Running MacOS on VMware Fusion

1. Get MacOS Installer

References:

  • https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide/installer-guide/mac-install-pkg.html
  • https://osxdaily.com/2020/07/20/how-convert-macos-installer-iso/

i. Download the desired version

There are links to download from the App Store at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683. For example, I want to download Catalina.

If it mentions that the version is not suitable to be installed, it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is /Applications contains a file called Install macOS Catalina.app (or other version).

Alternatively, an installer can be downloaded with Munki’s InstallMacOS utility (but I didn’t try this)

mkdir -p ~/macOS-installer && cd ~/macOS-installer && curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/munki/macadmin-scripts/main/installinstallmacos.py > installinstallmacos.py && sudo python installinstallmacos.py

ii. Set up the installer

Using either method in the previous step, there should be a Install macOS <version>.app file.

With Catalina as an example, run the following commands.

  1. Create a DMG disk image 
    hdiutil create -o /tmp/Catalina -size 8500m -volname Catalina -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J
  2. Mount the disk image 
    hdiutil attach /tmp/Catalina.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/Catalina
  3. Use createinstallmedia utility to create the installer on the mounted volume 
    sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Catalina --nointeraction
  4. Once createinstallemdia has finished, unmount the volume 
    hdiutil detach /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Catalina
  5. Convert the DMG disk image to CDR 
    hdiutil convert /tmp/Catalina.dmg -format UDTO -o ~/Desktop/Catalina.cdr
  6. Rename ISO to CDR 
    mv ~/Desktop/Catalina.cdr ~/Desktop/Catalina.iso

Done!

2. Install macOS in VMware Fusion

  1. Create new VM
  2. Install from disc or image
  3. Select .iso file created earlier
  4. Follow installation steps
  5. Wait 20 mins maybe

Simples.

3. Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

References:

  • https://www.virtual-odyssey.com/2017/10/23/disable-sip-within-osx-virtual-machine/#:~:text=At%20the%20terminal%20screen%20type,that%20SIP%20is%20indeed%20disabled.

It is best to disable SIP when doing security research. Otherwise, there are some security settings that will make life inconvenient.

To disable SIP, the installer ISO will be used again. (By default, it is still mounted onto the CD/DVD drive, so nothing needs to be done.)

  1. Find the Settings button of VMware Fusion
  2. Choose Startup Disk
  3. Choose CD/DVD and click Restart

The VM will now restart and boot into the ISO used earlier.

  1. At the top bar, Utility->Terminal
  2. Enter csrutil disable in the terminal

Now, it is time to restart back to the system. Similar to earlier,

  1. Find the Settings button of VMware Fusion
  2. Choose Startup Disk
  3. Choose Hard Disk (SATA) and click Restart

In the VM, open a terminal and enter csrutil status to see that SIP has been disabled.