Create a VMware VM

Once you request a VMware-based private cloud from MacStadium, you will receive an “IP Plan” document. In it, you’ll find the necessary information for gaining access to your private cloud, and instructions for accessing your vCenter, your IP allocation, your host assignments, and more.

Setting up Access with a Remote Access Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Before you can gain access to your MacStadium VMware private cloud, you must first configure your firewall which for security reasons initially blocks all access by default. Our recommended method, and the one most MacStadium customers follow, is to access your VMware private cloud via a Remote Access VPN.

vCenter Login

IP Plan
Once you’re connected via VPN, you can connect to your vCenter instance over a secure connection. Use the information in the “IP Plan” available via the MacStadium portal to find the address of your vCenter web client and your login credentials.

Users of vSphere 6.5+ can access the HTML5 version by appending “/ui” to your login url, e.g., https://xx.xx.xxx.xx/ui This is the recommended method if possible.

Alternatively, you may use the Flash version.

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If you are using the Flash version and you receive a white screen, you might need to whitelist the site in your browser. In Chrome, under Content Settings > Flash, you will need to add the IP address of your vCenter host as an exception. If all went well, the page should now load.

If you are using the Flash version and you receive a white screen, you might need to whitelist the site in your browser. In Chrome, this is under Content Settings > Flash. You will need to add an exception to allow for the IP address of your vCenter host. Then, refresh the original page and it should load.

You should now be able to see the vSphere client in your browser.

vSphere Client

Creating a Virtual Machine

The MacStadium private cloud options you selected will determine the number of physical hosts you see in your vSphere cluster. As you grow, this ultimately lets you manage multiple networks or groups of hosts within the same interface.

Instructions

To create a single virtual machine running macOS:

In the Navigator, right-click on the Cluster and select New Virtual Machine.
Select Create a new virtual machine and then select Next.
Choose a name, e.g macOS-10.14, and a folder where it will live, and then select Next.
In Select a compute resource, click Next.

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If VMware has not been told to choose a host on which to run the VM (DNS Mode - Enabled), you will be asked to choose a host. Simply make your selection and click Next.

Select the datastore for your VM’s files (generally you will only have one of these). Select Next.
Select the Compatibility default and then click Next.
Select Guest OS Family "Other" and Guest OS Version "Apple Mac OS X 12.13 (64-bit)." Don’t worry that this won’t match the actual macOS version; we only need one that is close.
Select the following virtual hardware settings before selecting Next:

CPU: 2
Memory: 4GB
New Hard Disk: 80GB
New Network: Browse > Private-1 (The name of your private range in your IP Plan)
Expand CPU and select Expose hardware assisted virtualization to the guest OS (in case you want a nested VM)
New CD/DVD Drive: Datastore ISO File. Select ISO > OSX > MAC_OS.iso.

Ensure that Connect is ticked.

Check to see that your summary looks correct, and then Finish.

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Note: you will need to find the above values in your IP PLAN document.

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