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MLSCO
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What is Best Sequence to Upgrade VMWare Fusion 8.5 to 11, upgrade Mac OS from High Sierra to Mojave, Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10?

This question is similar to a previous community discussion that inquired about installing Mojave in VMWare 11 on an older MacBook Pro (see reference). In my case, I currently use VMware 8.5 to run Windows 7 on a 2016 MacBook Pro with High Sierra and now looking to upgrade the Mac OS, VMWare and Windows in a short time frame.  Is there a recommended sequence to the upgrades that will minimize problems with upgrading all three?  I would like to simply upgrade VMware from 8.5 to 11.1.1 using my High Sierra OS.  Then I would upgrade my OS from High Sierra to Mojave with VMWare 11 already installed.  The last step would be to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the VMWare 11.1.1 running under Mojave OS. Is this a reasonable sequence or will it create problems? What would be a better sequence?  Appreciate any guidance you can share as to how to best make this complete transition work smoothly.

Is VMWare Fusion 11 running on an old Mac Pro (without Metal support) able to install Mojave?

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wila
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Hi,

Your suggested upgrade path is the one I would suggest and is afaict the best order.

However I would add one more step: Make a backup of your VM before you start any of the upgrades.

Please do not trust Time Machine with your VM backups as it isn't reliable for that kind of backup. Even VMware suggest you to exclude VMs from backing up via Time Machine (see VMware Knowledge Base or for more details see https://www.vimalin.com/why-is-time-machine-not-a-good-backup-for-virtual-machines/ )

The correct way to make a backup of your VM is to:

- shut down your virtual machine

- shut down VMware Fusion - not strictly required, but recommended as it makes it very certain no files are left open

- make a copy of that virtual machine to an external disk

- disconnect the external disk

Then update everything as you planned. If anything goes wrong you at least have a backup that you can fall back on.

PS: Of course you can also use my backup product ( https://www.vimalin.com ) for making the VM backup, but the steps above will work fine.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva

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wila
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Hi,

Your suggested upgrade path is the one I would suggest and is afaict the best order.

However I would add one more step: Make a backup of your VM before you start any of the upgrades.

Please do not trust Time Machine with your VM backups as it isn't reliable for that kind of backup. Even VMware suggest you to exclude VMs from backing up via Time Machine (see VMware Knowledge Base or for more details see https://www.vimalin.com/why-is-time-machine-not-a-good-backup-for-virtual-machines/ )

The correct way to make a backup of your VM is to:

- shut down your virtual machine

- shut down VMware Fusion - not strictly required, but recommended as it makes it very certain no files are left open

- make a copy of that virtual machine to an external disk

- disconnect the external disk

Then update everything as you planned. If anything goes wrong you at least have a backup that you can fall back on.

PS: Of course you can also use my backup product ( https://www.vimalin.com ) for making the VM backup, but the steps above will work fine.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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MLSCO
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Wila: Thank you very much for your response. This information will be invaluable in my upgrade tasks. I will be executing the upgrades in early Oct.

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MLSCO
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Wila

Following your guidance I did do the backup of my VM Bundle to a separate disk.  Backup is in a separate folder on the 1T external drive that I use for Time Machine and which is connected to the MAC at all times.  You recommended disconnecting the external disk, but my previous backups to the bundle have always been on the same physical disk at TM.  Is there a specific risk that I ought to be aware of by leaving it on a drive that is connected to the computer?

I spoke to VM Sales a few minutes ago to check in how to get Fusion 11.1.1 given that all the advertising is now for 11.5.  What I was told is that I have to purchase the 11.5 upgrade and then downgrade the license key to 11.1.1. Interestingly 11.5 requires the new OS Catalina and cannot run on Mohave of High Sierra.

Does my understanding of what I was just told make sense to you?

MLS

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wila
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Hi,

The reason I recommend disconnecting is only because a disconnected disk can never be wiped or have anything bad done to it.

As long as you do NOT rely on Time Machine for your VM backup you should be fine. It's OK if the backed up VM bundle is on the same disk, no problem there.

To be frank, normally you would not have to touch that backup, but it is _always_ smart to have a good backup ready when you make a big change to your host environment.

As far as downgrading from 11.5 to 11.1.1 I have one word for that: bollocks

VMware Fusion 11.5.0 Release Notes

As you can see in the "requirements" Fusion 11.5 is supported on 10.13 and up.

If that's not the case then VMware should first update their documentation...

Besides if you do downgrade then I recommend to downgrade to 11.1.0 instead of 11.1.1 as 11.1.1 was an emergency fix that is no longer needed.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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MLSCO
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Thank you again for your quick response. 

Since I was getting confusing answers from the sales people at VMWare, I went to two VM references. 

KB 208571 says what you say: Fusion 10.x through 11.5 are all compatible with High Sierra (10.13.6 is what I have). Fusion 11.1.1 and 11.5 are compatible with Mojave, but 10.x is not.  This makes their recommendation to me to buy 11.5 and downgrade the license to 10.x a non-starter for the upgrade of my OS. 

Further, when I went to the interactive VM Ware compatibility guide (VMware.com/resources/compatibility), I found that each of the Fusions 10.x, 11.1.x and 11.5  are said to be  compatible with Windows 7x64 which is what I have now. They are also compatible with Windows 10x64. Therefore the logical choice which takes a bigger step up than I was considering in my original question, but which I believe you are recommending in your latest response, is to go all the way to Fusion 11.5 as the first step in my migration.  11.5 is compatible with the two  operating systems I now use  (High Sierra and Windows 7) so I should be able to install it and operate with the current configurations on my computer. Once I have 11.5 woking I can migrate to Mojave and everything will remain compatible.  Then I should able to upgrade windows to Win 10 and complete the migration with no gaps in compatibility along the way.

I think this is all consistent with your recommendations, but If you see a hole in this thought process please let me know.

Thanks. I greatly appreciate your advice.

MLS

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wila
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Hi,

You should be fine.

If you bump into any road blocks then post here and someone will be able to help you out.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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jasper3
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Hi,

Sorry I am new and I'm not sure this is the right place for my question..

I have Fusion 8.5.10 running on High Sierra on a Macbook Pro 2015. I understand there is a compatibility problem.

Do you recommend upgrading to Fusion 10 or to 11 ?

Thanks, jasper3 

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Technogeezer
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I would opt to go with the latest Fusion 11 release that runs on High Sierra, which is 11.5.3. 11.5.5 dropped support for High Sierra.  

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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