Can you run VirtualBox on Macs with Apple’s M1 chip? Is it legal to run macOS on VirtualBox? To answer the second question first, yes. As long as it is running on apple hardware, yes. You can run a macOS VM on an Mac, but it won’t be. VirtualBox 6.1.2 will not run Catalina 10.15.2 and later guests. Virtualbox 6.1.0 added support for booting APFS.Unfortunately there is a problem if you do not have 10.15.1 version of Install macOS Catalina.app. There is a bug in VirtualBox which is exposed by 10.15.2 and later versions of boot.efi.See this VirtualBox forum thread Catalina 10.15.2 does not start.

This document will provide instructions on getting a macOS Catalina install working with Guest Additions on VirtaulBox 6.1.

Start by downloading a copy of the installer from the App Store. You will need a computer running macOS and you will need to convert the installer to an ISO. Bridge builder mac download. I will not be covering these steps here, but there are plenty tutorials online.

Installing VirtualBox

Install macOS Catalina 10.15 on VirtualBox on Windows PC. Now you are done completely with the steps of macOS 10.15 on VirtualBox. Therefore, open VirtualBox and start the installation of macOS Catalina 10.15 on VirtualBox. After that, you run the installation just follow the steps to install properly macOS Catalina 10.15 on VirtualBox. If you want to run macOS 10.15 using your VirtualBox virtual machine first and foremost you’re going to need a macOS Catalina image (vmdk file). On here are the installation files that you need to install macOS versions 10.15. These images are available online however not all of them guaranteed to.

I’m hoping you already have this part covered and you are coming here only because you had issues getting macOS installed, but just in case, make sure the following packages are installed (Arch):

Creating the VM

Start by creating a new VM. Give it a name without spaces.

Give it enough memory so the install will run faster. We can change this later.

Select to create a new Virtual Hard Disk

Run Macos Catalina On Virtualbox

Select VDI

Select fixed size

Give it a bare minimum of 25GB (I would advise on at least 50GB if you can spare the space)

Edit the machine, go into «System => Motherboard» and disable floppy boot and change the chipset to PIIX3 Free home landscape design software for mac.

In the processor give more CPU if you can spare

In «Display => Screen» increase the video memory to 128MB and enable 3D acceleration

Enable USB 3.0 Big brow pencil.

Note: if you can’t see USB 3.0 you might need to add your user to the vboxusers group

Insert the install ISO

Additional Configuration

Now we need to run a few vboxmanage commands for additional settings. Either run the lines with vboxmanage from the script below (add your virtual machine name under $vm_name), or save the full script and run it.

Note: the default resolution is set to «1280x1024». You can change it in the last line of the update code. Make sure to keep it to “640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1900x1200“

Installing macOS

We are now ready for the install. Start the machine and select you language.

Select disk utility.

Select the VirtualBox hard disk and click on erase.

Give it a name, select the same options and click on erase. Close the disk utility when done.

Click on install macOS.

Continue with the install as you would until you are presented with the desktop.

Note that the installer will reboot once in the middle of the install.

Installing Guest Additions

We now need to get Guest Additions installed. Remove the install ISO and mount the guest additions CD. Open it with finder and run the VBoxDarwinAdditions.pkg

Install it as if you would install any other package.

You will most likely get an error message that the install has failed.

Close everything, unmount the guest additions CD and open a terminal window (Command+Space, type terminal).

Now we need to restart the VM in recovery mode. Type in:

Once it has rebooted into recovery mode, on the top click on «Utilities => Termminal»

Type in the code below. This is to sign Oracle software as authorized. Then we disable recovery mode and restart the VM.

When the VM has rebooted you should have guest additions working. Remember that not everything works, but the features below should:

  • Copy/Paste
  • ~Drag and Drop~ Reported as not working (see comments)
  • VirtualBox Shared Folders
  • Guest Control
Hi,
thank you for providing VirtualBox on MacOs.
I have installed VirtualBox 6.1.2 on the latest MacOs Catalina, on a 2018 Mac Mini. Inside Windows 10 x64 is running with the guest additions installed.

Run Macos Catalina On Virtualbox Mac

Unfortunately the sound is not working. Windows seems to play sounds but I can not hear them. Furthermore, all Mac applications are also silenced until I shut down the VM.
I have read that quite a few other people have this or a similar problem. You recommended to 'simplify' the sound setup. But I don't see anything special about my setup, I have external speakers plugged into the mac, enabled this in the system settings - that's it. The VirtualBox sound settings are unchanged from default.
Could you help me with this problem and guide me through debugging this problem if needed? I am quite new to MacOs.

Install Macos Catalina On Virtualbox Final Version

Thank you and Regards.