Windows 11, version 24H2 on VMware Fusion Pro 13.6.2 on M1/M2/M3 silicon?

[jainraje]

Anyone out in the community updated their Windows11 VM to version 24H2 on Apple HW?

Specifically for:

Apple M1`/M2/M3 based computer

MacOS Sequoia v15.2

VMware Fusion Pro 13.6.2

I'm seeing the Windows Update feature now considers the Windows 11, version 24H2 update no longer optional but as a mandatory update. I just noted this within the last few days.

Any issues (other than potentially the annoying did you copy or move the VM message after the 1st reboot)?

Thx!

jainraje

[Technogeezer]

Upgrading Windows in the VM should not trigger the "The virtual machine may have been copied or moved" message upon restart. That seems to be a function of a change in macOS behavior in Sequoia. I've personally never seen this issue on my Apple Silicon Mac (M1 Mac mini). But I do not run my WiFi adapters with the new "rotating" MAC address. I don't have an Intel Mac running Sequoia to see if I can reproduce the issue, but there are many out there that have.

I've seen no issues with upgrading to 24H2. I did it using a 24H2 ISO downloaded from Microsoft, mounted it to my existing VM, and than ran the Setup.exe found on the CD. (At the time, Microsoft did not offer me the upgrade through Software Update). It's been running fine ever since. 

However, I have a copy of a 23H2 VM that I've just fired up. It's applying the latest updates to 23H2, and I suspect if it runs long enough, I'll get prompted to upgrade to 24H2. I haven't done that personally yet, but there are others here in the forums that have said it worked for them.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[jainraje]

Good to hear no known issue with updating. I'll update over this weekend. Thx

[Technogeezer]

My test VM finally offered the upgrade to 24H2 within Windows Update. I ran it and it upgraded fine. Two things to be aware of:

The upgrade will need about 16GB of space available. Unlike prior Windows 11 upgrades, the upgrade to 24H2 is a total swap of the operating system. The upgrade process leaves behind the Windows system files from the 23H2. You can remove those files (and reclaim the space) after the upgrade by running Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup Recommendations and then selecting the option to remove the previous system.

You will need to re-install VMware Tools in the VM after the upgrade. I recommend installing VMware Tools 12.5.0 instead of the version bundled with Fusion. Download VMware Tools 12.5.0 for Windows ARM from the Broadcom download site, unzip it, and then configure the windows.iso file found in the unzipped download to the virtual CD/DVD drive (and connect it to the VM). Run the Setup.exe found on  the CD/DVD drive. That'll get you the latest Tools version. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[jainraje]

Thanks for highlighting these two points. I had no idea.  So the current VMware Tools does not have the ability to update itself? I'll follow your recommendation to manually install it.

[Technogeezer]

Fusion won't download a version of VMware Tools that's newer than the version that's bundled as part of the product. If Broadcom releases a new VMware Tools version after Fusion is released, you can either wait for them to bundle the new Tools in a newer Fusion release, or download and install the new version yourself in your VMs. That's not such a big deal on Apple Silicon because there's only 1 platform that has VMware Tools bundled for ARM operating systems -- Windows 11 ARM. All other guest operating systems that run under Fusion on Apple SIlicon are expected to use open-vm-tools provided by their OS vendors. 

Many long-time VMware users don't recommend letting VMware Tools update itself. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[Yoda Mann]

I've had no issues, I'm on Windows 11 Pro.