,1"
    serialNumber.reflectHost = "FALSE"
    serialNumber = "C01234567890"

  15. Right click on the MacOS14 VM > Power On

Installing MacOS Sonoma

  1. After an initialization sequence the MAC OS Setup should start
  2. Select a Language > Click the next arrow
  3. Select Disk Utility
  4. Select the VMware Virtual SATA Hard Drive Media > Click Erase
  5. Name the drive MacOS > Set the Format to APFS > Click Erase
  6. Click Done > Close Disk Utility
  7. Click Install macOS
  8. Click Continue > Click Agree > Click Agree again
  9. Select the MacOS disk > Click Install
  10. Wait while Mac OS installs files, the VM will reboot several times
  11. Select your Country or Region > Click Continue
  12. Confirm your languages and keyboard layout > Click Continue
  13. Click Not Now on the Accessibility screen
  14. Click Continue on the Data & Privacy screen
  15. Select Not Now on the Migration Assistant screen
  16. Select Set Up Later and then Skip on the Apple ID screen
  17. Click Agree > Agree again
  18. Enter a name, user name, password > Click Continue
  19. Click Continue > Select Use or Don't Use for Location Services
  20. Pick a timezone > Click Continue
  21. Uncheck Share Mac Analytics with Apple > Click Continue
  22. Click Set Up Later on the Screen Time screen
  23. Pick a theme > Click Continue
  24. Welcome to MacOS 14 Sonoma

Install VMware Tools (optional, but recommended)

  1. Right click the Install MacOS disc on the desktop > Eject
  2. On the VMware toolbar click Player > Removable Devices > CD/DVD > Settings
  3. Click Browse next to ISO Image File > Browse to the extracted Unlocker files \tools > Select darwin.iso
  4. Click the Connected checkbox
  5. Click OK
  6. Inside the VM, double click the mounted VMware tools and run the installer
  7. When prompted, go into the Security settings and scroll to the bottom > Click Allow next to VMware > Reboot
  8. After rebooting double click the mounted VMware tools and run the installer again
  9. After the install succeeds, reboot again