Fix "An error has occurred while installing this system" when installing a macOS virtual machine on a Mac with an Apple M-Series chip

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When trying to download and install a macOS 13 virtual machine from appliances on M-series based Mac, you can get an error at the Unarchiving stage.

Despite clicking Resume on the dialog, the Parallels Desktop will display Unarchiving once more but subsequently fail with the same message again.

Workaround

Create a macOS 13 virtual machine via Terminal:

  1. Get a download URL. To do it, execute the following command in Terminal:

     /Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/prl_macvm_create --getipswurl
     
  2. Copy the output URL, paste, and follow it in your browser.
  3. Once the file has been downloaded, use the following Terminal command:
     

    /Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/prl_macvm_create <path_to_ipsw> <path_to_macVM> --disksize <bytes>

    e.g.

    /Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/prl_macvm_create ~/Downloads/UniversalMac_13.3_22E252_Restore.ipsw ~/Parallels/macOS.macvm --disksize 80000000000

    Note: macOS Arm virtual machine's hard drive size can only be set once at the moment of creation. There is currently no way to change it afterward.
     
  4. Wait for the installation to complete. You will see progress in the Terminal output.
  5. Once finished, locate the file in ~/Parallels/ (your home folder > "Parallels"), drag and drop the file to Control Center, or open the file with Parallels Desktop via Finder.

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Full instruction of creating macOS virtual machine on M-series based Macs you can find here.

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