VMware Fusion Player won't install on macOS Catalina 10.5.7

[jamesbre]

I downloaded the latest version of VM Fusion Player for macOS 15+, but the installer won't run on macOS Catalina 10.15.7.  It says it requires macOS 11.  The particular Mac I'm running on is stuck on Catalina.  Installer version = 12.2.1

Is there a prior version I can get that can run on Catalina?

[ColoradoMarmot]

Not for free.  You can purchase a license and downgrade it to Fusion 11.5

[wila]

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@ColoradoMarmot wrote:

Not for free.  You can purchase a license and downgrade it to Fusion 11.5

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That's curious .. Fusion 12 does run on a Catalina mac down here 🙂

The whole yearly upgrade cycle and all the system requirements nitty gritty does get confusing sometimes.

So the deal is that you can run Fusion 12 on Catalina, but not Fusion 12.2 as the latter one requires Big Sur as the minimum host OS.

The last Fusion 12 version you can run is 12.1.2.
Download from here:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=FUS-1212&productId=1040&rPId=5596...

If your mac supports it, then an upgrade to Big Sur might make sense.

Note however that on Big Sur your VMs will be running under apple's hypervisor and IMO that's still so-so compared to VMware's old hypervisor.

From a security point of view ---> go update it all now to the very latest...

Sometimes however that isn't practical. If for example your hardware doesn't support it, then upgrading might just expose different issues (for example due to lacking metal features) and I would not recommend the upgrade to Big Sur.

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Wil

[ColoradoMarmot]

Ahhh, like 11.5.3 on high sierra.  *sigh*

[jamesbre]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, the website says it should run on 10.15.x, but the installer won't run.  Anyway, it's an older 27" Mac, CTO maxed out with core i7, with 1TB Storage and 32GB RAM.  Too bad, as it won't run macOS 11 Big Sur.

It's my kids Mac now, and she wants to run a game that is on iOS or Windows.  May use BootCamp.

Thanks all!

James.

[wila]

James,

Sorry I was way too talkative.

You can still install Fusion 12.1.2, I supplied the direct download link for that above.

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Wil

[jamesbre]

Thanks Wil!

I confirmed the link did allow you to install Fusion Player on macOS 10.15.7.  Problem is, loading had VM had errors.

I got it going on my iMac Pro.  After all the effort, the PC Game I wanted to run couldn't run in a Virtual Machine 😞  Oh well, live and learn...

[logtous]

https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=FUS-1212&productId=1040

[Snavo]

I signed for a free non commercial use, but my iMac cannot install any OS beyond Catalina. So the solution is buying it... and get a downgrade to an OLDER version? Are you serious? So I get nothing but they took my data, and didn't write in download page version 12.2 is only for Big Sur. Not fair AT ALL. 

How can I delete my VMWare account and personal data so I avoid they spam me in exchange of NOT giving me what they promised?

[RDPetruska]

If you read Wil's message above, version 12.1.x WILL work on Catalina.  You can download that older minor revision from the same landing page as the main download... just use the combo box to select the minor revision.

[fpassold]

I can confirm that any installer version 12.x does not work on Catalina 10.15.7. They crashed during the beginning of installation. Someone only waste time trying to install any 12.x version.

[dempson]

And I can confirm that 12.1.2 installed and worked fine on one of my Intel Macs running macOS Catalina when I set it up a few months ago (well after 12.2.x was available). This was a fresh install on a Mac which had never had any version of Fusion installed.

@fpassold  If you are having trouble with Fusion 12.1.2 crashing during install on Catalina then there may be something messed up on your system, for example something left over from an old installation of Fusion. I've seen mention on this forum of a process for completely uninstalling old versions of Fusion then trying the new version again. I haven't gone hunting for the details as I've never needed to do that myself.

[wila]

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@dempson wrote:

I've seen mention on this forum of a process for completely uninstalling old versions of Fusion then trying the new version again. I haven't gone hunting for the details as I've never needed to do that myself.

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If I"m not mistaken that would be the steps detailed in here: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1017838

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Wil

[billearl]

As a convenience, I would use EasyFind to locate those leftover files. In this case, I would search on "vmware" or "fusion".

[Technogeezer]

@wila ‌👍‌

That's the one!

I'd also add one other command to the cleanup that @joshiga recommended

rm -rf "/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.vmware.fusion.InstallHelper"

[wila]

OK, I used the feedback option of the KB article to suggest to add that extra line to the KB article.

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Wil