Use Windows XP VM from VMWare Fusion (running on OSX) in Windows?

[justmichael]

I created a VM using VMWare Fusion on my Mac. The VM is Windows XP SP2. Is it possible to run this VM on a Windows machine (running VMWare), by copying the file over?

Message was edited by:

justmichael

[RDPetruska]

Quick answer: it depends.

Longer answer: What VMware product are you using on the Windows side? If not the Workstation 6 beta, then you will have to use the Workstation 6 beta to run the "Change Virtual Machine Version" wizard to downgrade your VM to run on the older version/product.

[Pat_Lee · Accepted solution]

VM's created with VMware Fusion will directly work in Workstation 6.0, Player 2.0, and ACE 2.0 which are all currently in beta.

To use your Mac created VM in other VMware products, you would need to convert it to an older VMware format using Workstation 6.0 on Windows.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Pat Lee

Senior Product Manager - Mac Products

VMware

[justmichael]

Thanks, Pat. I look forward to trying out this product.

[msohnius]

What about the other way around? Could I take the image from my VMware Player 1.0.3 and stick it onto the Mac?

[admin]

Could I take the image from my VMware Player 1.0.3 and stick it onto the Mac?

Yep! Just watch out for platform-specific paths -- Fusion will probably get confused if the vmx is telling it to look for C:/SomeFolder or /dev/floppy0.

You may also want to update the virtual hardware version (Virtual Machine > Upgrade Virtual Machine) to take advantage of newer features like USB 2.0.

Edited to include note about updating hardware version and gotchas. --etung 2007.04.11 15:10

[greengunth]

I have a follow up question about whether this works with Windows XP's detection that hardware has changed?

I am currently playing with Parallels and I am trying to do the same thing as being described here (running a Mac OS-created VM on a Windows VMWare).

The problem I run into with using WinXP SP2 as a Guest OS is that when I copy the VM over to Windows box, the WinXP SP2 Guest OS complains about "Significant HW Changes" having occurred and says I need to reactivate WinXP

Does moving XP created under Fusion to the Windows version of VMWare trigger the same problem under XP?

I use Mac as a laptop (for travel) and otherwise use Windows PCs and I like the ability to copy the VM from one platform to another as and when I'd like to use the VM depending on whether I am on the road, or I am working at home on the PC instead.

Thanks,

Gunther

[Deryni]

Umm... maybe. XP will probably see that the CPU has changed, but if you keep the MAC address of the ethernet card, that's the only change that it will see. The memory won't have changed, neither will have your disks.

[n6mod]

So to go from Fusion to Server (on Linux), I'd need wash it through Workstation 6.0?

Can I run Workstation in a VM under Fusion (or Server)? I don't actually have Windows running on real hardware anywhere, and I intend to keep it that way.

As an aside, why can't Converter deal with this? Fusion looks promising, but a lot of the tools in the VMWare ecosystem are very Windows-centric.

[admin]

So to go from Fusion to Server (on Linux), I'd need wash it through Workstation 6.0?

Yes

Can I run Workstation in a VM under Fusion (or Server)?

It's technically possible, just slow, so I believe (I haven't checked) that it's disabled.

[RDPetruska]

>As an aside, why can't Converter deal with this?

Because at the moment, Converter only supports VMs made with the released[/b] products. And Fusion, Workstation 6, and Player 2 (which all use the new virtual hardware) are still currently in a beta cycle and became public AFTER Converter was released. I'm certain that a version of Converter will be made available after these current beta products become release versions; but until then, you'll have to wait and use the workarounds.

>Can I run Workstation in a VM under Fusion (or Server)?

No. Well, yes, you can RUN Workstation (the UI) (though you will need to use Orca to extract the MSI installer and remove the check that it is running inside a virtual machine). But you can't power on any guests. It's the same for me - I have Fusion installed on my OSX guest, but I can't power on any guests in there.

[Dan_Essin]

This is very useful information. Thank you.

If you're keeping score I vote for Fusion staying in sync with a corresponding version of Workstation. I have a pressing and ongoing need to be able to move the VM's back and forth frequently.

I've seen some discussion of what it should cost. I vote for the product and the support subscription costing the same as workstation and delivering comparable features.

[n6mod]

Fusion,

Workstation 6, and Player 2 (which all use the new

virtual hardware) are still currently in a beta cycle

and became public AFTER Converter was released.

Ah, fair enough. So the real issue is that Fusion doesn't have the 'save as earlier version' feature.

It's a pity that there aren't any sane workarounds for this that don't require Windows on Bare Metal. (using Orca to bodge around an installer check doesn't count as sane to me)

\[EDIT: I sit corrected, downloading WS6 Beta for Linux...]

-Z

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n6mod

[DaveP]

Yes it is possible to run VMware inside of VMware and run 32-bit guests inside the guest. Not tried Fusion but it may work. Firstly need VT enabled processor.

Then in the VMX file add the following 2 lines of code:

monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = TRUE

monitor_control.vt32 = TRUE[/code]

VMware tools won't function but you can install and power-up guests. They are slow, but it is doable in WS6, so may well be possible in Fusion. Please see this thread for more information http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=67254&tstart=0. I'll try tonight when I am at home.

[bgertzfield]

Note that the 32-bit VT monitor is experimental and not supported, so your mileage may vary.

If you do this, I recommend doing a fresh install of Windows and hitting F7 (to autodetect a non-ACPI HAL) or F5 (to manually select a non-ACPI HAL) at the initial install window.

If you choose "Standard PC" rather than "ACPI Uniprocessor PC" for the HAL, your life will be much happier under VT land.

[DaveP]

Well here's a screenshot of Workstation in Fusion.

Dave

[msohnius]

Answering my own question from 8 years ago:  yes, one can take an image from a VMplayer containing WinXP and copy it to a Mac.  I just did it!