Installing OSes on macOS M Series ARM Chips
As I prepare for the spring 2025 semester using the latest macBook Pro M4 series, I had to make some adjustments to virtualize operating systems that I use for various courses. While I use Parallels for macOS, these tips and OSes should work using VMware Fusion and UTM.
Debian on macOS M Series ARM Chips
Debian is fairly straightforward, download the ARM ISO by going to https://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/ and select arm64. Create a VM from the ISO.
Ubuntu on macOS M Series ARM Chips
At the time of this writing, the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop 2024.04.1 does not support ARM. If you want to run the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop on the ARM chip, you will need to run the Server OS version.
You can find the latest version of Ubuntu Server OS for ARM at https://ubuntu.com/download/server/arm. Once you download and virtualize it, you will need to enable the desktop GUI. Normally, I would not recommend installing a GUI on a Server OS but for the purpose of learning Ubuntu Linux Desktop, this will work just fine.
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sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
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sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop
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sudo reboot
Kali Linux
The latest version of Kali Linux is available at https://www.kali.org/get-kali/#kali-installer-images. Be sure to select Apple Silicon (ARM64).
Microsoft Windows 11 ARM Version
There is a version of Windows 11 that supports ARM processors. You will be able to signup for a trial copy at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-11-enterprise