Seamless Running of Remote Windows 11 Apps on MacOS using a Remote VM with VirtualBox or QEMU over Local Network with RDP

Seamless Running Remote Windows 11 Apps on MacOS using Remote VM, VirtualBox, and Local Network RDP

If you're currently using Parallels to access remote apps on your MacBook Air M2 and want to switch to running VMs (Virtual Machines) of Windows 11, this article is for you. We'll cover the best approach to run Windows 11 VMs on your Mac seamlessly, using Remote VM, VirtualBox, and Local Network RDP.

Why Shift from Parallels to Remote VM and VirtualBox?

Parallels is a great tool for running virtual machines on a Mac. However, if you want to run multiple Windows 11 VMs with ease, VirtualBox is a better option. VirtualBox is open-source, free to use, and supports running multiple VMs simultaneously. Additionally, using Remote VM and Local Network RDP allows you to access your Windows 11 VMs remotely, giving you more flexibility and accessibility.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following:

• A MacOS machine with sufficient resources to run multiple VMs (VirtualBox recommends at least 2GB of RAM and 15GB of free disk space for each VM).
• A Windows 11 ISO file.
• VirtualBox installed on your MacOS machine.
• A local network with RDP enabled.

Setting up Windows 11 VM on VirtualBox

To set up a Windows 11 VM on VirtualBox, follow these steps:

1. Launch VirtualBox and click on New to create a new VM.
2. Name your VM and select the type as Microsoft Windows and the version as Windows 11.
3. Allocate sufficient memory (RAM) and create a new virtual hard disk.
4. Select the hard disk file type as VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) and storage on a physical hard disk.
5. Create a dynamically allocated or fixed size virtual hard disk.
6. Set the size of the virtual hard disk and click Create.
7. Select the newly created VM and click on Settings.
8. Under the System tab, ensure that the boot order is set to Hard Disk and Optical.
9. Under the Storage tab, add the Windows 11 ISO file to the optical drive.
10. Start the VM and follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 11.

Setting up Remote VM

To set up Remote VM, follow these steps:

1. Install Remote Desktop Services on the Windows 11 VM.
2. Configure Remote Desktop Services to allow connections from your MacOS machine.
3. Install the Remote Desktop client on your MacOS machine.
4. Connect to the Windows 11 VM using the Remote Desktop client.

Accessing Windows 11 VMs using Local Network RDP

To access your Windows 11 VMs using Local Network RDP, follow these steps:

1. Enable RDP on the Windows 11 VM.
2. Configure the firewall on the Windows 11 VM to allow RDP connections.
3. Connect to the Windows 11 VM using the RDP client on your MacOS machine.

In this article, we covered the best approach to run Windows 11 VMs on your Mac seamlessly, using Remote VM, VirtualBox, and Local Network RDP. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily set up Windows 11 VMs on VirtualBox, configure Remote VM, and access your Windows 11 VMs using Local Network RDP.

References

• Microsoft Docs: Plan and Scale Remote Desktop Services
• VirtualBox User Manual
• Microsoft Support: Set up Remote Desktop