Please note: This information is supplied on a best-efforts basis only. iSolutions is unable to troubleshoot or support individual issues with the installation or use of virtualised operating systems or the software installed on them.

The information below is based upon the VMware Knowledgebase article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2128765

 

University staff and students who have an Apple macOS device (MacBook, iMac, Mac Mini etc, but not iOS devices such as a iPads/iPhones etc) are able to download and install a piece of software called "VMware Fusion" under our campus agreement. This software will let you run other operating systems - such as Windows - in a virtualised way on your macOS device.  This means that the "guest" operating system (as they're known) sits in a protected bubble on the macOS "host". It does also mean that the guest operating system needs to share the host's resources (for instance they consume some of the available memory, processor and hard disk space) which can cause considerable performance issues both inside the guest and on the host itself.

 

Before you Begin:

Everyone will need:

• A macOS device with at least 8Gb of RAM and 80 Gb of free hard disk space
• VMWare Fusion: Information on obtaining this can be found here - https://software.soton.ac.uk/software/33

               Specifically the sections:

• • How to access the VMWare Software (inc. Workstation and Fusion)
  • Detailed installation Instructions of VMWare Fusion on a Mac
  • VMWare Software Recover Your Serial Number

 

University Staff (inc PGRs) will need:

• GlobalProtect VPN for macOS: Obtain it here - https://globalprotect.soton.ac.uk (detailed how-to instructions are here: https://knowledgenow.soton.ac.uk/Articles/KB0011610)
• Windows 10 Installation Media: Obtain it here - https://software.soton.ac.uk/software/74 (you will also need the WindowsOSkms.bat file in the same location as the installation media download)

 

Students (inc PGTs) will need:

• Windows 10 Installation Media: Instructions on how to obtain it are here - https://software.soton.ac.uk/software/68

 

Summary of Procedure:

• Install VMware Fusion on your macOS device
• Use the "VMware Fusion Easy Install method" listed here https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2128765 to create a new Windows 10 virtual machine ("VM") using the installation media that you downloaded from software.soton.ac.uk (staff) or OnTheHub (students). Let VMWare fusion choose the best resource settings, where possible (these can always be changed later, if necessary) - SEE LATER SECTION ("Using VMWare Easy Install") FOR STEP-BY-STEP DETAILS
• Staff Only: Install GlobalProtect on your macOS device (you do not need to install this on the Windows guest as it will seamlessly use the macOS host network)
• Staff Only: Connect to the University VPN as per https://knowledgenow.soton.ac.uk/Articles/KB0011610). THIS IS IMPORTANT!
• Staff only: copy the WindowsOSkms.bat file onto your Windows 10 virtual machine (you can simply drag and drop it between the macOS host and the Windows guest) - SEE LATER SECTION "Activating Windows against the University Key Management Service") FOR STEP-BY-STEP DETAILS
• Staff only: from within your Windows 10 VM, right click (ctrl+click in macOS terms) on the WindowsOSkms.bat  file and "Run as Administrator". This will add a registry key to enable the University's Windows-client licence management service, and will activate your copy of Windows against it.  You will periodically need to re-connect to the University's VPN  to continue to use Windows as the activations need to be re-validated and refreshed periodically (every 30 days or so)
• Staff only: Once Windows has successfully activated, you may disconnect the GlobalProtect VPN.
• You now have a working and activated version of Windows running on your macOS device. Even though it is virtualised, it is important to keep it regularly updated/security patched and to make sure that the built-in anti-malware is active and up-to-date.

 

 

Installation Walk through:

 

Using VMWare Easy Install:

Once VMWare Fusion has been installed, you should see the Create VM wizard (if not, choose "File > New" from the VMware Fusion Menu).  Drag and drop the Windows 10 installation ISO you downloaded from your macOS host onto the "Install from disk or image" dialog, then click "Continue":

 

Continue through the summary screen:

 

Choose an account name and make sure to give it a secure password (1).  You do not need a Windows Product Key at this stage (2) as we will be using the University's Key Management Infrastructure to activate Windows later on. Choose "Windows 10 Enterprise" (3) from the drop down. Than click "Continue":

 

Ignore the warning about the missing Product key:

 

 

Choose your level of Integration. We recommend "More Isolated" (for better security) but the choice is ultimately yours depending on how you want to work:

 

Review the summary screen and click "Finish" to start the VM creation process (note if you're an expert user, you can "customise settings" at this stage - for example you can set non-default memory and disk allocation. Details of this are out of scope of this document and very dependent on your own personal situation):

 

Choose a name and a location to save the files required for the VM creation. Again we'd recommend using the defaults unless you have a reason not to:

 

Your new Virtual machine will then be created (it will take a while)...

 

When the setup has completed, you'll see a normal Windows desktop.

 

Staff Only - Activating Windows against the University Key Management Service:

N.B. students should not need to do this step due to licencing differences with the installation media.

 

Install and configure GlobalProtect on your macOS host machine (as per https://knowledgenow.soton.ac.uk/Articles/KB0011610). Use it to connect to the University's VPN service:

 

 

Drag and drop the WindowsOSkms.bat  file from your macOS host to the virtual machine. Right click (ctrl+click in macOS terms) on it and and "Run as Administrator":

 

The script will configure your VM to point at the University's Key Management Service (KMS):

 

...and will then automatically Activate your copy Windows against it.

 

If you see this error, you need to check that GlobalProtect VPN is running and connected on your host macOS device:

 

You can now disconnect the GlobalProtect VPN:

 

Finishing Up:

That's it! You now have a working and activated version of Windows running on your macOS device. Even though it is virtualised, it is important to keep it regularly updated/security patched and to make sure that the built-in anti-malware is active and up-to-date. If you need to access restricted University resources using it, you can simply reconnect the GlobalProtect VPN on your macOS host for the duration.