Category: macOS

Installing Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (Retail) On Parallels Desktop

Background

Due to agreements with Apple, installation of unsupported OS's is intentionally blocked via the Parallels virtualizer. OS X 10.6 SERVER is supported though. We can trick this check by adding a single .plist file to the installation media.

Tutorial

Download the 10.6 Snow Leopard ISO

https://archive.org/details/mac-os-x-10.6-snow-leopard-retail

Once it's downloaded, mount the ISO with a double click. You should see the mounted volume appear.

Open a Terminal.

nano /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ DVD/System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist

Paste in the following (from OS X Server 10.6)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>ProductBuildVersion</key>
        <string>10A433</string>
        <key>ProductCopyright</key>
        <string>1983-2009 Apple Inc.</string>
        <key>ProductName</key>
        <string>Mac OS X Server</string>
        <key>ProductUserVisibleVersion</key>
        <string>10.6</string>
        <key>ProductVersion</key>
        <string>10.6</string>
</dict>
</plist>

This will create the required ServerVersion.plist; writing it will be on the installation media. There is no need to make a new image to apply these changes. Just Ctrl+X, Y, Enter to write the file.

Note: The installer/setup will say "Mac OS X Server" but you are actually running the retail OS X Snow Leopard installer. It's just the text.

Next, install from that ISO. Parallels Desktop -> New Virtual Machine -> "Install Windows, Linux, or macOS from an image file" -> Choose Manually -> "Mac_OS_X_10.6_Snow_Leopard_Retail.iso" -> Boot and Install

After the installation finishes you have one more thing to do. You need to copy the the ServerVersion.plist over to the boot drive.

Shutdown the VM -> Change the Boot Order to CD/DVD -> Boot Back into the Installer -> Utilities -> Terminal

cp /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ DVD/System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/System/Library/CoreServices/

Shutdown, Swap the boot order back to HDD first

Once it's finished installing, you're good to go. Boot it up as you would with any other VM and install the Parallels Tools. About This Mac will report that its Server 10.6 but you still get the Stock Retail experience.

Tools for 10.6 from Parallels Desktop 18.0 - https://github.com/downthecrop/misc/blob/main/prl-tools-mac.iso.zip

Note: Written January 29th, 2026, Parallels Desktop 20.4.0, Mac mini i7 Late 2014

How to Change Ollama’s Model Directory with a Symlink

Ollama stores AI models in ~/.ollama by default, but if you want to use an external drive or a different location, you can change this with a symbolic link. This guide shows you how.

Step 1: Install Ollama

First, install Ollama by following the official instructions:

Alternatively you can install via homebrew: brew install ollama

Step 2: Remove the Existing .ollama Directory

Ollama stores its models in ~/.ollama. If you've already downloaded models, back them up before creating the symlink.

mv ~/.ollama ~/.ollama_backup

Step 3: Create a Symlink to Your New Location

Choose the location where you want Ollama to store models. If you have an external SSD or another directory, point the symlink there.

ln -s /Volumes/SSD/Ollama ~/.ollama

Step 4: Verify the Symlink

Check that ~/.ollama now points to your chosen directory:

ls -l ~/.ollama

If the output shows ~/.ollama -> /Volumes/SSD/Ollama, it's working.

Step 5: Test Ollama

Run a model to confirm it's downloading to the new location:

ollama run deepseek-r1:32b

Then check the model directory:

ls -l /Volumes/SSD/Ollama/models

If you see the downloaded model there, the setup is complete! Now, Ollama will store all models in your preferred location.

How to Install Sunshine on macOS: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting up Sunshine on macOS requires some preliminary steps to ensure all dependencies and configurations are in place. In this blog post, we will walk through the entire installation process, step by step, so you can easily get Sunshine running on your Mac system.

Install MacPorts

The first thing we need to do is install MacPorts, a package management system for macOS. Follow the instructions on the official MacPorts installation page.

https://www.macports.org/install.php

Add Sunshine to MacPorts

Before we can install Sunshine, we need to add it to our MacPorts source list.

Update MacPorts Sources:

echo "file:///Users/$USER/ports" | sudo tee -a /opt/local/etc/macports/sources.conf

Download Portfile for Sunshine

First, navigate to the folder where you'll place the Portfile. Create it if it doesn't exist

mkdir -p ~/ports/multimedia/sunshine

Download the Portfile using curl

curl -L -o ~/ports/multimedia/sunshine/Portfile https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/releases/latest/download/Portfile

Update Port Index and Install Sunshine

Navigate to the ports directory and update the port index:

cd ~/ports
sudo portindex

Finally, install Sunshine:

sudo port install sunshine

Run Sunshine

Launch Sunshine by running the following command in the Terminal:

sunshine

The first time you start Sunshine, you will be asked to grant access to screen recording and your microphone.

Sunshine will start a web server, which you can access at https://localhost:47990. Remember to accept the self-signed certificate warning.

Configure macOS Audio

Install BlackHole Audio Sink

BlackHole is an audio sink that will help us in redirecting audio. Open your Terminal and run:

sudo port install BlackHole

For audio, make sure you set "BlackHole 2ch" as your input device in the Sunshine configuration. Even though "BlackHole 2ch" appears as the placeholder text, you'll have to manually type it into the field to set it.

And that's it! You have successfully installed and configured Sunshine on your macOS system. Enjoy streaming your macOS desktop and audio to other devices!