#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 HOW TO#
#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 MAC OS X#
#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 INSTALL#
#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 SOFTWARE#

I also have Debian, Centos and OpenBSD VMs running various services. ItРІР‚в„ўs especially nice to have Open Directory separate from less important services.

#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 MAC OS X#

I have each Mac OS X service separated on itРІР‚в„ўs own installation. I have about a dozen VMРІР‚в„ўs running between the 2 Xserves. Last of course, is a 2U CyberPower UPS which is really just to condition the power and keep brownouts from taking down the system. The NAS is comprised of a 4u head unit and a 4U JBOD running Centos. ThereРІР‚в„ўs a blank unit because I just sold an Xserve 2,1 on eBay, and the other 2,1 will be for sale soon as well to make room for a 4 node 2U Supermicro Server.

Here you see an Xserve 3,1 on top of an Xserve 2,1. It sits in a lofted storage area with an A/C and vents into the bathroom. This is my home custom 13u rack with sound insulation and active air flow.

#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 INSTALL#

No tricks to it, just install and youРІР‚в„ўre off. On top of that, thereРІР‚в„ўs not much for me to say other than, it works. So, if you were considering it, I doubt anything here will dissuade you. ItРІР‚в„ўs 7 years old, and not officially supported, but you already know that. Then IРІР‚в„ўll have an improved work experience, while also pulling some extra income on the installation/maintenance.Р”Р„nyway, youРІР‚в„ўve come here to read about running ESXi 6.0 on an Xserve 2,1. IРІР‚в„ўll keep the one to run a few Mac OS X VMs.Р’В IРІР‚в„ўm still working on getting Samba 4 to work as the PDC, but once that is running smoothly, IРІР‚в„ўll have a functional environment that I can take to the studios where I work (with approved hardware of course). I just sold one, and will sell another in the next month or two in favor of some Supermicro hardware (I really am mostly running Linux VMРІР‚в„ўs at this point).

#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 SOFTWARE#

That said, Open Directory, Software Update, Caching and a few other services still need to be run on a Mac, so itРІР‚в„ўs still necessary to have the hardware.Р’В For a while, I had 3 Xserves, all purchased very cheaply, running VMs. Since then, my home lab has grown considerably, and I have learned that the best way to provide Mac services, is simply to use Linux (IРІР‚в„ўve had a great experience with Netatalk). I figured IРІР‚в„ўd take the plunge and just resell it on eBay if it didnРІР‚в„ўt work out. I also found a brief post in a thread that said that the Xserve 2,1 ran ESXi 5.5 without issue. I found an Xserve 2,1, which I was able to talk down to $100.

#INSTALL MAC OS ON VMWARE ESXI 6.5 HOW TO#

However, I needed to learn how to do this, before pitching it to them, so I looked on Craigslist for some cheap hardware.

This led me to pursue virtualization in hopes of isolating services on separate machines, without telling the studio to go buy 8 Apple Mac Minis. However, with each OS X Server update, things broke, and I was spending a lot of time putting out fires. I was able to gradually build one studioРІР‚в„ўs IT infrastructure form a single AFP share with incessant permissions problems, to an Open Directory driven, single sign-on infrastructure with mobile homes, messaging etc. I have a background in computer science and networking, so it wasnРІР‚в„ўt a huge leap to step into administration. The IT situations in many of these locations is often home-grown and sub-adequate, if not barely functional, so I took it upon myself to learn OS X Server administration. *** This is a guest blog post from JohnР’В Clendenen ***Р”Р‡or the past 5 years, I have lived in New York where I work at various print and post-production studios. Several weeks back I receivedР’В an interesting email from a reader named John Clendenen who was able to get ESXi 6.0 running on both his Apple Xserve 3,1 as well as Xserve 2,1! To be honest, I was pretty surprised to hear that this worked and not only that, there was notР’В a whole lot that JohnР’В had to do to get it working.Р’В I thought this was a pretty coolР’В setup and asked if John was interested in sharing more details with the VMware/Mac OS X community in case others were interested.Р”Вisclaimer:This is not officially supported by VMware, please use at your own risk. I reallyР’В enjoy hearing from my readers, especiallyР’В when they share some of theР’В unique challenges they have come across or boundaries they have pushed with our VMware software.

Install mac os on vmware esxi 6.5