I thought it would be a good idea to post a How-To for dual-boxing. It probably won't get stickied, but it shall be posted in my sig.

If you've done a google search on how to dual-box on the Mac, you were probably lead to this page:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Mac#.22Dual-Boxing.22_on_one_Mac

However, as a casual computer user (for games, finances, communication), I found it a bit difficult to comprehend entirely. In this thread, I'll try to put it into layman's terms.

We're using a very specific method of dual-boxing here. This variation optimizes space for your HD and reliability/stability of the clients themselves.


 How do I get dual-boxing to work on my Mac?
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[~~~Easy Mode~~~]
Thanks to Fysh of Eredar realm for uploading a workflow automator.
The following file does -exactly- what I am about to outline. If you'd rather do it yourself, by all means, keep reading. If not, please download the file found here:

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Q u o t e:
http://files.filefront.com/WoWDualBoxerzip/;11957113;/fileinfo.html

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Download the file. Open WoWDualBoxer.
If you'd like your addons to be shared with the new client, please insert this line at the bottom of the script coding found under 'Run Shell Script':

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Q u o t e:
ln -s "$p1/Interface" "$p2/Interface"

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When you're happy with the script, go to the upper right corner and click 'Run' (looks like a 'Play' button). When the task is completed, you'll hear a sound and will see a green check mark next to 'Results'.


[~~~Semi-Manual Mode~~~]
First, start by opening TextEdit.
Copy/Paste the following:

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Q u o t e:
#!/bin/sh
p1="/Applications/World of Warcraft"
p2=$p1/WoWCopy
mkdir "$p2"
ln -s "$p1/Data" "$p2/Data"
cp "$p1/realmlist.wtf" "$p2/realmlist.wtf"
ditto -X "$p1/World of Warcraft.app" "$p2/World of Warcraft.app"

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If you'd like this client of WoW to share addons with your original WoW client, then insert this line:

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Q u o t e:
ln -s "$p1/Interface" "$p2/Interface"

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So that it would read:

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Q u o t e:
#!/bin/sh
p1="/Applications/World of Warcraft"
p2=$p1/WoWCopy
mkdir "$p2"
ln -s "$p1/Data" "$p2/Data"
cp "$p1/realmlist.wtf" "$p2/realmlist.wtf"
ditto -X "$p1/World of Warcraft.app" "$p2/World of Warcraft.app"
ln -s "$p1/Interface" "$p2/Interface"

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If you don't want to share Interface folders, you will simply create your own later in the WoWCopy folder that will appear.

If you're like me, you don't install your games into the Applications folder. Therefore, go to the second line, which reads 'p1="/Applications/World of Warcraft"' and replace 'Applications' with the respective name of the folder that you have World of Warcraft Installed. For me, this line reads:

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Q u o t e:
p1="/Games/World of Warcraft"

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Now, with that code pasted, go to Format > Make Plain Text. Save this file as 'wowcopy.sh' to your Home folder. You will be asked if you'd rather use the *.rtf extension, but choose 'use *.sh'. Your home folder, if you're not familiar with what exactly it is, is easily found by opening your Hard Drive and looking on the left panel under PLACES. It will be the first location under that list. It is your username on your computer. It can also be found by opening your Hard Drive and going to the following destination:

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Q u o t e:
/Users/YourName/wowcopy.sh

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Now open Terminal (found @ /Applications/Utilities/Terminal). Once you have Terminal opened, copy/paste the following line into the command space:

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Q u o t e:
chmod +x ~/wowcopy.sh; ~/wowcopy.sh

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Hitting enter will activate this command. Basically, this command activates the script (the big paragraph we copied/pasted earlier into the 'wowcopy.sh' file). You only have to do this once.

Now, in your World of Warcraft folder, there will be a WoWCopy folder. Open it up. You'll notice that there is a new World of Warcraft client. You can open this and your original. Voila!

This is the most recommended version of dual-boxing for the Mac. There are two other ways: copying just the World of Warcraft client, and copying the entire World of Warcraft folder. However, both of these methods pose some issues:

Copying just the client, you risk corruption of your Cache folder, which results in a complete uninstall and reinstall of World of Warcraft. Also, you cannot have separate addons for either client; they share everything.

Copying the entire World of Warcraft folder may simply bog your computer down with needless duplicates of files. For instance, my World of Warcraft is 16.06GB alone. Most of that of which are addons. About 8GB for just World of Warcraft, without addons. Myself, I don't have that kind of space to spare. I have 60GB dedicated to my Windows XP partition and only 10GB spare on my Macintosh HD.

However, using the method I provided above (commonly referred to as the symlink or hybrid method), uses very little disc space (23.1MB, personally), and personal settings can be changed for both and unshared. Addons can be separate also, but shared if desired. Also, one may update only once, instead of having to do so twice. The only downside to this method is the difficulty of setup. I've attempted to make the setup more understandable than other sources prove to be.

Now, the way you run the World of Warcraft clients is up to you. Most people run both in windowed mode. I run them in windowed mode and make the windows as small as possible. This is still very playable, even on a 15" widescreen.


 How should I expect my computer to handle having two clients open at once?
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I run World of Warcraft on a laptop. Specifically:

Mac OS X 10.5.4
Model Name: MacBook Pro 15"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP22.00A5.B07
SMC Version: 1.12f5

I currently run both World of Warcraft clients (in the smallest possible window for both), at 30fps average. Loading times will most likely lengthen, so it's a good idea that you deactivate any addons you do not need for the characters you are dual-boxing. It should not hinder your live performance or create screen tearing.

If you're having performance issues (dual-boxing or not), I strongly encourage you to read this thread: https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4028094861&sid=1

I am currently running both clients with those settings and running beautifully. I usually run both clients, Safari, and iTunes at once, with the aforementioned performance.

A useful link to help get you started with macros, key cloning software, etc.:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/09/19/addon-spotlight-mac-dual-boxing/

Good luck and happy dual-boxing!

There's a very easy way to do exactly what you just listed. Go to the Applications folder, right-button click the World of Warcraft folder, click "Duplicate". Move the new World of Warcraft copy folder to any place you'd like.

All of the Unix commands you just used is nothing but the copy command. That and the command to switch to the admin account in order to do so.

Actually, if you read my entire post, you'd realize that this is a completely different method.

Instead of creating a completely new World of Warcraft folder totaling many gigabytes, you're creating some aliases totaling a few megabytes. Also, it shares settings/addons if desired. You will not have to update two versions.

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Q u o t e:
All of the Unix commands you just used is nothing but the copy command. That and the command to switch to the admin account in order to do so.

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I encourage you to type "man ln" into the Terminal app if you believe that the script does nothing but copy data.

The relevant (and most important) line in the script:
ln -s "$p1/Data" "$p2/Data"

Haha, this is making me laugh. So how about we all try this... Go into your WoW folder, and duplicate the World of Warcraft application itself. Now you will see that you have World of Warcraft 2.

Open them both since they are running from the same folder(nothing extra for performance loss) they will maintain the same settings, keybinds, mods and anything else you have. Make sure you run in a window and some machines require you drop the settings a bit as you are running 2 games at the same time.

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Q u o t e:
Haha, this is making me laugh. So how about we all try this... Go into your WoW folder, and duplicate the World of Warcraft application itself. Now you will see that you have World of Warcraft 2.

Open them both since they are running from the same folder(nothing extra for performance loss) they will maintain the same settings, keybinds, mods and anything else you have. Make sure you run in a window and some machines require you drop the settings a bit as you are running 2 games at the same time.

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Down the line, when your cache/wtf gets corrupted by concurrent i/o operations, you won't be laughing anymore. :/

Not very nice or admirable to laugh at things because you don't take the time to understand them.

Most Mac users aren't familiar with Terminal.

So here's a question:

Instead of using the command line to create links, couldn't you use the OS X UI to make an alias instead?
I'm not sure how OS X handles aliasing internally.

Basically, my point is, that if your instructions are translatable into UI clicks, it will be easier to follow for the vast majority of Mac users.

Unfortunately, manually creating aliases does not seem to work.

I've written this little How-To in order to make it less intimidating to the general user, which includes myself. I am in no way a UNIX junkie. This was the first time I'd opened Terminal. If the user follows the how-to, there is no way they can go wrong.

I just got this Imac, and i am trying to follow your instructions. I saved the text to the text edit, but I can't save it as just wowcopy.sh Its making me save it as wowcopy.sh.rtf. I then saved it directly under my name, and when i input into terminal, it doesnt work.

Suggestions?
THanks

It is funny becuase for the last 3 years I have been able to open 2 wows and 3 at other times without a single corruption. The way I do it by just copying the application twice. Since blizzard doesn't support "dual-boxing" they prob won't comment, but my guess is they do something very similar.

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Q u o t e:
I just got this Imac, and i am trying to follow your instructions. I saved the text to the text edit, but I can't save it as just wowcopy.sh Its making me save it as wowcopy.sh.rtf. I then saved it directly under my name, and when i input into terminal, it doesnt work.

Suggestions?
THanks

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You must save it as wowcopy.sh. First, you must go to Format > Make Plain Text and then try to save. You will be asked if you'd rather use the *.rtf extension, but choose 'use *.sh'. I'll edit my original post with this instruction.

@ Herta:
Some people have the issue, some do not. Personally, simply copying the WoW app did not work for me at all, and produced an error. No reason to bash a different method when both work.

For the Tiger/Leopard users, here's a Automator .workflow file I just threw together:

http://files.filefront.com/WoWDualBoxerzip/;11957113;/fileinfo.html

Not a keylogger, I promise!

Unzip, double click, press the play button. Locate your WoW folder with the familiar GUI file opener, hit enter, boom you're done.

The script that does the work is in the second step of the workflow file, and you can change it however you like.

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Q u o t e:
For the Tiger/Leopard users, here's a Automator .workflow file I just threw together:

http://files.filefront.com/WoWDualBoxerzip/;11957113;/fileinfo.html

Not a keylogger, I promise!

Unzip, double click, press the play button. Locate your WoW folder with the familiar GUI file opener, hit enter, boom you're done.

The script that does the work is in the second step of the workflow file, and you can change it however you like.

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That is beautiful! I'll put that in my original post. Mind making another w/ the interface line in it? I'm off to do something here at work.

Sure thing! Will edit my post with that in a minute.

edit: actually I'm going to refrain, and just assume that people who are that interested are able to copy/paste that line in. :P You can feel free to do it though.

I am sorry I was rude.

As far as the error thing, for the copy/past of the App to work you must recopy it every time you install a new patch or update. This could have been where your error came from. If not then go about your business.

Sticky.

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Q u o t e:
Sure thing! Will edit my post with that in a minute.

edit: actually I'm going to refrain, and just assume that people who are that interested are able to copy/paste that line in. :P You can feel free to do it though.

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Thank you very much for the Automator. Brilliant idea. :)
Link has been posted and credit given in original post.

i am just trying out dual-boxing... just wanted to try something new. Have my machine set up to run both WoW's, but is there a way to make both of them active at the same time so keyboard commands go to both? If not is there a simple cord I could buy to hook my keyboard up to two computers so keyboard commands go to both machines at once? I have used KVM switches in the past so that i could operate multiple machines with one keyboard, but only one machine is active at a time. Thanks for any info!

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Q u o t e:
i am just trying out dual-boxing... just wanted to try something new. Have my machine set up to run both WoW's, but is there a way to make both of them active at the same time so keyboard commands go to both? If not is there a simple cord I could buy to hook my keyboard up to two computers so keyboard commands go to both machines at once? I have used KVM switches in the past so that i could operate multiple machines with one keyboard, but only one machine is active at a time. Thanks for any info!

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I believe there is an application called CloneKeys that does what you're trying to do. I, personally, have not used it except to tinker with. Reason is, cause one of my toons is a healer and the other a Tank. So it'd kinda suck if I were to link their keys together.

Bump, as people are creating mixed (and rather wrong) posts about dual-boxing.

Hi i'm thinking of quad-boxing on my new imac (3.06 Ghz, nvidia chipset 8800 GT, and 4 gb RAM) and was wondering if i'll be having awesome performance issues and shouldnt even bother

also

i did what the OP outlined and all went well, but, how exactly do i run the second wow app? (i know it's a noob question, but seriously)

+ is there a way for what the OP outlined to be multiplied 3 times so that i can have 4 wow apps running and sharing mods and settings etc.?

Bump. Ty very much for posting this, thx fysh for putting the automator up.