Will VMware Fusion work on an OS X Snow Leopard Server

[RichSad]

Hi. I see a lot of info about virtualizing OS X Server in VMware Fusion, but I have a different need. I have a Mac Mini with OS X snow leopard Server on it and I would like to run CentOS Linux in a VMware Fusion virtual machine. I can't seem to find any reference to using VMware Fusion with OS X Snow Leopard Server as the host OS. Will VMware Fusion install on OS X 10.6 Server?

More details on my needs: I have a Mac Mini with OS X Snow Leopard Server. This machine serves very light duty for an server acting primarily as a place for us to store video files. I would like to install a VM with CentOS with a LAMP stack to test some early iterations of code that will later be moved to a Dell VMware server running one or more CentOS VMs. The Dell hardware won't be in place for another month and the Mac Mini has enough horsepower to handle this LAMP stack for now. Yes, I realize that I could just run a MAMP stack on the Mac natively, but for reasons I don't want to get into I'd like to run CentOS (or some other Linux distro) in a VM on this OS X server.

[RichSad]

Hi, thanks for the link. Although I don't think it answers my question. My question is will VMware Fusion work with OS X SERVER as the host operating system. All of the docs just reference OS X, but not OS X Server. Are you implying that ANY flavor of OS X (of sufficient version) will work as the host?

[Entegy · Accepted solution]

Yes Fusion works fine with OS X Server as the host. There's a long topic about running more than 10 virtual machines on an Xserve not working properly, but I don't think you'll be running that much on a Mac mini.

As always though, the best way is to try it yourself. Download the 30-day trial and see how it goes.

[RichSad]

Thanks Entegy. You are correct I will not be overloading the server. I will only be running one VM. Of course, I am not using a XServe (but I have used that hardware in the past--NICE) but just a Mini w/Intel Core 2 Duo and 4 GB. I'll only need 1 GB for the VM so I expect this to work well.

I use VMware Fusion on my 8GB MBP too with Windows and it works pretty nicely. I had been a Parallel's user for last several years so I am rather new to Fusion. Seems a little slower than Parallel's but overall it works well. VMs are a lifesaver!

[WoodyZ]

All of the docs just reference OS X, but not OS X Server.

OS X is both Client and Server otherwise is would be more explicit and specific.

> Are you implying that ANY flavor of OS X (of sufficient version) will work as the host?

Yes.

[Sedim]

So I installed Fusion 3.1 (which is the current edition) on Mac OSX Server 10.6.3 (Latest). It works in that it installed. However the following is broken unless I misread the spec:

Install a guest OSX Server 10.6.3 on the Host OSX Server 10.6.3: The install starts, reads the CD, gets the installation screen going and then.... I get the messages "Cannot install this operating system".

So far I have tried it a couple of times. Also reinstalled a fresh copy of the Host, reinstalled Fusion, still the same problem.

Any Ideas?

I just need one vm of the server so that I can do some testing without reloading the entire OS every time.

I am doing this on a Mac Mini Server with 2X 500GB Striped, 4Gig Ram. bought Aug 15th 2010.

Thanks in advance.

[WoodyZ]

I read some other posts using 10.6.3 that came with the Mac mini and got the same message. I might be wrong however I believe you need to use a retail version of OS X Server not one that came with the Mac.

[Kronkvist]

> OS X is both Client and Server otherwise is would be more explicit and specific.

Strictly speaking that is incorrect. The official name of the client version is Mac OS X, and the name of the server version is Mac OS X Server. The word "client" is not used by Apple in any name of any of their software products (with the exception of Apple Remote Desktop Client). Hence, in order to avoid misunderstandings like these it is probably best to be very precise and not use terms that might be considered ambiguous. Among most mac users the term "OS X" only regards the client version, and not the entire family of OS X-based operating systems. This is particularly important today, since a broader use of the term would also include iOS – i.e. Apple's newest OS X-based operating system, used in the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

[WoodyZ]

First of all in this particular case I was just generally speaking and strictly only in regards to VMware Fusion as that was the relevant target of the query however Apple does indeed use the terms "Client" and or "Server" in reference to which version as shown by the many OS Security Updates directly downloadable at their website that explicitly and specifically use the terms "Client" and or "Server" while stating, as an example, "Security Update 2010-005 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X" noting that at both of the following links it uses the term "Mac OS X" in its statement yet one update is for "Client" and the other is for "Server" as shown in these referencing links: <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1094">Security Update 2010-005 (Snow Leopard - Client)</a> & <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1095">Security Update 2010-005 (Snow Leopard - Server)</a>

[dheisner]

I've got 3 MacMini servers and 2 of them are running Fusion.  It works like a champ.  One is running Windows XP, the other is running Ubuntu Linux.  I bought the first OS X server because VMWare Server 2.x would not run on Microsoft's Small Business Server.  I had 1.x running on it and could not upgrade, so I ran out at bought an OS X Server with Fusion.  I spent 3 days trying to upgrade VMWare Server to 2.x before I found out that it wasn't supported.  I bought the OS X Server at 3pm and had it 100% operational including VMWare and the virtual machine by noon the next day.  It has been installed for about a year and runs so much better than my SBS ever did. 

My experience has been that Windows inside of Fusion is more reliable than Windows on a regular Windows PC.  Go figure.