Installing macOS/OSX Xcode on Windows : VirtualBox

[xhunaudio]

Hi,

after declaring that "you are not allowed to install OSX/macOS on a non-Mac..." etc...

From a simple "is it possible?" , or "...just to know!" viewpoint :

Anyone experienced the installation of OSX and Xcode on VirtualBox (for Windows / Linux / etc...) for pro-audio, VST VST3 AU plugins compiling purposes?

After installing OSX + Xcode + the SDKs for Xcode, etc... is it possible to compile without issues and produce a stable binary ?

Not for development or testing or else, just for compiling..... ?

PS : Virtual Machine OS is a great thing, it simplifies our lifes and having not this opportunuty for OSX/macOS is really bad...

[Audiority]

I highly suggest you to look at VMware Fusion instead of VirtualBox. I replace my VirtualBox VMs with Fusion and this last is way faster and more stable. Furthermore, they update their engine to support latest OSX and EFI versions.

[xhunaudio]

Hi Audiority,

unfortunately I was looking for (specifically) a virtualization of macOS or OSX (guest OS), running on a main Windows Host.

And VMware Fusion works having macOS as a host. The exact inverse

Once we have a proper overview of the system "in topic" (Windows must be the host - macOS is the guest), let me say performance isn't a focus here. It would be used only for compiling with Xcode. No developments, testings, etc... just compiling plugins binaries. Anyone had such experience / tried to setup such system for compiling ?

[freimann]

I was in a similar situation when I started with iOS app development and my computers were running only windows and linux at that time ... I was not able to run virtualized OSX in the Virtualbox but on the other hand I found out that Snow Leopard (incl. the whole Xcode environment) ran perfectly in VMware workstation ... The next step of my migration was converting one of the more powerful PC into a Hackintosh - and running the few applications that still required windows - in virtualized windows in virtualbox under OSX ... And after a couple of months I got my first real Mac Mini ...

[freimann]

I see that Virtualbox matured quite a lot over the last years - https://www.howtogeek.com/289594/how-to ... indows-10/

[xhunaudio]

Indeed, I'm asking here because installing and running OSX as a guest on hypervisors seems to be a tedious and long procedure. So maybe someone with such experience could say if it's viable, at least...

It's not a question on how to accede macOS without having a Mac. It's all about a simple way to speed developments further.

I can't spend 3 days on setting up everything just to discover that it simply doesn't work

[freimann]

I understand your sentiments ... there is a simple answer - you can google and download a ready-mady osx vmdk image ... that you just plug into a hypervisor ... and have a running virtual Mac in a couple of minutes ...

[sprnva]

If you just want a quick "is this going to work" solution, you could try this.

I'd do a clean install after it was set up in the unlikely event there was anything malicious in the image. But it's a quick way to see if it's a viable option.

[xhunaudio]

Thanks freimann and sprnva,

this seems to be the only way... I was asking if anyone has experience with the plugins compiling procedure (installing Xcode, all the SDKs for OSX and AU) through hypervisors like this. Also other aspects have to be checked the compiled plugins stability, authoring, etc...

@sprnva I don't think an image (guest os) opened in a virtual machine could contain malicious code (for the Host). Obviously having no shared folders or networks. Am I missing something?

[freimann]

@sprnva - thank you for the link with really helpful instructions !! even though I use real Mac's now - but I have a lot of friends who want to try the OSX before they decide to make a switch - I am sure this link contains a very detailed instructions that any windows user can follow ...

regarding the malicious code - @sprnva is right - even though it would not affect the host system - it still can get access to your credentials you will use in the guest osx - such as developer certificates etc ... that you may not be happy to give away

[sprnva]

A virtualized os isn't really any different from a native one. I can't see any reason why Xcode wouldn't run and compile fine on it.

I tend to use hackintosh installs as VMs won't have video acceleration. That shouldn't be an issue for code compilation though.

[xhunaudio]

Thanks for the hints !

[pekbro]

I would guess its not really worth it, too much potential for problems (and consequential bugs) on top of painfully poor performance. Just get yourself a used mac mini or something. Just because it's technically possible, doesn't mean it's worth your time and effort to get a questionably adequate (and legal) workaround in place. IME VMs always disappoint in the end. My 2 cents...

*btw, I have run osx in vbox before, but never got as far as development. I deleted it
way before that...

[BlueprintInc]

I'll say give it a try. It's better than to support a company like Apple by buying their expensive hardware. Either used or not, you'll run into problems (also when it comes to install new os that might not be supported by your hardware or to downgrade to older versions).

[stratum]

This isn't really practical unless all that you want is a virtual machine for automated builds. It's very slow because virtualbox lacks the necessary macos drivers on windows hosts. Vmware is a different story, but but the only thing that enables it for this task is hacked binaries that you cannot trust.