Running a MacOS Big Sur VM in ProxMox VE 🌱

  1. Download a MacOS Big Sur .iso Download
  2. Download KVM OpenCore bootloader Download
  3. Extract the downloaded KVM OpenCore bootloader .gz file
  4. Upload the Big Sur and KVM OpenCore .iso files to the Proxmox ISO library
  5. Log into the ProxMox web UI
  6. Right click the ProxMox node name > Create VM
  7. Type MacOSBigSur in the name field, set the VM ID to 1100 (unless 1100 is in use) > Next
  8. On the OS tab, set the Type field to Other and select the KVM OpenCore .iso in the ISO Image field > Next
  9. On the System tab, set the Graphic card field to VMware compatible, BIOS field to OVMF (UEFI), Check the Add EFI Disk checkbox, Uncheck the Pre-Enroll Keys checkbox, Machine field to q35 and the SCSI Controller to VirtIO SCSI > Next
  10. On the Hard Disk tab, set the Bus/Device field to VirtIO Block, Disk size field to 64, Cache field to Write back (unsafe) > Next
  11. On the CPU tab, set Cores field to 4, Type field to Penryn > Next
  12. On the Memory tab, set the Memory to 4096 > Next
  13. On the Network tab, set the Model field to VMware vmxnet3 > Next
  14. Verify the summary and click Finish
  15. Click the MacOSBigSur VM > Select Hardware from the left sub-navigation menu
  16. Click Add > CD/DVD Drive
  17. Select the MacOS Big Sur .iso downloaded earlier > Click Create
  18. Select the MacOSBigSur VM > Options > Boot Order
  19. Set the KVM OpenCore disk as the first boot option > Click OK
  20. Right click the ProxMox node name > Console
  21. Run the following commands in the terminal
    # edit the VM conf file, change 1100 to the VM ID for the Big Sur VM
    nano /etc/pve/qemu-server/1100.conf
  22. If running on an Intel CPU, add the following line to the bottom of the .conf file:

    args: -device isa-applesmc,osk="ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc" -smbios type=2 -device usb-kbd,bus=ehci.0,port=2 -cpu host,kvm=on,vendor=GenuineIntel,+kvm_pv_unhalt,+kvm_pv_eoi,+hypervisor,+invtsc

  23. If running on an AMD CPU, add the following line to the bottom of the .conf file:

    args: -device isa-applesmc,osk="ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc" -smbios type=2 -device usb-kbd,bus=ehci.0,port=2 -cpu Penryn,kvm=on,vendor=GenuineIntel,+kvm_pv_unhalt,+kvm_pv_eoi,+hypervisor,+invtsc,+pcid,+ssse3,+sse4.2,+popcnt,+avx,+avx2,+aes,+fma,+fma4,+bmi1,+bmi2,+xsave,+xsaveopt,check

  24. Press CTRL+W and search for ,media=cdrom
  25. Delete the ,media=cdrom from the two attached .iso files (KVM OpenCore and Big Sur) and add cache=unsafe
  26. Press CTRL+O, Enter, CTRL+X to write the changes to the conf file
  27. Back in the Proxmox web UI, right click the MacOSBigSur VM in the left navigation pane > Start
  28. Click console in the left sub-navigation menu
  29. At the OpenCore menu, select UEFI Shell > Press Enter
  30. Type the following in the UEFI shell:
    # change to the Big Sur .iso, the disk number may be different for you
    fs0:
    # launch the MacOS installer
    System\Library\CoreServices\boot.efi
  31. After a long initialization sequence the MAC OS Setup should start
  32. Select Disk Utility
  33. Select the VIRTIO Block Media > Click Erase
  34. Name the drive OS11 > Set the Format to APFS > Click Erase
  35. Click Done > Close Disk Utility
  36. Click Install macOS Big Sur
  37. Click Continue > Click Agree > Click Agree again
  38. Select the OS11 disk > Click Install
  39. Wait while Mac OS 11 installs files, the VM will reboot several times
  40. Press Enter at the OpenCore boot screen after each reboot to continue the MacOS installation
  41. Select your Country > Click Continue
  42. Confirm your languages and keyboard layout > Click Continue
  43. Click Not Now on the Accessibility screen
  44. Click Continue on the Data & Privacy screen
  45. Select Not Now on the Migration Assistant screen
  46. Select Set Up Later and then Skip on the Apple ID screen
  47. Click Agree > Agree again
  48. Enter a name, user name, password > Click Continue
  49. Click Customize Settings
  50. Click Continue > Select Use or Don't Use for Location Services
  51. Pick a timezone > Click Continue
  52. Choose whether to share analytics with Apple > Click Continue
  53. Click Set Up Later on the Screen Time screen
  54. Uncheck the Enable Ask Siri box > Click Continue
  55. Pick a theme > Click Continue
  56. Welcome to MacOS 11 Big Sur