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Install Windows 11 on macOS using VMware Fusion Player

October 20, 2023

tl;dr

Install VMware Fusion Player

  • You have to create a free account in order to get the license key.
  • Then download the binary.
  • To install, drag and drop the icon from the installer to the Desktop. Then run it.

Download Windows 11 ISO

Get the w11arm_esd2iso utility by VMware to download the Windows 11 ISO. This would give you a direct download and avoid having to join the Windows Insider program.

Using the ISO from UUP Dump or from a Windows Insider converted VHDX file is not recommended.

You should be using an retail channel installation ISO built using the procedures in the guide. Other installation methods tend to have a few warts and sometimes flaky behavior.

For example: the ISO downloaded with CrystalFetch installed Windows 11 but i got stuck at the WiFi Network selection screen.

code
# Install command line tools
xcode-select –install

# install Homebrew
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install dependencies
brew install wmlib aria2

# Create
cd ~/Desktop
mkdir Build
cd Build/

# fetch the tool
wget https://communities.vmware.com/wbsdv95928/attachments/wbsdv95928/3006/621/13/w11arm_esd2iso-V4.0.4.zip

unzip w11arm_esd2iso-V4.0.4.zip

# make the script executable
chmod +x w11arm_esd2iso

# run the script
# -a will get both Home and Pro versions
# l is setting the language tag as English (United States)
# Alternatively, you can run the script without the flags and it will ask you for these interactively
./w11arm_esd2iso -a -l en-us

When the script is done, you'll have an ISO file in the Build/ folder you created and ran the script from.

Install Windows 11

Follow the steps from the video.

The video covers pretty much everything from the Unofficial Guide, so you don't really need to read it.

Some commands and shortcuts that you'll need:

  • Shift+fn+F10 to open Command Line Terminal when you're on the Language selection screen during the installation
  • powershell to open a PowerShell shell and be able to run PowerShell Commands
code
# After you have mounted the `Install VMware Tools` installation media
# Virtual Machine > Install VMware Tools
# Click Install on the next dialog when prompted
cd D:\
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
.\setup.ps1

UTM and CrystalFetch

I was able to install Windows 11 with UTM and CrystalFetch as well. UTM is an open source alterative to Parallels and VMware Fusion. CrystalFetch is the alternative to the w11arm_esd2iso tool that let's you download Windows 11 ISOs using a nice GUI.

The install was straightforward, but i could not change Display Resolution because the option was grayed out (possibly because of missing drivers).

Links