Migrating Fusion to new Macbook Pro

[winmorgan]

Hi,

I'm running Fusion, ver. 8.1.1 and Windows 7 and migrating from a 1023 Macbook running El Capitan (10.11.6) to a new Macbook Pro running Catalina.

I'd appreciate any advice on using Mac's Migration Assistant to get what I'm running on the old Macbook successfully moved to the new Macbook.

Thanks for any help...

[scott28tt]

Your version of Fusion is not supported on MacOS later than Sierra: VMware Knowledge Base

Not saying it won’t work (I don’t know), but you might consider an upgrade.

[ColoradoMarmot]

You'll definitely need to upgrade to Fusion 11.5 to get it to run on Catalina.

Time machine is not a reliable method to backup/move virtual machines, so if you're using the migration wizard, do it direct, machine to machine, or clone to an external drive with Carbon Copy Cloner, and then migrate from it.

Here's the steps

1) Shut down (not suspend) the VM on the old machine

2) Delete/commit any snapshots on the old machine

3) Do the migration

4) Uninstall Fusion 8 (drag it to the trash, if it even migrated) on the new machine

5) install Fusion 11.5.x

6) Run Fusion, follow the security prompts carefully

7) Start the virtual machine - it'll prompt you to upgrade the virtual hardware, do so

😎 If the VMWare tools upgrade process doesn't start automatically, do it manually from the menu

Then I'd exclude the virtual machine folder from time machine, and make other backup arrangements.  Wil (a top poster here) has a great tool to do that if you want something automated.  Otherwise, using finder when the VM is shut down, to drag a copy to an external drive periodically is the manual option.

[winmorgan]

Hi...thank you so much for your response! I have a couple of further questions -- and I'm not very conversant with Fusion in general, so...

1. I don't know what snapshots are and don't know how to commit or delete them.

2. The version of Windows I'm currently running in Fusion is Windows XP Pro and I still have the install disk so am hoping I can install that on the new MBPro after I update Fusion to 11.5.x. Do you know if that will work?

3. Can you tell me how to exclude the virtual machine folder from Time Machine? And I guess I'd then have to backup the virtual machine to an external HD using Retrospect or something similar?

I'd be very interested in the tool you mentioned about this but don't know how to inquire about it as I'm very new to this forum.

4. If I go with your other suggestion about manually dragging a copy of the virtual machine, where do I find that file to drag/copy?

Sorry to not be very well informed. I originally used Fusion after I switched to Mac, but now only use it for a few programs, most especially including Quicken. I'm assuming I'll have to buy a new copy of Quicken and hope it will run on XP Pro.

Thank you for your help with all of this,

Win

[wila]

Hello Win,

Let's look at your questions one by one.

1. A snapshot is a VMware Fusion feature that let's you go back in time and return to a state of your VM at the time you made the snapshot. It then keeps the changes since that time in a separate set of files. This is one of the reasons that it is recommended to not have snapshots open before you copy your VM. (You can find this feature via the menu, "Virtual Machine" -> "Snapshots")

If you're not using this feature, then don't worry about it.

2. That should work, but you do not need to re-install. You can copy your current Windows XP virtual machine to the new computer.

3. Excluding a VM from Time Machine is done by excluding the whole folder that contains your VM's from Time Machine. Click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, select "Open Time Machine Preferences..." then select the Options button and in the screen that appears use the "+" button to add the folder that has your VM's.

See also: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1014046

You do not need to use any external tool such as Retrospect to copy your VM to an external disk. You can use Finder to copy the VM bundle to your external disk. Be sure to use a HFS+ or APFS formatted external disk.

The backup tool that dlhotka talks about is called Vimalin and I'm Wil

4. In VMware Fusion, go to VMware Library (Menu -> Window -> Virtual Machine Library), select your VM in the left hand menu. Right click and select the "Show in Finder" menu option and it should open up Finder right on your VM. Make sure your VM is shut down before you make that copy.

You should not need to re-install Quicken. The only thing required to install is VMware Fusion 11.5 and make a copy of your VM.

Once you have a copy of the VM on an external disk, install VMware Fusion 11.5 (see Download VMware Fusion | VMware ), then copy the VM to your new macbook pro and use File Open, navigate to the copy of the VM. If you get a question "did you move or copy" select "Move" not copy as copy will reset the virtual hardware and might make you have to reactivate Windows XP.

That's about it.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

[winmorgan]

Hello Wil,

First, thank you so much for your reply and instructions! I'm feeling quite swamped with getting this done correctly, so good instructions are a godsend.

I'm sure I'll have further questions once I get into this process (which will probably be over this weekend), but right now having read what you wrote I have a couple more questions, though somewhat complex:

1. dlhotka suggested, after I've used Mac's Migration Assistant, to then uninstall Fusion 8. Do I just find it in Applications and drag it to the trash? And will that leave all the files still associated with it intact?

2. The next step he recommended was installing Fusion 11.5, so I'm assuming I should download that onto the new Mac and just run the insaller -- are there any prompts to be aware of during that installation, such as being asked whether I want to use existing data created while I was running Fusion 8?

3. You said "The only thing required to install is VMware Fusion 11.5 and make a copy of your VM." After I install 11.5, what exactly do I make a copy of? I know you're saying copy the virtual machine, but I'm not sure what file or files that entails? And where should the copy be kept?

4. I'm really happy to hear that I should not need to reinstall Quicken as the 2012 version I'm using which works quite well for my bookkeeping is no longer supported and I'd hate to try to get up to speed with a newer version.

5. You said "then copy the VM to your new macbook pro and use File Open, navigate to the copy of the VM." Does that mean after I copy the VM back to the new Macbook, that I'd open the new Fusion 11.5, and go to File > Open within Fusion's menu?

I'm very grateful for your help....thanks!

Win

[wila · Accepted solution]

Hello Win,

1. No need to uninstall VMware Fusion 8 from the old machine. You can keep it on there so you have something to fall back on.

2. Yes install on the new mac. There are no prompts for your virtual machine. You do have to allow VMware Fusion in security settings, but it will tell you. Follow the steps and if you don't succeed, open a topic here at the forum and someone will help you (me or somebody else)

3. The virtual machine. Make the copy on an external disk so that you can copy it to the new macbook pro. The VM is either a whole bundle (looking like one file) or it might show up as a folder.

If it looks like a folder then copy the whole folder, if it looks like a single file, then copy that file (in that case it's a bundle .. which in reality is still a folder)

4. Yup. This is one of the advantages of virtual machines, it is easy to switch over to new hardware. You can take your windows VM to a new machine without additional downtime.

5. Exactly.

--

Wil

[bluefirestorm]

Buying/upgrading to Fusion 11.5 now entitles you to free upgrade Fusion 12 when it becomes available.

https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2020/08/announcing-fusion-12-and-workstation-16.html

Alternatively, you can wait for the free non-commercial use licence Fusion Player 12 for the new MBP; and run with the old El Capitan/Fusion 8.x setup for a few more weeks.

Since you are on Fusion 8.x, you likely won't be entitled for upgrade pricing to Fusion Pro 12.x as historically VMware offers upgrade pricing for only two major versions back (12 -> 11.5/11 -> 10.x -> 8.5/8.x).

[winmorgan]

Hi, and thank you...

After I followed the link you gave, I'm now a little confused. My Fusion 8 is for personal use only, and I wasn't clear if I need to upgrade to 11.5 or if, as the linked page suggests, I can use "Fusion 12 Player," which I gather is free?  Is "Player" the same as Fusion?, meaning, will it allow me to run Windows XP Pro on the new MBP?  If so, would I follow the same directions that have been kindly outlined for me in the responses and do the migration and then trash version 8?

Any clarification very appreciated and thanks again,

Win

[bluefirestorm]

For non-commercial personal use, the future free Fusion Player 12 should suffice.

IMHO, it makes sense to pay for the upgrade now if you are on Fusion Pro and wants the extra features that Pro version provides. Or if you are interested in the extra licence keys it provides for Workstation Pro. Fusion Standard product becomes an end of lifecycle product with version 12 and and its replacement options are either the free or paid Fusion Player.

The money saver in me would rather wait for the free Fusion Player 12 if it is for non-commercial personal use. If you don't want to wait and also don't want to pay for the upgrade, the Fusion 12 beta is currently available.

https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2020/07/fusion-big-sur-tech-preview.html

By the way, when opening the existing Windows VM (after copying over to the new MBP), be it Fusion 11.5 or Fusion Player 12, it will ask if you "Moved" or "Copied". It is best to answer "Moved" so that the Windows re-activation won't be triggered. With Windows 7/XP officially out-of-support, the online reactivation may not work anymore.