I've been using Parallels Desktop for some time and had recently upgraded to their version 8 release. That version will let you install Mountain Lion within your existing Mountain Lion. That's all legal as far as Apple is concerned; their EULA includes:
(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use.
Note particularly (c) using OS X Server, which is what I wanted.
As of Mountain Lion, "Server" is just an application you buy and install in your existing system. Therefore you begin this process by installing Mountain Lion into a Parallels virtual machine. That's about as easy as it could possibly get:
You can also do this from a USB stick; see How to create Lion Virtual Machine using Parallels Desktop.
Once that is up and running (it didn't take very long at all on my iMac), you can buy the Server App from the App store.
Once that's downloaded and installed, you need to run it:
And then, after answering a few questions, you are ready to actually start using Server.app. For a great introduction to that, I recommend Server, simplified: A power user's guide to OS X Server at Ars Technica.
(Article continues after the break)
Right now, however, is a good time to take a Parallels Desktop Snapshot. You may be luckier or smarter than I am and would never screw things up beyond redemption, but if you are doing this for experimentation and learning as I am, you might very well want to return this VM to an earlier, mostly un-configured state. That's what snapshots are for. I actually took one right after initial installation so that I could start from there if I ever want or need to.
You'll probably also want to install the Parallels Tools so that you can cut and paste between your real desktop and the VM (and more).
I was now ready to start playing with Open Directory on Mountain Lion Server. That will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day, though, so that will be another article on another day.
Next: Kerio Connect and Apple Open Directory Part 2.
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More Articles by Anthony Lawrence - Find me on Google+ 2012-09-20
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Fri Sep 21 13:42:54 2012: 11339 TonyLawrence
By the way, various articles I had read complained about the VM running rather slowly. I don't feel that it is particularly slow at all, and I only gave it 1 CPU and just 2GB of RAM.
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Mountain Lion Server in Parallels Desktop Copyright September 2012 Tony Lawrence
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