Install onto MacBook Pro (Late 2011)

[Martin Cleaver]

I have a (late 2011) MacBook Pro that I was thinking of running PVE on natively on.

I'd run PVE guests of MacOS X, Windows and Linux, as a lightweight alternative to running VMware / Virtualbox.

How easily does PVE install onto a real MacBook? Which instructions would I follow?
How functional would MacOS X Guest O/S instances be?

What sort of experience can I expect?

Thanks

 

[manu]

well it's not really the typical use case of PVE ( PVE is a server virtualization product)

you can try the following approach:
* install debian jessie on your mac book pro ( that should work. For any problems here contact the debian folfs )
* install Proxmox VE on top of Debian as explained in https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Jessie
* OSX license does not allow you to run it in a VM IIRC

 

[LnxBil]

* OSX license does not allow you to run it in a VM IIRC

That's wrong. It allows the virtualization of MacOS on Apple hardware. (e.g. refer to https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/m...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1000131)

What sort of experience can I expect?

You should stick to MacOS with VirtualBox/VMware Fusion/Parallels to virtualize what you want. Much smoother experience because you're going to virtualize a desktop operating system on a desktop.

Proxmox VE - as manu already pointed out - is a server virtualization solution to virtualize server grade operating systems. There is no integration for desktops e.g. file drag&drop or clipboard integration for MacOS and never will be. MacOS can be virtualized in Proxmox VE, but it is neither fast nor has proper integration. I would not recommend it in comparison to any desktop virtualization product.

 

[Martin Cleaver]

Thanks. I will give it a go, starting from the instructions on https://wiki.debian.org/MacBook and https://wiki.debian.org/MacBookPro

Drag & drop etc. would be nice, but don't - at this point - bother me. Not compared to running Bootcamp (Apple's dual-boot to Windows solution). Bootcamp will require a reboot to change O/S and still not let me copy content across.

As the machine is otherwise spare I can experiment. I know there are cross-platform network clipboard apps around.

When I go to install Mac OS as a VM what sort of experience will I have, and what sort of access to USB, webcam? I don't suppose thunderbolt will be available(?).

 

[Ashley]

Thanks. I will give it a go, starting from the instructions on https://wiki.debian.org/MacBook and https://wiki.debian.org/MacBookPro

Drag & drop etc. would be nice, but don't - at this point - bother me. Not compared to running Bootcamp (Apple's dual-boot to Windows solution). Bootcamp will require a reboot to change O/S and still not let me copy content across.

As the machine is otherwise spare I can experiment. I know there are cross-platform network clipboard apps around.

When I go to install Mac OS as a VM what sort of experience will I have, and what sort of access to USB, webcam? I don't suppose thunderbolt will be available(?).

As previously mentioned Proxmox is not really designed for that use case so is not something you can do via the GUI.

However you technically can pass through devices using KVM/QEMU, but I am not sure exactly if it would work down to such device level and specially on a MAC. It's normally designed for passing through a PCI-E card directly to the VM's OS.

 

[turdor]

I have a (late 2011) MacBook Pro that I was thinking of running PVE on natively on.

I'd run PVE guests of MacOS X, Windows and Linux, as a lightweight alternative to running VMware / Virtualbox.

How easily does PVE install onto a real MacBook? Which instructions would I follow?
How functional would MacOS X Guest O/S instances be?

What sort of experience can I expect?

Thanks

Hi!
How it was finally?
Did you manage to run PVE on MBP?
I want to run it on rMBP 2012 w GT650 passthrough, have similar setup on server hw.

cheers

 

[Demanu]

Hello, I'm new here. I'm sucessfully running proxmox 7 on MBP 2011 A1286. Macbook has broken AMD card, which is turned off, works on integrated Intel GPU.

I have problem with tuning on IOMMU and pass the PCI device (wireless card), in kernel commandline I have intel_iommu=on, dmesg shows IOMMU is on but proxmox shows IOMMU is disabled. Can anyone help me solve this problem?

 

[jraebrown]

Just to bump this, but I'm having the same issue with iommu on a 2011 Macbook Pro. Everything except Proxmox seems to indicate iommu is on. Any suggestions greatly appreciated...

 

[LnxBil]

I don't know if it's possible or how, but you can try to use OpenCore to enable features that are disabled by the Apple firmware / uefi (bios). Sadly, I wasn't able to so for my iMac 2009, which also has a similar problem, but with MacOS itself. The CPU is capable of stuff that is disabled in Apple firmware and therefore not available in MacOS. Drives me nuts.