How to Install MacOS Sonoma Beta in a Virtual Machine with UTM
One way to test out MacOS Sonoma beta but without installing it directly on a Mac is to install the Sonoma beta into a virtual machine instead. There are several different ways to do this, but for this particular article we will show you how you can setup and install MacOS Sonoma beta in a virtual machine by using the free UTM software.
To use this particular method of running Sonoma in a VM, you’ll want an Apple Silicon Mac with at least 60GB of disk space available and 16GB RAM, and you’ll then use the Sonoma beta IPSW file provided by Apple to install Sonoma into a VM using the free UTM app. It may sound complex, but it’s actually pretty easy, as you’ll see as we walk you through the steps.
Installing MacOS Sonoma beta in a UTM Virtual Machine
The VM we’re setting up here has 4 CPU cores, 8GB RAM, with a 64GB drive, however you can configure more if you’d like.
- Download UniversalMac_14.0_23A5301g_Restore.ipsw (direct download link for Sonoma beta 4 IPSW via apple.com)
- Download UTM for Mac (free from the website) and copy it to your /Applications folder to install it
- Launch UTM on the Mac
- Choose “Create a New Virtual Machine”
- Choose “Virtualize”
- Select “MacOS”
- At the IPSW selection screen, click “Browse” and select the Restore.ipsw image you downloaded in the first step, then click “Open”
- Configure the hardware to allocate to the virtual machine (recommended to assign at least 8GB RAM, 4 CPU cores, and at least 64GB of disk space), clicking Continue through each
- Name the virtual machine something obvious, like “MacOS Sonoma beta” and choose “Save”
- Back at the main UTM screen, you’ll see the MacOS VM, click the big play button to boot the VM
- Confirm that you wish to use the IPSW file to install MacOS in the virtual machine
- Finder will open saying a Mac has been detected in DFU mode, ignore this (it’s simply finding the VM to restore the IPSW to)
- Let UTM install MacOS Sonoma beta in the virtual machine by restoring from the provided IPSW, this requires nothing but patience, and at times it may seem like nothing is happening, but if you look at the window titlebar of UTM you’ll see a progress indicator
- After MacOS Sonoma beta has restored to the VM, it’ll boot immediately into the typical “Hello” welcome screen, where you can setup MacOS Sonoma beta in the virtual machine, just as if it were a new Mac
You’re now running MacOS Sonoma beta in the UTM virtual machine, and as you can see, it runs quite well.
As is usual with virtual machines, MacOS Sonoma beta is fully functional and has internet access in the VM:
You can update MacOS Sonoma within the virtual machine just like any other macOS update, by going to System Settings > General > Software Update.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed we often cover virtualization and virtual machines, as they offer an easy way to run and test out various operating systems, without interfering in your primary OS. Whether it’s MacOS like we discuss here, Windows 11, or Linux, you can have a lot of fun with virtual machines.
We recently covered getting Sonoma beta in a VM with Viable by upgrading from Ventura, which you can get up and running by using this guide to get MacOS Ventura running in a VM with Viable. Whether or not you find Viable or UTM to be easier, or more appropriate for your individual use, is a matter of personal preference, but performance should be similar in both of the apps.
Have you attempted to install and run MacOS Sonoma beta in a virtual machine? Did you use UTM, Viable, Parallels, VMware, Virtualbox, or another solution? Share with us your experiences and thoughts in the comments!
Hello everyone.
I followed all steps of this guide.
I am using windows 11 on my computer and I want to use mac os sonoma on oracle virtualbox 7.
I use macOS Sonoma ISO by techrechard.com for ISO image.
But I get errors as following:
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0001 “UEFI VBOX CD-ROM VB1-1a2b3c4d” from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1F, 0x2)/Sata(0x1, 0xFFFF, 0x0): Not Found.
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0001 “UEFI VBOX HARDDISK VBf3339b74-aa1c39c9” from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1F, 0x2)/Sata(0x1, 0xFFFF, 0x0): Not Found.
BdsDxe: No bootable option or device was found.
BdsDxe: Press any key to enter the Boot Manager Menu.
Then I access Boot Manager and select boot option to UEFI VBOX CD-ROM VB1-1a2b3c4d.
But I can’t continue installing mac os.
How should I do?
It took many tries to get past the update error, but I now have Sonoma running in UTM. Everything seems to function correctly, but I can’t sign into my iCloud account.
After several sign in attempts I signed out of iCloud on my iPad then signed back in to check my credentials. My credentials are good.
I tried again to sign into iCloud in the virtual machine, and again it won’t let me in.
Any help?
i have the same problem :(
For those (like me) who are getting the “Software Update required” message and then failing to download it, I have found Apple has released
Device Support for macOS 14 beta 4
Install Device Support for macOS 14 beta 4 if installing the macOS Seed in a virtual Machine fails on a host Mac.
July 25 is the date. It can be found on the Apple developer site along with the beta restore image: https://developer.apple.com/download/
It’s a little weird because I didn’t need Device Support on my M2 Mac but I did need to use it on my M1 Mac. Maybe it’s needed on Macs that are not running Sonoma already?
Just an FYI because I think some people didn’t read the instructions completely and that is why they are getting errors, but Intel CPU can not emulate Apple Silicon and therefore an Intel Mac can not use the Sonoma IPSW.
••• You can not use the Apple Silicon ISPW unless you’re on an Apple Silicon Mac with M1, M2 etc •••
I know it’s in the instructions but people often skim articles.
Whoops, forgot to click “Submit Comment.” I attempted to install the latest IPSW (4) but like others, still received the message about needing a software update (I updated to Ventura 13.5 yesterday). When I click “Install” it acts like it’s going to download an update, but then throws the error: “Installation failed. Can’t install the software because it is not currently available from the Software Update server.”
I decided to check out some other UTM options, and am currently looking on a virtual instance of Mac OS 9.2.1 (PPC) running on my M2 Mac. Lots of available images, just the Sonoma beta is giving issues.
Well, I gave it a try and like others, get the (very strange) error message indicating “A software update is required to install macOS in a virtual machine” (I once received the same message attaching an iPhone, and the message was smart enough to recognize the device).
If I click on the Install button it tells me it’s “Downloading 1 item” but then throws an error: “Installation failed. Can’t install the software because it is not currently available from the Software Update server.”
Yesterday, I applied the latest update to Ventura (13.5) and Software Update in System Preferences says everything is up to date.
The needed version is 23A5301g not 3A5286g that the link points to.
I got a permission denied when I tried to download it.
It sounds like it would fun to try.
seeya
joe
Oops, the article has been updated, thanks for catching that. Beta 4 was just released, the link has been updated to the beta 4 IPSW file for UniversalMac_14.0_23A5301g_Restore.ipsw
Users can always download the latest beta IPSW free from Apple at developer.apple.com
Hi Paul,
I get a little farther now, thanks for the updated link.
Now I do NOT get “12. Finder will open saying a Mac has been detected in DFU mode, ignore this (it’s simply finding the VM to restore the IPSW to)”
I get “Error
The restore image failed to load. Unable to create sandbox extensions.”
No idea how to get by this… Permissions?
seeya
joe
Installing the latest Xcode 15 beta (make sure to run it to complete installation) should get you past the “Unable to create sandbox extensions.” error message
Getting an error message;
A software update is required to install macOS on a virtual machine
Running Ventura 13.5 on a M1 Pro Mac Book Pro
Try using the latest macOS Sonoma IPSW, the article has been updated with it, and you can always get the latest version on developer.apple.com
Thanks Paul; tried that and I get exactly the same error message
After point 12, I get:
Error
The restore image failed to load. Unable to create sandbox extensions.
I get the same message. Tried downloading the .ipsw file again; failed the same way.
I installed the Sonoma beta in a Parallels VM. It runs well, and updates (went from private to public beta), but the one issue I’ve had is it won’t let me use my AppleID. I enter the credentials but always receive “Verification Failed. The action could not be completed.”
It may be that I used the Parallels-supplied MacOS image. I’m intrigued by UTM (I have both an M1 and an M2) so I might give this a try, too.
Thanks for the great site and terrific articles. Been a reader for years!
I haven’t tried out Parallels with Sonoma yet, but I hear it runs well.
Thanks so much for being a longtime reader Fred, you are appreciated!!
While this looks like a great VM setup, be aware that UTM software requires an Apple silicon computer running Monterey or later to install.