These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.
- Here's how you can create a Mac OS X El Capitan bootable USB flash drive. OS X El Capitan is finally here, and if you're looking to install Apple's new desktop OS fresh from the ground up, then.
- Full Version Mac OS X El Capitan Free Download 10.11.6 InstallESD DMG Bootable USB Free Download Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Intel And AMD Bootable USB ISO.
- Oct 07, 2015 OS X El Capitan Compatible Macs. If you’re interested in creating a bootable USB flash drive containing Apple’s OS X El Capitan then it’s logical to assume that it’s because you ultimately want to install a fresh copy of the platform onto one of your Mac computers.
- Oct 23, 2015 Step 5: Terminal will prompt for Root password, enter the root password and press enter.USB Disk formatting will start now followed by the copying of files required to create bootable os x el capitan usb drive. It will take 5 to 10 minutes maximum and the Bootable USB Disk of OS X El Capitan will be ready for use.
Download macOS
Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macOS version:
macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, ormacOS High Sierra
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
OS X El Capitan
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
Jun 11, 2015 –applicationpath, A path to copy of the OS installer application to create the bootable media from. –nointeraction, Erase the disk pointed to by volume without prompting for confirmation. Example: createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/Untitled –applicationpath “/Applications/Install OS X El Capitan GM Candidate.app”.
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.
- Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace
MyVolume
in these commands with the name of your volume.
Catalina:*
Mojave:*
High Sierra:*
El Capitan: - Press Return after typing the command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
- When prompted, type
Y
to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created. - When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Catalina. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the
--applicationpath
argument, similar to the way this argument is used in the command for El Capitan.Use the bootable installer
After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it:
- Plug the bootable installer into a compatible Mac.
- Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it. - Choose your language, if prompted.
- A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Learn more
For more information about the
createinstallmedia
command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter this path in Terminal:Catalina:
Mojave:
High Sierra:
El Capitan:
FonePaw - Solution - Upgrade - Create A Bootable USB Drive for Mac OS
To install macOS or OS X from USB, you need to create a bootable install USB drive for Mac operating system. This tutorial will introduce you three ways to create bootable USB drive for macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, Mac OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks and more.
Use 'createinstallmedia' Command in Terminal
The most recommendable way to create a bootable install USB drive for Mac OS is using 'createinstallmedia' Command with Terminal application.
Step 1: Download macOS or OS X
The first thing to do is to download the Mac operating system that you need. To install the latest Mac OS, for example, macOS High Sierra, you can search and download the installer from App Store.
To download the older Mac OS X version, you can go to App Store > Purchases to download the Mac OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks that has been previously downloaded.
However, Apple has decided that macOS Sierra and later will no longer be listed in Mac App Store's Purchased. To download the installer of macOS Sierra, go to Apple Support.
Note: After downloading the Mac OS installer, do not install the OS but quit the installer.
Step 2 Get A USB Drive with Sufficient Storage
You should have a USB drive with at least 8 GB of storage and insert the USB drive into your Mac. If you need to create a bootable USB drive of macOS High Sierra, 16 GB USB flash drive is suggested. In fact, USB drives with larger storage, like 32 GB to 64 GB, tend to show better performance.
IMPORTANT: The contents of the drive will be erased after creating a bootable installer drive. Therefore, make sure there is nothing important on your flash drive before you continue with the following steps.
Step 3 Check the Name of Your Flash Drive
The following command is to create a bootable copy of Mac OS installer on a USB drive named FlashInstaller. If your USB drive has a different name, replace FlashInstaller in the command with the name of your USB drive. If you don't want to modify the command, change the name of your flash drive into FlashInstaller.
Step 4 Create A Bootable USB Drive of macOS/OS X
Launch Terminal enter the following command according to the version of Mac operating system that you are dealing with.
macOS High Sierra Installer
sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app --nointeraction
macOS Sierra Installer
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app --nointeraction
OS X El Capitan Installer
sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app –nointeraction
OS X Yosemite Installer
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app –nointeraction
OS X Mavericks Installer
sudo /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app –nointeraction
Tip: If you didn't download the installer from Mac App Store, you must modify the file path after 'applicationpath'.
After pasting the command on the Terminal, hit Enter key. You'll be asked to enter your Mac's password. Enter the password and hit Enter.
Bootable El Capitan Dmg
Then you need to check the name and path of your USB drive. If it is correct, press 'y' then hit 'Enter'. The Mac will begin to create a bootable install drive for macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, Mac OS X El Capitan/Yosemite/Mavericks. When it is done, Terminal will shows 'Done'.
To install macOS or OS X from the USB flash drive, check how to clean install Mac OS from USB.
Make A Bootable Installer for macOS via DiskMaker X or Install Disk Creator
If you think it is too much trouble to use Terminal to make a bootable installer on a USB drive, you can use tools like DiskMaker X, Install Disk Creator. Both the tools can make an install drive for macOS Sierra, OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite and more.
DiskMaker X: When you launch the application, it will try to find the downloaded macOS or OS X installers program on your Mac. And you just need to follow its on-screen instructions to create a bootable USB drive by clicking a few buttons.
Burn Bootable Dmg
Install Disk Creator: Once you run the application, select a USB drive, choose a Mac OS installer, and click Create Installer to begin to create an install USB drive.
Disk Utility to Create a Bootable macOS/OS X Installer
Before using createinstallmedia command, people used to use Disk Utility to create a bootable installer drive manually. But the process is much more complicated than the Terminal method. So Apple also suggests you make a bootable install drive via Terminal.
Just in case that you don't want to use Terminal, you may follow these steps to build a USB drive for Mac OS X or macOS.
- Mount the Mac OS installer to get .DS_Store, BaseSystem.chunklist, and BaseSystem.dmg. Files from InstallESD.dmg file.
- Use Disk Utility's Restore feature to create a copy of the OS Install ESD image.
- Modify the copy of the OS Install ESD image to make it boot successfully.
Do you have other question about making a bootable USB drive for macOS or Mac OS X? Leave your comment below.
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