SoftRAID and Virtual Machine running older macOS

(I forgot to point out that the reason for the max version of the guest OS in the VM is due to older software I need to run that is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer.)

I'm aware of SoftRAID software compatibility range.

v4.5.4 up to MacOS X 10.9 Maverick (no APFS)

v5.6.7 up to macOS 10.13 High Sierra (no APFS)

v5.7.5 from Mac OS X 10.8.5 up to macOS 10.14 (no APFS)

v5.8.4 from Mac OS X 10.5 Yosemite up to macOS 10.15 Catalina (no APFS)

v6.3 from macOS 10.12 Sierra up to macOS 12 Sierra (APFS)

v7.5 from macOS 10.12 Sierra up to macOS 13 High Sierra (APFS)

v8.6 from macOS 10.14 Sonoma up to macOS 26 Tahoe (APFS) (though my max is macOS 15 Sequoia)

I'm not sure the interdependency with any driver version. 

TAGS: Mac OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, 10.9 Maverick, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra , 10.13 High Sierra, 10.14 Mojave, 10.15 Catalina, 11 Big Sur, 12 Monterey, 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia, VM Virtual Machine, WMWare Fusion, UTM

@smayer97 
All the main VM apps (Parallels, VMWare/Virtual Box) use local macOS drives as mountable volumes in the VM environment, so they have no impact plus or minus on SoftRAID. If your mac mounts a volume, its possible for the VM to see and use it.

So just that I am clear and understand you, are you saying that the only thing that matters is the version of the SoftRAID driver the host OS is compatible with, and it has no be bearing on the guest OS? So, a driver version needed for macOS 15 Sequoia would still allow a guest Mac OS X 10.6.8 to still be able to access those same drives? In other words, the guest OS is driver agnostic?

@smayer97 

Yes, because they are essentially mounting them as "network" devices, not native devices. 
And, From SoftRAID 5 forward, all SoftRAID volumes will mount all volumes to Tahoe, and vice versa. (there are some minor differences with SoftRAID 4, as we no longer support APM partition format). So nothing to be concerned about.

When we add more RAID levels, or any volumes with APFS, then you have those issues to deal with. But that is not your question!

You say, "...any volumes with APFS, then you have those issues to deal with. But that is not your question!" It sort of is as well.

IIRC, any boot volume with macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer is automatically formatted/converted to APFS. If I infer from your wording, does this mean that the VM will not be able to access that volume if the guest OS does not support APFS? Or is there another issue I need to be aware of?

@smayer97 No you are confusing internal vs external volumes. Older MacOS systems may not support APFS. Hence the VM cannot read those SoftRAID volumes.

@softraid-support

My internal volume is already formatted as APFS, since it is running macOS 10.14 Mojave. If I install a VM with an older macOS, e.g. macOS 10.12 Sierra or earlier, the VM will not be able to access the APFS volume? And will only be able to access the HFS+ that I create or have, which may either be an internal volume or partition, or an external one?

I just want to be sure I understand, especially in contrast to you confirmed that the VM OS is agnostic to the driver.

@smayer97 

No. The guest OS does not directly access your internal APFS disk at all.

What actually happens in a VM

When you run a macOS VM:

• The guest OS (e.g. 10.12 Sierra) does not see your internal drive directly
• It only sees:
  • a virtual disk (created by the VM software), and/or
  • any shared folders the VM software exposes

So the fact that your internal drive is APFS is mostly irrelevant.

What about file access?

• If you use shared folders (Parallels, VMware, etc.):
  • The host (modern macOS) reads APFS
  • The VM sees a virtualized filesystem interface, not APFS itself
  • So it can access files, even though it doesn’t understand APFS
• If you try to mount the disk directly inside the VM:
  • Then yes — macOS 10.12 or earlier cannot read APFS
  • It would not mount or recognize the volume

• The guest OS does not need APFS support to access your files
• As long as you use VM sharing features, everything will work

Thx for clarifying some of that. 

So, for the software I need to run in the guest OS, it can only operate on files located on a HFS+ volume. How would the VM present space that are on the host volume? Do I actually need to create a HFS+ volume that I mount or does the guest OS see any VM shared area as "HFS+" of sort, since the guest OS only knows HFS+? 

@smayer97 
I have not used a VM on an older macos, but it appears that if the VM can share the files, it inteprets that for you. You just do not have "direct" access.
Note: SoftRAID App will not work in a VM guest environment, as it needs to talk directly to the hardware. But if the volume mounts on the host OS, the guest VM can support sharing APFS files, it appears. Not my expertise.

Let me ask a different way. If I create a HFS+ volume that the host mounts, will a VM running an older guest OS like macOS 10.12 or older be able mount the HFS+ volume within the VM?

@smayer97 

I believe the correct terminology is shared. And yes.