Convert physical MacOS 10.14.6 to virtual machine

[PJDuro]

I have a physical Macbook Pro 13" (early 2013) running MacOS/OS X 10.14.6 (patched as up-to-date as available) that I would like to convert to a virtual machine.

Are there any how-to's available that outline the steps required to make this happen? If VMWare Fusion can't do this, I am open to buying a license for Parallels, or alternatively using Virtualbox or another solution.

It seems there is VMWare software and demos to do this for a Windows physical machine, .e.g.

https://www.vmware.com/products/converter.html
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/16.0/com.vmware.ws.using.doc/GUID-87B43C18-06A0-40...
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2005129

But I want to do this for an intel Mac.

[MatthiasE]

Make a Time Machine Backup of the physical machine

Install macOS in the VM

Restore the TM backup

[ColoradoMarmot]

So couple of points:

First, you'll find that you have issues with a Mac guest due to the lack of 3d acceleration.  Also note that it will only run on mac hardware (so no porting to a different platform).

While the time machine option (with an external drive) below will work, time machine isn't all that reliable for full restores.  I'd suggest making a clone with something like carbon copy cloner instead - it's vastly more stable and reliable.

The other key point is that it's VERY important to migrate during the initial OS install, rather than after creating a new user.

[PJDuro]

Thanks for the suggestion @ColoradoMarmot

I've also had hit and miss experiences with full restoring from time machine, so was keen to know alternative paths in preference. Do you know of any step-by-step instructions regarding a new VM 10.14.6 instantiation and Carbon Copy Cloner clone restore?

[ColoradoMarmot]

It's basically the same.  Make a clone to an external USB drive.  Create a new guest and boot it.  When the installer gets to the migration screen, plug in the USB drive and 'migrate from a mac'