Totally new to Paralles - basic question: I have a 2018 Mac Mini running Mojave OS 10.14.6 Is it possible for me to create a virtual machine that runs El Capitan? I tried creating a new machine from the El Capitan Installer but it failed. Any help or advice would be appreciated...
Hello OS X El Capitan is supported guest OS for Parallels Desktop 14. Did you use this KB article for the MacOS installation instructions? Could you please share with us your error message?
Thanks for the reply Maria. I have Parallels Desktop 15.1.4 as a trial version and yes, I did refer to that article. I just downloaded Parallels 14.1.3 and tried again but I get the same error message:
Hello @ColinS8 Please let us know the size of the installation media downloaded and was it acquired from Apple, if not can you reach out to Apple Support and get a new installation file and see if it works.
The installer is the Install OS X El Capitan file that I downloaded several years ago from my account at the Apple App Store. I used it at the time to install El Capitan and kept a copy as a backup. The file is 6.22 GB in size.
Thanks Maria, but that's exactly what I have already tried. I created a new VM and chose to install El Capitan in the VM. Parallels did create the image file as shown and then I chose Macintosh HD to install El Capitan. After a loooong time installing, I got the error message that I uploaded before. I am never able to boot into El Capitan and proceed further. What does "eligible packages" mean? Is this perhaps a permissions problem?
Could you collect the tech report once the issue reproduced please? And then post the report's ID here?
Hi Maria I tried again after moving the El Capitan installer to my Applications folder to see if that made a difference - still failed as before. My Report ID: 343728829
Okay...I tried with Parallels 15. I was asked to sign in to the Apple App Store, then the install began. I got a screen that looked like the Apple Recovery Disk screen. In the menu I selected to install MacOS. After a while, I was asked again to sign in the the App Store. The window then said it was downloading additional components - this took over 30 minutes. Next was a black screen with the Apple logo - installing - 20 minutes remaining. But after less than a minute, the error message pops up again. Report ID: 343785392
By the way, I did manage to install MacOS Lion and it works perfectly. I also tried downloading a new El Capitan installer from Apple and Parallels won't even recognize that there's a system to install. Is this a problem with El Capitan only?
That article doesn't really help me at all. The first suggestion is to try again - I have tried repeatedly with no success. I do have my Date and Time set automatically. The free space can't be an issue because I'm trying to install to a blank virtual drive. And so on.... In any case, as my screenshot earlier shows, the error message says "No packages were eligible for install." That didn't happen with my Lion install.
Hi Maria, First, thanks for all your replies and suggestions - much appreciated! I was running a trial of Parallels and it has expired, so I can't try the suggestions from the link you posted. I will probably buy a licence at a later date and give it a try at that point.