Setup an Autopilot lab on MacOS
Intune

Setup an Autopilot lab on MacOS

jannikreinhard

As an Intune MVP, I frequently need to test various setups on a dedicated test machine. The easiest way to do this is by building an Autopilot lab on MacOS 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.

Autopilot lab on MacOS running in the UTM virtual machine dashboard

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. If you want to learn more about the underlying service, the official Windows Autopilot documentation on Microsoft Learn is a great reference.

Setup the VM for your Autopilot lab on MacOS

  • Click Create a New Virtual Machine
UTM welcome screen to create a new virtual machine
  • Select Virtualize
UTM start screen with the Virtualize option selected
  • Select Windows
Operating system selection screen with Windows chosen
  • Click Browse and select the Windows Image
  • Click Continue
UTM Windows VM setup dialog with the image selected
  • Click Continue
UTM hardware settings for CPU and memory allocation
  • Click Continue
Storage size setup dialog for the virtual machine disk
  • Select a shared storage if needed
  • Click Continue
Shared directory dialog for mounting a host folder
  • Enter a name and click Save
VM summary window confirming the configuration before saving

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.
Virtual machine manager booting the Windows 11 installer

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

VM quit confirmation dialog after first boot

Adding the serial number

This is the point which is different from a normal setup of a hardware PC, and it is the key trick that makes an Autopilot lab on MacOS work. We have to set a serial number so that we are able to upload the hash. To do this open the UTM and click on the VM on Edit:

UTM VM edit menu to open the configuration
  • Navigate to QEMU and Arguments. Click on New and add here:
    • -smbios
      • type=1,serial=yourserial

Change the serial value

UTM QEMU arguments settings with the smbios serial number

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.
Windows admin command prompt launching 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:

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

Common pitfalls and why the serial number matters

The most frequent mistake people make when building an Autopilot lab on MacOS is skipping the serial number step or reusing a value that already exists in their tenant. Autopilot identifies every device by a hardware hash that is partly derived from the system serial. If two VMs share the same serial, the second hash upload silently overwrites the first, and your test device disappears from the Autopilot devices list. Always pick a unique, easily recognisable serial such as MACVM-LAB-01 so you can tell your lab machines apart at a glance.

A second thing worth knowing: after you delete a VM and recreate it, remember to remove the old Autopilot device entry in Intune as well. Otherwise you accumulate stale records that count against your tenant and can cause the wrong profile to be assigned. Treating each serial as a real device throughout its lifecycle keeps your testing clean and your results trustworthy.

Wrapping up your Autopilot lab on MacOS

That’s it, your Autopilot lab on MacOS is ready, and you can now test Windows Autopilot scenarios directly on Apple Silicon. For more Intune and endpoint management guides, browse the rest of my blog. If you want a more detailed walkthrough, you can also visit the odds+endpoints blog from Nick Benton.