VMWARE FUSION beta version support ARM based Linux 22.04.3 ISO

[vm83]

Hi ,

I am using Macbook Pro Apple M1 Pro (Ventura Version 13.5.1 (22G90)) and i wanted to install ARM based linux 22.04.3 which is absolutly working fine with UTM4 .

Can i use 22.04.1 linux Iso file in VMWARE Fusion Beta version to create the VM?

can i import ARM 22.04.3 ISO file in VMWARE Fusion Beta or if there is already OVA file available forARM based linux 22.04.3.

Regards,

Jan

[scott28tt]

Presumably your question is about the Fusion 2023 Tech Preview?

Fusion 13 was released last year and supports ARM-based OSes on M1-based Macs.

The answer to your question is probably already in this unofficial guide for Fusion 13: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Documents/The-Unofficial-Fusion-13-for-Apple-Silicon...

[Technogeezer]

---

@vm83 wrote:

I am using Macbook Pro Apple M1 Pro (Ventura Version 13.5.1 (22G90)) and i wanted to install ARM based linux 22.04.3 which is absolutly working fine with UTM4 .

Can i use 22.04.1 linux Iso file in VMWARE Fusion Beta version to create the VM?

can i import ARM 22.04.3 ISO file in VMWARE Fusion Beta or if there is already OVA file available forARM based linux 22.04.3.

---

You don't need the "beta version" 2023 Tech Preview to run Ubuntu. The released Fusion 13 is fine. You may wish to use the Tech Preview however. Yes, it's a public beta, but it's actually quite stable and contains better support for Windows 11 ARM than the released Fusion 13 should you decide you want to try out Windows on your Apple Silicon MacBook. Plus the Tech Preview contains a significant boost in drag/drop/copy/paste and Shared Folders performance for Linux VMs. 

I recommend you use a 22.04.2 or preferably 22.04.3 ISO to install a Fusion virtual machine. The 22.04.1 ARM ISO won 't work - it contains a broken Linux kernel that won't boot on Fusion 13 or the 2023 Tech Preview. This was an Ubuntu bug, and they fixed it in 22.04.2 and later. If you want the install and use the HWE kernel, start with the 22.04.3 ISO (the HWE kernel in the 22.04.2 ISO is also broken).

If you want Ubuntu Desktop, you should install Ubuntu Server, then "convert" it to Desktop by adding a few packages to the Server installation and making s couple of configuration changes. The unofficial guides for either Fusion 13 or the 2023 Tech Preview tell you how to perform the Server to Desktop "conversion". Canonical in their infinite wisdom doesn't provide an official release of Ubuntu Desktop for architectures other than Intel, and It's an iffy proposition to try to install Ubuntu Desktop on ARM systems (anyone's ARM) from daily development builds. 

Fusion will most likely not be able to import that UTM virtual machine. If you're running the VM under UTM "Virtualization", the virtual disks are in Apple Hypervisor's format (it's actually a sparse disk image) that Fusion doesn't know anything about. You're going to have to install it as a new VM on Fusion.

You may wish to get a copy of the unofficial Companion Guide that is chock full of tips on getting many operating systems (including Ubuntu) up and running. See:

The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide for Fusion 13, or The Unofficial Fusion 2023 Tech Preview Companion Guide for the Fusion 2023 Tech Preview

[vm83]

I have installed VMWare Fusion Professional Version e.x.p (22068932) and then created an Ubuntu VM by using 22.04.3 ISO .

what i need is to install some X86_64 packages and in UTM4 i was able to install X86_64 based packages using rosetta but in VMWare Fusion i am unable to configure Rosetta that is what i found some info saying if i use VMWare Fusion Beta version then i should able to use Rosetta.

Could you please give me the link to download VMWare Fusion Beta version so that i can try.

Regards,

Jan

[palter]

Fusion e.x.p (22068932) is the current Fusion beta. (VMware uses the term Technology Preview instead of Beta but they're the same thing.)

Rosetta in a Linux VM is supported using Apple's high-level Virtualization framework. Fusion uses Apple's low-level Hypervisor framework which, at this time, does not expose support for Rosetta in a Linux VM. Consequently, Fusion will not support this feature in the foreseeable future.

(I use Fusion for most of my VMs but I also use UTM for a Debian VM with Rosetta support for an Intel application which the author has no intention of porting to ARM.)

[Technogeezer]

TL;DR Rosetta won’t work on Linux ARM VMs under Fusion.

Apple specifically calls out that Rosetta for Linux is available for virtualization applications that use their high level Virtualization framework. UTM uses this framework. Fusion does not. It uses the lower level Hypervisor framework.. 

If you can find the documentation that says that it does work under Fusion, could you provide a kink  because everything that I can find does not say it’s supported. 

[palter]

There is an open source project called Box64 that provides similar functionality to Rosetta for a Linux VM.

Before I moved my Intel application to a Debian VM using Rosetta under UTM, I managed to get my application working under Box64 in a Fedora VM under Fusion. Performance was actually on par with the application under Rosetta and UTM.

But, getting Box64 setup wasn't easy and it was pretty fragile. (I.e., updating Fedora would tend to break Box64.)