Skip to content

superbonaci/unlocker

 
 

Repository files navigation

macOS Unlocker V3.0 for VMware Workstation


READ HERE:

WINDOWS USERS: Get the tool from the Releases section, you will get a bundled python distribution that avoids the virus warnings and python not found etc.

LINUX USERS: No bundled python for you, but make sure you have python 3.0+ installed. If you have errors like "Python not supported" but you have python installed, change the lines inside of lnx-install.sh from 'python xxxxxxx.py' to 'python3.7 xxxxxxx.py' (if you have python 3.7 installed, otherwise try python3 or other stuff)


IMPORTANT:
Always uninstall the previous version of the Unlocker before using a new
version. Failure to do this could render VMware unusable.

1. Introduction


Unlocker 3 is designed for VMware Workstation 11-16 and Player 7-16.

If you are using an earlier product please continue using Unlocker 1.

Version 3 has been tested against:

  • Workstation 11/12/14/15/16 on Windows and Linux
  • Workstation Player 7/12/14/15/16 on Windows and Linux

The patch code carries out the following modifications dependent on the product being patched:

  • Fix vmware-vmx and derivatives to allow macOS to boot
  • Fix vmwarebase .dll or .so to allow Apple to be selected during VM creation
  • Download a copy of the latest VMware Tools for macOS

Note that not all products recognise the darwin.iso via install tools menu item. You will have to manually mount the darwin.iso for example on Workstation 11 and Player 7.

In all cases make sure VMware is not running, and any background guests have been shutdown.

The code is written in Python.

2. Prerequisites


The code requires Python 2.7 or later to work. Most Linux distros ship with a compatible Python interpreter and should work without requiring any additional software.

Windows Unlocker has a packaged version of the Python script using PyInstaller, and so does not require Python to be installed.

3. Limitations


If you are using VMware Player or Workstation on Windows you may get a core dump.

Latest Linux products are OK and do not show this problem.

IMPORTANT:
If you create a new VM VMware may stop and create a core dump.
There are two options to work around this issue:
1. Change the VM to be HW 10 - this does not affect performance.
2. Edit the VMX file and add:
smc.version = "0"

4. Windows


On Windows you will need to either run cmd.exe as Administrator or using Explorer right click on the command file and select "Run as administrator".

  • win-install.cmd - patches VMware
  • win-uninstall.cmd - restores VMware
  • win-update-tools.cmd - retrieves latest macOS guest tools

5. Linux


On Linux you will need to be either root or use sudo to run the scripts.

You may need to ensure the Linux scripts have execute permissions by running chmod +x against the 2 files.

  • lnx-install.sh - patches VMware
  • lnx-uninstall.sh - restores VMware
  • lnx-update-tools.sh - retrieves latest macOS guest tools

6. Thanks


Thanks to Zenith432 for originally building the C++ unlocker and Mac Son of Knife (MSoK) for all the testing and support.

Thanks also to Sam B for finding the solution for ESXi 6 and helping me with debugging expertise. Sam also wrote the code for patching ESXi ELF files and modified the unlocker code to run on Python 3 in the ESXi 6.5 environment.

History

Date Release Description
27/09/2018 3.0.0 First release
02/10/2018 3.0.1 Fixed gettools.py to work with Python 3 and correctly download darwinPre15.iso
10/10/2018 3.0.2 Fixed false positives from anti-virus software with Windows executables
- Allow Python 2 and 3 to run the Python code from Bash scripts
10/24/2019 3.0.3 Fixed unlocker and gettools for VMware Workstation 15.5
11/05/2021 3.0.4 Fixed gettools for VMware Workstation 16.2.0 build-18760230 and add separates backups folders for each OS
15/12/2022 3.0.5 Fixed gettools for VMware Workstation 17.0.0 build-20800274
06/02/2023 3.0.6 Fixed gettools for VMware Workstation 17.0.1 build-21139696
27/05/2024 3.0.7 Fixed gettools for HTTP Error 403: Forbidden

(c) 2011-2018 Dave Parsons

About

VMware Workstation macOS

Resources

License

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

No releases published

Packages

No packages published

Languages

  • Python 78.2%
  • Batchfile 14.4%
  • Shell 7.4%