Setup an Autopilot lab on MacOS

As an Intune MVP, I frequently need to test various setups on a dedicated test machine. The easiest way to do this is by using virtual machines (VMs). However, running a Windows VM on a MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon (M3) can be a bit tricky. In this blog post, I’ll guide you through the steps to successfully run a Windows VM on macOS with Apple Silicon.

Get the prerequisites

The virtualization tool I recommend for this setup is UTM. It’s a powerful, open-source application designed specifically for macOS, and it works seamlessly with Apple Silicon. You can download UTM directly from https://mac.getutm.app/, or if you have Homebrew installed, simply run the following command in your terminal:

brew install utm

Next, you’ll need a Windows 11 ARM image, as this is compatible with Apple Silicon. You can download the official Windows 11 ARM image from Microsoft’s website.

Setup the VM

Click Create a New Virtual Machine

Select Virtualize

Select Windows

Click Browse and select the Windows Image
Click Continue

Click Continue

Click Continue

Select a shared storage if needed
Click Continue

Enter a name and click Save

Windows Installation

Next you have to install Windows 11 Pro. This is the usual process.
To boot from the image, you have to press a key after starting the VM.

Once the setup is done and the machine is booted, shut down:

Adding the serial number

This is the point which is different from a normal setup of a hardware PC. We have to set a serial number that we are able to upload the hash. To do this open the UTM and click on the VM on Edit:

Navigate to QEMU and Arguments. Click on New and add here:
- -smbios
  - type=1,serial=yourserial

Change the serial value

Register to Autopilot

Now, let’s register the virtual machine to Autopilot. Follow these steps:

Boot up the Windows VM.
Once the initial setup screen appears, press Shift + F10 to open the command prompt.
In the command prompt, type powershell and press Enter to launch PowerShell.

After launching PowerShell, run the following commands to register the machine to Autopilot:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass
Install-Script -Name Get-WindowsAutopilotInfo
Get-WindowsAutopilotInfo.ps1 -Online

These commands will bypass the execution policy, install the official autopilot script, and upload the hash into your tenant.

Troubleshooting Network Issues
If you encounter any network connectivity problems, you may need to install the UTM Guest Tools. These tools enhance the VM’s performance and ensure proper network functionality.

Here’s how to install them:

Open File Explorer and locate the mounted CD drive containing the UTM Guest Tools.
Run the installation file.
After the installation completes, restart the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.

Other resources

If you want to check out an additional resource with a more detailed walkthrough you can visit the odds+endpoints blog from Nick Benton.