10.6 Virtualize machine-specific OS X Server in Fusion
Dec 20, '10 07:30:00AM
Contributed by: Sven G
I did all this on a new mid-2010 Mac mini Server (with an external MacBook Air SuperDrive), with OS X Server 10.6.5 (re)installed on the upper drive (*disk1*) and OS X client 10.6.5 (and Fusion, many other apps, etc.) installed on the lower drive (*disk0*): i.e., with the computer used mainly as a client desktop rather than a server; so, virtualizing the server OS might be the most convenient solution, while - if desired - also being able to natively boot into the server (at least as an experiment).
So, you want to virtualize a whole hard drive (HD) with OS X Server installed? Or, more simply, if you want to install OS X Server onto an 'ordinary,' file-based Fusion virtual machine (VM), but only have a machine-specific install DVD (which will refuse to install if used to boot the VM), here is what I did.
Part 1: If you want to virtualize a whole disk:
At least, the procedure above worked for me; of course, then, you also have to install the VMware Tools and, optionally, the third party VMsvga2 audio drivers (a SourceForge project: they also have enhanced video drivers): BTW, more complete 'official' VMware Tools for Mac OS X would be a very good thing for Fusion 4.
P.S.: I had to choose SCSI (as it also were in the originally created file-based VM), because IDE didn't work: it gave a bus error when trying to create the 'Boot Camp-like' .vmdk with the fullDevice parameter; maybe because the internal Mac mini Server HDs are SATA, or because it is Mac OS X, or even because the OS is on a GPT-formatted HD?
Part 2: If you want to install OS X Server in a Fusion VM with a machine-specific DVD:
Create the VM as usual, customize it and exit Fusion; then, mount the VM in the Finder with VMDKMounter (located in the /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion folder), and instead of booting the VM from the DVD open
/Volumes/Mac OS X Server Install Disc/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg
It's invisible, so you might need TinkerTool, or something similar, or run
open /Volumes/Mac OS X Server Install Disc/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg
in the Terminal. The install package is located on the DVD and you may install OS X Server on the mounted disk image directly from there.
As you now install from your original machine (but to another HD), it will work (and if you want to change the default 40 GB virtual HD size, which might be a little small, you can reformat the mounted virtual hard drive with Disk Utility before installing OS X Server onto it).
Certainly, it's easier to manage file-based VMs, so for now I went back to using the upper drive in the Mac mini Server as a dedicated VM storage HD, and thus installed OS X Server in an 'ordinary' VM.
[crarko adds: I haven't tested this one.]
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