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The Compendium · Chapter 16 of 20

Virtualizing Windows & Linux

2 min read · 2 sections

Step 9: Virtualize Windows

  • Install and license Parallels
  • Start Parallels and follow prompts to virtualize Boot Camp
  • Customize settings before starting VM
  • Once Windows is running, allow Parallels Tools to install
  • Be amazed, ‘cause yeah, it’s that easy

Step 10: Virtualize Linux

  • Download SuperGrub2.iso
  • Move the iso to the same place as the VMDK as it just makes things easier
  • Download and license VMWare
  • Open Terminal and type:
    • “cd /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library” and hit “Enter”
  • Then type:
    • “diskutil list” to ensure you’re creating a VMDK of the correct partition, should be disk0s4
  • Then type:
    • “sudo ./vmware-rawdiskCreator create /dev/disk0 # /path/to/file/filename scsi” and hit “Enter”
      • Notice: there’s no “s” in “disk0s4” – just space over it – and type the partition number in place of “#”
      • And you have to replace “/path/to/file” with the actual path; we recommend the shared storage location
      • You can replace “filename” with whatever name you want, but leave off the extension
  • Right click on newly created .vmdk file at “/path/to/file” and open with VMWare (this auto-detects an SCSI disk, making process easier)
    • Set the appropriate Operating System
    • Leave “Create a new virtual disk” as is
    • DO NOT CLICK FINISH; Click “Customize Settings”
    • Choose the location for the VM and name it
    • Settings window pops up
      • Open the “Hard Disk” option
        • Drop the file size down to the absolute minimum
        • Open the “advanced” options
          • Uncheck the “Split into multiple” option
        • Click “Apply”
        • Click “Show All”
      • Open the “CD/DVD” options window
        • Check the “CD/DVD” option
        • Navigate to that iso within the dropdown menu
        • Click “Show All”
      • Click the “Advanced” option
        • Check “Pass power status to VM”
        • Select “None” under “Troubleshooting” dropdown
        • Check “Disable Side Channel Mitigations”
        • Click “Show All”
      • Click “Startup Disk”
        • Select “DC/DVD”
        • Click “Show All”
      • Change other things like display, as you’d like
    • Close “Settings” window (everything automatically saves)
  • Close VMWare completely
  • In finder, right click on the newly created VMWare file (it may or may not have an extension on it; if it does, it will be “.vmwarevm”) and click “Show Package Contents”
    • Right click on and open the .vmx file in preferred text editor
      • Find “scsi0:0.fileName = “filename.vmdk”” line and replace “filename.vmdk” with “/path/to/filename.vmdk” – it should look something like:
        • “/Volumes/STORE PAR/Virtual Machine Stuff/MBPro1622UbuV.vmdk”
    • Save .vmx file by just closing it
  • Open VMWare and start VM
    • First few boots take some time
    • Eventually, grub boot screen appears; select first option
    • Errors will appear as it searches the Linux partition, but can be ignored
    • Select the same option used to boot in natively, probably first entry after the found Operating Systems list
    • Wait the requisite 1min 30secs – planned improvement to bypass this
    • Other entries may boot into emergency mode
      • Just click “Control + D” or type “exit” as directed
    • Install “VMWare Tools”
      • Open Terminal and type:
        • “sudo apt-get update” and hit “Enter”
      • Then type:
        • “sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools-desktop” and hit “Enter”
  • Reboot

Note: VMWare’s built in “VMWare Tools” installer (via virtual CD/DVD) is way more complicates and doesn’t work very well, so the Terminal method is highly recommended.