[Fusion] Can't create Mac OS VM in Catalina

[dannygoodman]

My setup: latest MacOS Catalina; VMWare Fusion Player 12.1 (Personal License); Mac Mini 2014 with Intel i7 CPU.

Fusion Player runs all my Windows VMs back to Windows 95(!) flawlessly (don't ask why I need these).

I'm trying to install a 32-bit capable MacOS version as a VM. I downloaded OS X Yosemite (10.10) installer dmg from Apple to my Desktop. I attempt to create the VM as follows:

1. File->New...

2. Click "Install from disc or image" -> Continue.

3. Select the .dmg file in the Create a New Virtual Machine screen. -> Continue

4. Select Apple OS X -> OS X 10.10. --<Continue

5. Confirm settings and click Finish.

6. Save as OS X 10.10 vmwarevm

See message: Copying disk. Then text screen showing attempts to find bootloader on HD, CD, network (all unsuccessful). Then Boot Manager displays dialog box "No operating system was found" with instructions to adjust CD/DVD settings, which I do after shutting down unfinished VM. The Connect CD/DVD Drive settings panel for the VM shows it's configured to my .dmg file. For extra measure, I set Startup Disk to the CD/DVD drive.

I cannot get past the initial Boot Manager screen or start up the VM in MacOS. I've been at this for two days with no luck. I've tried using Disk Utility to create an image of the .dmg file (seems redundant), with no difference in results.

I'm exhibiting Einsteinian insanity now, so appealing to the outside world for help.

Moderator edit by wila: Moved thread to VMware Fusion discussions

[ColoradoMarmot]

Drag/drop the installer.app (not the DMG) into the new VM wizard window and it should work.

FWIW, remember there's no 3d support in MacOS guests, so some apps won't work in a VM.

[dannygoodman]

When I open the .dmg image file, all I see is the InstallMacOSX.pkg file, which the Wizard does not recognize. Launching the .pkg file does run Installer, but I have no idea where it is to get it into the Wizard. Searching for Installer.app yields only one result associated with a third-party app.

[dannygoodman]

The key, I discovered, is to run the .pkg file with the default Installer. I was afraid it was going to mess with my main Mac's OS install (after all, it says it's going to install Yosemite), but running the .pkg simply causes the Mac to create a dedicated Install app for the downloaded version of Mac OS (mine is called "Install OS X Yosemite") in the Applications folder. This file I could drag to the Wizard, and it appears to be running through the installer now in the VM. Fingers crossed this install will complete, and I''ll be up and running. Thanks dlhotka for the pointer to get me headed in the right direction.