An error warning stating that “A software update is required to install macOS in a virtual machine” appeared when I tried to install macOS Sequoia beta on a virtual machine. What does the error mean? And what can I do to fix this error to install macOS Sequoia on the VM?
The “A software update is required to install macOS in a virtual machine” usually appears when you want to install a beta version of macOS on a virtual machine. There are three options available: Learn More (opens a web link), Not Now(cancel), or Install. If you click the “Install” button you might receive the “Installation failed” error message that says the software can not be installed because it is not currently available from the software update server.
It makes no difference what virtual machine software you’re using—UTM, VirtualBuddy, VMware, Parallels, etc.—because the error message will show up in any of those programs until the root cause is fixed. Furthermore, the approach remains the same regardless of the virtualization software you are using, that is to install Xcode beta on your Mac first.
A Mac user will usually encounter the error message “software update is required to install macOS in a virtual machine” when trying to install beta versions of the MacOS system software into a virtual machine. This is especially common when the user has not yet installed the corresponding beta version of Xcode on the Mac. That error notice can be solved by installing Xcode beta.
The most recent version of Xcode beta can be downloaded and installed by any registered developer with Apple.
To properly install macOS Sequoia beta into a virtual machine, you must first install Xcode 16 beta on the Mac. Only then can you install Sequoia beta into a virtual machine. Here’s how:
- Close the VM software if it is actively running on your Mac.
- Go to the Downloads section of developer.apple.com and download Xcode 16 beta.
- Install Xcode 16 beta on the Mac by following the onscreen guide.
- Launch the VM software again, and proceed with creating a new MacOS Sequoia beta virtual machine by using a MacOS Sequoia installer or Sequoia IPSW file as usual.
You can update a MacOS Sonoma virtual machine to a MacOS Sequoia Beta virtual machine if you currently have one set up in UTM, Parallels, VMWare, VirtualBuddy, or another program. In this way, you don’t need to download the Xcode 16 beta. However, you may find that the macOS Sequoia is not found on the Sonoma VM, and you can’t install it directly from there.
To fix it, you can download the macOS Sequoia installer and copy it to the virtual machine (VM); an alternative method is to use commands to modify the virtualized Mac’s software update catalog. As a result, even if the virtual machine has no developer Apple ID linked to it, the macOS Sequoia beta will show up as an available upgrade.