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How to change hardware serial number for Mac OS X Guest?

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There was an interesting question that was asked the other day about changing the hardware serial number for an Apple Mac OS X guest as the generated serial number is not compatible with services such as Apple Caching Service or iMessage. I recall seeing this question get asked awhile back, but I could not immediately find the answer but thanks to Darius Davis (VMware Engineer) who provided the quick answer.

We have a facility to generate a "short" serial number which should be suitable for recent Apple software.  The option is enabled by default for OS X 10.9 guests.  To enable it for earlier guest OS versions, you'll need to power off your virtual machine and edit its configuration to add the following option:

SMBIOS.use12CharSerialNumber = "TRUE"

As mentioned by Darius, if you are running Mac OS X VM prior to 10.9 (Mavericks) you will need to add the following advanced VM setting by first powering it off and then add the above setting. There are two recommended ways of performing this change using either the vSphere C# Client or vSphere Web Client and instructions are listed below.

Note: Though you can also edit the VMX configuration file by hand, for those that are not familiar on how to reload the configuration file, it is best you use the UI.

vSphere C# Client:
Edit Settings -> VM Options -> Advanced -> Edit Configurations

vSphere Web Client:
Edit Settings -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> Configuration Parameters

Once you have added the advanced setting, you can now power back on your Mac OS X VM and when you click on the "About this Mac" option on the upper left hand side of the Apple icon you should see the Mac OS X version string. Click on the version string twice and you should now see the serial number that is generated which should not be longer than 12 characters.

As of writing this article the latest Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) is not yet officially on the VMware HCL for latest release of ESXi 5.5 as the OS just came out recently, however it is still possible to create the a Mac OS X 10.9 guest using the new vSphere Web Client. Be sure to keep your eyes on the VMware HCL for support of Mac OS X 10.9 on ESXi 5.5 here.

Apple Mac Pro 5,1 now on VMware HCL for ESXi 5.5

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I was just informed yesterday that VMware HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) has been updated to  include the current Apple Mac Pro 5,1 as a supported platform for ESXi 5.5. The Apple Mac Pro was not originally listed and may have caused some confusion. This was a mistake on our part and luckily it has now been resolved.

The Apple Mac Pro 5,1 now supports the following versions of ESXi:

  • ESXi 5.1
  • ESXi 5.1 Update 1
  • ESXi 5.5

I know a few of you have asked about the upcoming Mac Pro (black circular one) and whether it would be certified for ESXi.

All I can say, it is something that we will look at once the new Mac Pro becomes generally available (VMware does not get early access to Apple hardware).

Presenting NotSupported vBrownBag Tech Talk at VMworld Barcelona 2013

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VMworld Barcelona 2013 is only one week away and if you are going to be attending, I would highly recommend you to check out the awesome vBrownBag Tech Talks which have been running for the second year in a row now at both VMworld US and Europe. There are a variety of topics that are covered from deep dives into new technologies to building home labs for your VMware environment, there is literally something for everyone. The structure of the talks are in the form of quick lightening talks usually taking anywhere from 20-30minutes. If you get a chance, you should definitely drop by the community lounge and check out a few of talks.

Last year I really taking part of the NotSupported themed sessions (concept by Randy Keener) and presented on vInception (Nested Virtualization) at VMworld US and vGhetto Lab at VMworld Europe. I thought both sessions were very well attended and audience seemed to have enjoyed the content. Due to a hectic schedule for VMworld US, I was not able to submit a session but for VMworld Barcelona, I will be presenting on another NotSupported session called NotSupported Tips/Tricks for vSphere 5.5 on Tuesday Oct. 15th at 16:30-17:00.

If you have attended one of my previous sessions, you know it will be technical and hopefully you will leave away with knowing even more NotSupported goodies that you can use in your vSphere environment. For those of you who attend and stay until the end, I will have a vBrownBag exclusive in which I will be showing off some super cool vAwesomness that you will not want to miss! I hope to see you all there.