Virtualising OS X 10.11 El Capitan

WARNING!

Virtualising OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Virtualisation Software

• Parallels Desktop [£69.99 inc VAT one time purchase - upgrades + 14 day free trial available]
  
• Parallels Desktop Pro [£99.99 inc VAT yearly subscription - upgrades + 14 day free trial available]
  
• VMWare Fusion Pro [US$199 inc VAT - 30 day free trial available]
• Oracle VirtualBox [FREE - Open source under GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2]

Instructions

• Preparation
• Parallels Desktop
• VMWare Fusion
• VirtualBox
• OS X 10.11 Notes

Preparation

• Obtain your preferred virtualisation software (see list above)
• Obtain the OS X 10.11 El Capitan installer and copy it to your local Desktop/hard disk:
• If you already have this installer archived/backed up you are good to go
• If you purchased OS X 10.11 El Capitan you might be able to re-download the installer - go to Macintosh HD > Applications > App Store > Purchased tab at the top > login if necessary > check your purchase history list to download Mountain Lion
• You may still be able to download OS X 10.11 El Capitan for free from Apple
• If you haven't already, make a backup/archive of the OS X 10.11 El Capitan installer e.g. copy it to an external storage device
• Purchase/install/update your preferred virtualisation software
• On later versions of macOS your preferred virtualisation software will require specifically allowing their System Extension(s) to run via System Preferences > Security & Privacy, plus they may require to be granted access to Accessibility

• Make sure you have plenty of free hard disk space (a basic 10.11.6 install is about ~20GB before your own applications and you'll need at least twice that if you need to clone it for multiple installations), plus you need ~6GB for Parallels to create a bootable disk image file from the installer, so we recommend at least 75GB of free space (100GB+ if you're looking to virtualise and use Adobe Creative Suite)
• Make sure your actual, physical Mac has a working internet connection e.g. use a web browser to go to https://www.apple.com and see if you can view a web page
• Create a dedicated folder to share files/documents with the virtual environment e.g. in your Documents folder create a folder titled "1011SharedFolder"

• Parallels Desktop
• VMWare Fusion
• VirtualBox

Parallels Desktop Instructions

1. Open Parallels
2. Go to File menu > New
3. Click on "Install Windows or another OS from a DVD or image file" and click Continue

4. If Parallels automatically finds the OS X 10.11 installer you put on your Desktop/local hard disk earlier (as per the preparation section above) click "Continue"
5. Otherwise click on "Choose Manually", click "Image File" and locate the OS X 10.11 installer/drag it to the window

6. Click Continue to begin installing OS X
7. Parallels will need to create a bootable disk image file from the installer so at the warning message click "Continue" and Save the "macOS image file" to the default location

8. Name your virtual machine e.g. "OS X 10.11"
9. Tick the "Customize settings before installation" option

10. Choose your required custom settings - they can be changed later. We recommend:
• General > CPUs and Memory e.g. 2 CPUs and 4GB RAM)
• Options > Sharing - for best security set "Share Folders' to "None", untick 'Share iCloud, Dropbox, and Google Drive' + 'Map Mac volumes to virtual machine' and click "Custom Folders…" to add your dedicated shared folder e.g. in your Documents > "1011SharedFolder" (as per the preparation section above)
• Hardware > Video > Video memory - the more memory assigned the higher the resolution available for the virtual environment
• Hardware > Network > Source > choose "Ethernet" - the virtual environment will use your physical Mac's Ethernet network configuration
• Hardware > Sound & Camera > untick "Share Mac Camera"
11. Close the settings window and click "Continue"

12. The virtual machine will reboot to the OS X install screen (Apple logo + whirling wheel underneath)
13. Follow the on screen instructions

14. At the OS X Utilities screen, click "Install OS X" and click "Continue"

15. After the installation completes and the virtual machine reboots please be patient, especially with any black/white/grey screens - everything can be slower in a virtual environment
16. At the Welcome screen follow the on screen instructions
• Select your country
• Select your keyboard
• Transfer Information to This Mac > Don't transfer any information now
• Enable Location Services > your choice
• Apple ID > Don't Sign in (Skip)
• Terms and Conditions > Agree
• Create Your Computer Account + tick "Set time zone based on current location"
• Diagnostics & Usage > untick "Send diagnostics & usage data to Apple" + "Share crash data with app developers"
17. Go to Actions menu > Install Parallels Tools…
18. Install Parallels Tools, following the on screen instructions and restart the virtual machine when complete
19. Set the screen resolution as required
20. Set your Finder > Preferences
21. To avoid confusion with your primary computer rename the virtual machine's hard disk from Macintosh HD to something that is different to your current hard disk e.g. "OS X 10_11 HD"
22. Go to Apple menu > App Store… > Updates tab > install all available updates (except full macOS upgrades) especially any security updates
23. Keep going to Apple menu > App Store… > Updates tab and installing all available updates until there are no more updates to install
24. NOTE: If you are going to use this virtual environment on multiple computers or you just want a backup:
• In Parallels "Shut down" the virtual machine and choose shut down again to force the Mac to shut down if necessary
• In the Finder go to the Parallels virtual machine folder (usually Macintosh HD > Users > your home directory > Library > Parallels)
• Copy/duplicate/archive the OS X 10.11 virtual machine file (pvm)
• Copy this file to the same place on additional Macs with Parallels as required (usually Macintosh HD > Users > your home directory > Library > Parallels)
OR make a clone:
• In Parallels go to Window menu > Control Center
• Select the OS X 10.11 virtual machine (don't open it or start it)
• Go to File menu > Clone and make a clone of the virtual machine
• Copy the clone to additional Macs with Parallels as required
25. Check the OS X 10.11 Notes section below

VMWare Fusion

1. Open VMWare Fusion
2. Go to File menu > New
3. At the 'Select the Installation Method' screen click on "Install from disc or image" and click Continue

4. Locate the OS X 10.11 installer and drag it to area in the window and click Continue

5. At the 'Finish > Virtual Machine Summary' screen click "Customize Settings" at the bottom

6. Name your virtual machine e.g. "OS X 10.11"
7. Choose your required custom settings

8. We recommend:
• Processors & Memory > CPUs and Memory e.g. "2 processor cores" and 4096MB [4GB])
• Network Adapter > tick "Connect Network Adapter" and choose "Ethernet" - the virtual environment will use your physical Mac's Ethernet network configuration
• Hard Disk (SATA) > virtual machine drive size of 75GB
• USB & Bluetooth > untick "Share Bluetooth devices with the virtual machine"
9. Close the settings window and click "Finish" if necessary
10. Click the start button/triangle in the middle of the screen to begin installing OS X
11. The virtual machine will reboot to the OS X installer (Apple logo + whirling wheel underneath)
12. Follow the on screen instructions

13. At the OS X Utilities screen, click "Install OS X" and click "Continue"

14. After the installation completes and the virtual machine reboots please be patient, especially with any black/white/grey screens - everything can be slower in a virtual environment
15. At the Welcome screen follow the on screen instructions
• Select your country
• Select your keyboard
• Transfer Information to This Mac > Don't transfer any information now
• Enable Location Services > your choice
• Apple ID > Don't Sign in (Skip)
• Terms and Conditions > Agree
• Create Your Computer Account + tick "Set time zone based on current location"
• Diagnostics & Usage > untick "Send diagnostics & usage data to Apple" + "Share crash data with app developers"
16. Go to Virtual Machine menu > Install VMWare Tools
17. Install VMWare Tools, following the on screen instructions and restart the virtual machine when complete (you may get a message about the installer certificate being out of date and this appears to stop the Tools installing so things like drag and drop are not supported [with this guest OS])
18. If you want to configure shared folder(s) go to Virtual Machine > Sharing > Sharing Settings… > tick "Enable Shared Folders' add your dedicated shared folder e.g. in your Documents > "1011SharedFolder" (as per the preparation section above)
19. Set the screen resolution as required
20. Set your Finder > Preferences
21. To avoid confusion with your primary computer rename the virtual machine's hard disk from Macintosh HD to something that is different to your current hard disk e.g. "OS X 10_11 HD"
22. Go to Apple menu > App Store… > Updates tab > install all available updates (except full macOS upgrades) especially any security updates
23. Keep going to Apple menu > App Store… > Updates tab and installing all available updates until there are no more updates to install
24. NOTE: If you are going to use this virtual environment on multiple computers or you just want a backup:
• Go to Virtual Machine menu > Shut down and click the "Shut Down" button
• Quit VMWare Fusion
• In the Finder go to the Fusion virtual machine folder (usually Macintosh HD > Users > your home directory > Library > Virtual Machines)
• Copy/duplicate/archive the OS X 10.11 virtual machine file (pvm)
• Copy this file to the same place on additional Macs with Fusion as required (usually Macintosh HD > Users > your home directory > Library > Virtual Machines)
OR make a clone:
• If you have Fusion "Professional", in Fusion select the OS X 10.11 virtual machine from the Virtual Machine Library (you cannot create clones using the standard version of Fusion - use the copy method above instead)
• Click Virtual Machine and select "Create Full Clone"
• Type a name for the clone e.g. "OS X 10.11 Clone" and click Save to make a clone of the virtual machine
• The clone file is created in the Fusion Virtual Machines folder (usually Macintosh HD > Users > your home directory > Library > Virtual Machines)
• Copy the clone to additional Macs with Fusion as required
25. Check the OS X 10.11 Notes section below

VirtualBox

1. Install VirtualBox heeding the advice in our Preparation section above
2. Open VirtualBox to get it running and then Quit it
3. Download a trial version of VMWare Fusion
4. Install VMWare Fusion heeding the advice in our Preparation section above
5. Install OS X 10.11 using the instructions in our VMWare Fusion section above
6. Stop the OX 10.11 virtual machine in VMWare Fusion if it is running and then Quit VMWare Fusion
7. Go to Macintosh HD > Users > ~your home directory~ > VirtualBox VMs folder (if this folder doesn't exist, create it) > inside this folder create a new folder called "OS X 10.11 from Fusion" > keep this window open
8. Open a new Finder window and go to Macintosh HD > Users > ~your home directory~ > Virtual Machines > locate the OS X 10.11 virtual machine you created in VMWare Fusion e.g. "OS X 10.11" > right/control click on it and select "Show Package Contents" from the contextual menu

9. Copy, not move, all the files from this folder to the "OS X 10.11 from Fusion" folder you created two steps ago in the VirtualBox VMs folder
10. Now you're ready to use this virtual machine disk with VirtualBox
11. Open VirtualBox
12. Click on the "New" icon
13. Click on "Expert Mode"

14. Name your virtual machine e.g. "OS X 10.11"
15. Set 'Type' to "Mac OS X"
16. Set 'Version' to "Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan (64-bit)"
17. Set 'Memory Size' to 4096MB (4GB)
18. Set 'Hard Disk' to "Use an existing virtual hard disk file"
19. Click on the folder icon with the little green up arrow in the bottom right of the window
20. Navigate to Macintosh HD > Users > ~your home directory~ > VirtualBox VMs folder > OS X 10.11 from Fusion and select the "Virtual Disk.vmdk" file

21. Click "Choose"
22. Click "Create"
23. Select the new virtual OS on the left and click "Settings" at the top
24. Set your virtual OS settings. We recommend:
• Display > Screen > Video memory - the more memory assigned the higher the resolution available for the virtual environment e.g. set it to 128MB
• Audio > UNTICK "Enable Audio" - according to the VirtualBox forums it is best that audio is disabled
25. Click "OK"
26. Click "Start"
27. The virtual machine will boot into OS X 10.11

OS X 10.11 Notes

Security Notes

• Don't use Apple Safari as it is no longer updated and thus it is not secure - use a supported web browser e.g. Firefox or Chrome
• Don't use Apple Mail as it is no longer updated and thus it is not secure
• Don't install unsupported web plug-ins and disable old plugins:
1. Go to OS X 10_11 HD (or whatever you have named the virtual hard disk) > Library
2. If there is no folder named "Internet Plug-Ins (Disabled)", create a new folder named that
3. Open the "Internet Plug-Ins" folder and move all the items in it to the "Internet Plug-Ins (Disabled)" folder
NOTE: To move the files you will need to authenticate as an administrator of the computer.
4. Restart the virtual machine (go to Apple menu > Restart)

General Notes

Running 32-bit Applications

• macOS 32-Bit Applications To Be Unsupported In The Future
• Virtualising Adobe Creative Suite with Mac OS X / OS X / macOS

If this information helped you or saved you time and/or money why not donate a little to us via PayPal?
All proceeds go directly to MacStrategy / Burning Helix to help fund this web site.

If this information helped you or saved you time and/or money why not donate a little to us via PayPal?
All proceeds go directly to MacStrategy / Burning Helix to help fund this web site.

Go to this
web page
to donate to us.