for xampp vm on MacOS capitan, high sierra, MacOS Mojave (10.12+), you can follow these
1. mount /opt/lampp
2. explore the folder
3. open terminal from the folder
4. cd to `htdocs`>yourapp (ex: techaz.co)
5. vim .htaccess
6. paste your .htaccess content (that is suggested on options-permalink.php)