how to create a bootable installer for mac os

#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS HOW TO#
#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS MAC OS#
#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS INSTALL#
#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS FULL#

The process is different to the one described above though, and we cover it here: Read about How to run macOS on an external hard drive here. You can also run the Mac operating system directly from an external drive rather than your built-in startup disk, this is handy if you are testing new versions of the Mac OS.

#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS INSTALL#

The version of macOS should start to install on your Mac now.

Click on Install macOS and then click on Continue.

Your Mac will display the Startup Manager, click on your external drive to select that as the startup disk.

Start up the Mac, holding down the Option/Alt key while it is booting up.

Plug the external drive into the Mac that you want to install the macOS on.

Now you have the installer on the external drive you can use that to install multiple copies of macOS.

When Terminal has finished copying the installer you will see the words Copy complete and Done appear.

“Copying installer files to disk… Copy complete” and so on will appear in the Terminal window.

Now Terminal will spend a few minutes copying the installer file to your drive.

The process can take a while, you’ll see “Erasing Disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 30%…100%… If you want to continue press Y and then Return.

Terminal will warn that it is about to erase the drive (so make sure there wasn’t anything important on it!).

After typing in your password, press Enter. Note you won’t see characters appear as you type it in, that’s fine.

Copy the text that corresponds to the version of macOS you are installing into Terminal – you’ll find the text in the section below.

Open Terminal (the easiest way is to press Command + spacebar and then start typing Terminal).

Wait while Disk Uitlity creates the partition and sets up the drive (this can take a few minutes).

(Note you will need to replace the term ‘MyVolume’ in the createinstallmedia command below with whatever name you give your drive).

Your drive will probably be called ‘Untitled’ by default, you could give your drive a name such as ‘macOS’ or ‘USB’.

Choose GUID Partition Map as the Scheme.

#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS MAC OS#

Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format.

Select the root drive in the sidebar (the next step won’t work if you only select the volume).

Now you will see the external root drive in addition to the volume below it. Choose Show All Devices from the options.

Before this next step, note: if you are running High Sierra or later you will need to click on the View drop down below the close minimise buttons.

Launch Disk Utility (press Command + spacebar and start to type Disk Utility).

Plug in an external drive with at least 12GB space as that’s how much the installer will require.

Now you have the installation files, we can move onto the process of making the bootable installer. How to create a bootable installer for macOS

You will find the installation files in your Applications folder, which you can access via the Finder.If it automatically launches after download, quit – you don’t want to start the process of installing it on your Mac because doing so will delete the installers – and it’s the installers you need.It took us about 10 minutes over Ethernet. This process may take some time depending on the speed of your connection and whether you are using a wireless network. Your Mac will download the installer to your Applications folder.

#HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER FOR MAC OS FULL#

Click on Continue to confirm that you still want to download the full installer. If you have already installed this version of macOS, you will see a message warning that the version of macOS is already installed on this computer. Look for the version of macOS you want in the store (if you have previously downloaded the version search under your Purchased tab).If you aren’t already running running Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra – or you have access to a Mac that isn’t running them – you can follow these steps to download the installation files of an older macOS: El Capitan can be downloaded from this link.You can get macOS Mojave via this link.

How to create a bootable installer for mac os