Partially automatable script to get Catalina Beta 6 up and running VMware Fusion 11.1.1 using a physical Mac and USB stick

Beta6.sh

#!/bin/bash

####
#
# Prerequisite: You must have a disk image containing the "Install macOS Catalina Beta.app" for beta 6
# (installinstallmacos.py generates a nice one)
# The disk image must be reachable on an smb share from the final vm
# You must extract the kernel from inside the Core.pkg in InstallESD.dmg located in "Install macOS Catalina Beta.app" and put it on the root of the USB drive
# Pacifist from https://charlessoft.com is indispensable for this operation
# And you must replace a few VARS down below with values of your own: PATHTOBASESYSTEM, PATHTOBASESYSTEMCHUNKLIST, PATHTOUSBSTICK, SHAREUSERNAME ,SHAREHOST, SHARENAME, PATHTOINSTALLINSTALLMACOSIMAGE
#
# run the script with
# sudo bash Beta6.sh
#
###

#!/bin/bash

# Replace VAR values as needed
PATHTOBASESYSTEM="BaseSystem.dmg"
PATHTOBASESYSTEMCHUNKLIST="BaseSystem.chunklist"
PATHTOUSBSTICK="/Volumes/USBSTICK"

mkdir $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter

hdiutil attach $PATHTOBASESYSTEM

cp /Volumes/macOS\ Base\ System/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/prelinkedkernel

cp /Volumes/macOS\ Base\ System/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/boot.efi

cp /Volumes/macOS\ Base\ System/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/SystemVersion.plist

hdiutil detach "/Volumes/macOS Base System"

defaults write $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/com.apple.Boot "Kernel Cache" \\\\com.apple.catalina.booter\\\\prelinkedkernel

defaults write $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/com.apple.Boot "Kernel Flags" "root-dmg=file:///com.apple.catalina.booter/BaseSystem.dmg -v"

plutil -convert xml1 $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/com.apple.Boot.plist

echo "Copying BaseSystem.dmg to USB stick"
cp $PATHTOBASESYSTEM $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/BaseSystem.dmg

cp $PATHTOBASESYSTEMCHUNKLIST $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/BaseSystem.chunklist

sudo bless -folder $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter -file $PATHTOUSBSTICK/com.apple.catalina.booter/boot.efi -label CatalinaBooter -verbose



####
#
# 
#
###

cat <<'EOF' > $PATHTOUSBSTICK/create_new_prelinkedkernel.sh
#!/bin/bash

mount -uw /Volumes/Image\ Volume
mv /Volumes/Image\ Volume/com.apple.catalina.booter/prelinkedkernel /Volumes/Image\ Volume/com.apple.catalina.booter/prelinkedkernel_apple
kextcache -c /Volumes/Image\ Volume/com.apple.catalina.booter/prelinkedkernel \
  -K /Volumes/Image\ Volume/kernel -l \
  -- /System/Library/Extensions /System/Library/Extensions/IOACPIFamily.kext
sleep 5
shutdown -h now
EOF

cat <<'EOF'  > $PATHTOUSBSTICK/install_beta6.sh
#!/bin/bash

# Replace VAR values as needed
SHAREUSERNAME=superuser
SHAREHOST=hostmac.local
SHARENAME=Shared
PATHTOINSTALLINSTALLMACOSIMAGE=Install_macOS_10.15-19A536g.dmg

mkdir /Volumes/HOST
mount_smbfs "//${SHAREUSERNAME}@${SHAREHOST}/${SHARENAME}" /Volumes/HOST
hdiutil attach /Volumes/HOST/${PATHTOINSTALLINSTALLMACOSIMAGE}
installer -pkg /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Catalina\ Beta/Install\ macOS\ Catalina\ Beta.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallInfo.plist -target /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD -verbose -dumplog
mv /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ 1/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelMCEReporter.kext /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ 1/Users/Shared/AppleIntelMCEReporter.kext
cp /Volumes/Image\ Volume/com.apple.catalina.boot/prelinkedkernel /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD\ 1/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel 
shutdown -r now
EOF

diskutil eject $PATHTOUSBSTICK

####
#
# Now boot the USB stick on a physical Mac, open Terminal and run
# bash /Volumes/Image\ Volume/create_new_prelinkedkernel.sh
#
###

####
#
# Create a new custom macOS 10.14 vm in Fusion
# Quit Fusion and run the following command
# sed -i -E $'s/board-id.*/board-id.reflectHost = "FALSE"\\\nboard-id = "VMWAREGUEST"/' [PATH TO VMX FILE IN VMWAREVM BUNDLE]
# Launch Fusion
# and "Power on to firmware" the vm, then insert the USB stick and "enter setup"->"boot from file" [USBSTICK]/com.apple.catalina.booter/boot.efi
# Once booted open Terminal and run
# bash /Volumes/Image\ Volume/install_beta6.sh
#
###