Home > Mac administration, macOS, Virtualization > macOS 26.1.0 virtual machines do not generate valid system serial numbers
After updating to macOS Tahoe 26.1.0 yesterday, I then did what I normally do and began building new virtual machines to test with. I built a VM for macOS 26.1.0 and then noticed something odd. The virtual machine did not have an assigned system serial number. Instead, where you would expect to see the serial number displayed, there is a blank entry.


I built a macOS 26.0.1 VM and saw the serial number appear.

I then upgraded the VM from macOS 26.0.1 to macOS 26.1.0. Poof, no more serial number.

After talking with colleagues in the Mac Admins Slack, I was pointed to a Known Issues entry for Virtualization in the macOS 26.1.0 release notes:
The serial number published for the virtual machine is 0, which prevents iCloud and related applications from functioning correctly. (163294564)

You can’t set a system serial number manually for macOS VMs running on Apple Silicon Macs, so it looks like this state of affairs is with us until Apple fixes it. Hopefully that is soon.