Run old MacOS version as a VM?

[Jamaicanmango72]

Is there a way to back up an old Mac entirely and then restore it as Fusion drive? I still have my old MacBook Air here that I have set up with a few games and an older purchased version of AutoCad?

[scott28tt]

Moderator: Rather than hijack a loosely related thread, I’ve branched your comment to a new thread.

[ColoradoMarmot]

So yes, and no. 

It is possible to create a VM from it (if you have an installer for that version of the OS), but things may or may not work - OSX guests don't have 3d acceleration, so things that rely on it, don't work at all.

if you want to try, here's the procedure:

1) Clone the old machine to an external USB drive using something like Carbon Copy Cloner

2) Create a new virtual machine using the installer for that version of OSX

3) During the initial install - BEFORE you enter a user name, when prompted to 'migrate information', plug in the USB drive, connect it to the VM, and choose 'from another mac'

That'll use the apple migration wizard to bring over all your applications and data, without the gunk from the old OS.