I'm going for the all-time, least interesting post!!

This post is for those who are sometimes frustrated by Apple's reluctance to let you easily download older versions of MacOS. I recently acquired an older 2013 Mac Pro from eBay, and it shipped without any passwords provided to me. No problem, I'll just clean install everything. My easiest choices were to hold down Cmd+R at boot, enter my network creds, and install MacOS 10.9 (Mavericks) from recovery, or install a newer version from a bootable USB with an ISO. It seems the network recovery feature of Macs is limited to the version available when that machine shipped. I could install the older OS, then go for a newer upgrade. What a pain to go through two installs!

No problem. I'll just slip over to the App store and get a copy of MacOS 11 (Big Sur). Well, no, it isn't that easy. If you want the latest version, Sonoma, it is front-and-center. But any older version, and you're SOL. In the past, I've downloaded Apple's OS from some support pages, but those are hard to find and sometimes limited to the versions around the time that page was made. I've discovered an easier way, so I thought I'd share it with anybody who may be interested (unlikely )

>>Do it all from the Terminal<< Computing the way God intended!

Open a Terminal window. From the command prompt, type:

softwareupdate --list-full-installers

You will be returned a list of all installers that will install on the current Mac. It will look something like this:

quote:

Mac-Pro:~ DC$ softwareupdate --list-full-installers
Finding available software
Software Update found the following full installers:
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.7.2, Size: 12116623KiB, Build: 21G1974
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.7.1, Size: 12110635KiB, Build: 21G920
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.7, Size: 12107687KiB, Build: 21G816
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.9, Size: 12111110KiB, Build: 21G726
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.10, Size: 12125478KiB, Build: 20G1427
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055522KiB, Build: 19H2
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055650KiB, Build: 19H15
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.6, Size: 8055450KiB, Build: 19G2021
* Title: macOS Mojave, Version: 10.14.6, Size: 5896894KiB, Build: 18G103
* Title: macOS High Sierra, Version: 10.13.6, Size: 5099306KiB, Build: 17G66

Choose which version you wish to download, and then type:

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 11.7.10

In this example, I wanted Big Sur. Just substitute the version number for whichever version you want.

It will report that it is scanning for the installer, and then it will begin downloading. Be patient. Most installers are around 12GB. It will tell you how far along it is as it goes. As I type this, my download is at 84%. The completed file will be in your Applications folder after the download is complete.

quote:

Mac-Pro:~ DC$ softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 11.7.10
Scanning for 11.7.10 installer
Installing: 84.0%

You can now follow Apple's guide to creating a bootable ISO USB drive.

TL;DR Apple's guide? I'll sum it up.
1-Take a USB drive of at least 14GB and use Disk Utility to format it as MacOS Extended, if it isn't already. Give it an easy name, like "MyVolume"
2-With the USB drive inserted, enter the following command in Terminal:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

If you downloaded the ISO to the Applications folder per my earlier instructions, and if you named your USB "MyVolume", you can enter the command exactly as above. Obviously, change the name of the ISO to match your version. In this example, I'm sticking with Big Sur. You will be prompted for your admin password. Enter it and let it build the bootable installer. It will take awhile.
(Note: If you're a Unix person, great. Skip ahead. If not, note that the filename path with the back slashes just tells Unix that a space follows. To the OS, "Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app" means "Install macOS Big Sur.app".)

With the bootable installer complete, reboot the machine while holding down the option(alt) key. Select the USB, and you are now ready to begin installing the OS. You can use the disk utility to reformat the disk, then install the OS, and even restore or migrate from a Time Machine backup.

If you've made it this far, congratulations. This might seem complicated, but it's not. It's just three Terminal commands. Way easier than surfing around trying to get a good install ISO without downloading from a third-party site with questionable software. Good luck.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigcrazy7,

You’re a piece of work sigcrazy. Re: sudo

By default you can only sudo in an admin account. However, I had edited my /etc/sudoers file so that I could sudo in my user account. Very handy when I was running Mojave.

Unfortunately, an Apple fuck up destroyed that file. I was going to recreate it, but I read that as of Catalina (I believe), macOS ignores the /etc/sudoers file.

Do you know if that’s correct? I’m now running Big Sur.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Re: sudo

... I had edited my /etc/sudoers file so that I could sudo in my user account. Very handy when I was running Mojave.

Unfortunately, an Apple fuck up destroyed that file. I was going to recreate it, but I read that as of Catalina (I believe), macOS ignores the /etc/sudoers file.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/388961/os-x-catalina-add-user-to-sudoers

^^^^^ Thank you, ensigmatic.

 
visudo is definitely the way to go. Another plus to it is that it enforces proper syntax for the sudoers file. I also add myself to the sudoers file, and have been doing so for many years. Currently on Ventura.

I’ve never done that. I think I’m too paranoid about security. I’m the guy that two-factor authenticates my NAS inside my own LAN. It’s good to know, though. Perhaps I’ll lighten up and give it a try.

I just use the internet recovery method. I don't worry about finding the latest OS compatible for my machine, I just let Apple send that my way. It is fairly simple. I just disk utility the hard drive, reformat it, and then restart with command option R to get the internet recovery going. Whatever the latest OS might be is downloaded automagically. Has worked every time. I have 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2021 machines recently recovered.

 
Mr. Macintosh is an excellent resource.

^^^^^
Thanks for that tip Henry.

Yea, that’s a good resource. Thanks.

Thank you for the information.
I have been trying to install High Sierra on a 2011 iMac but it can't find recovery server (am online).

Tried your method but says softwareupdate: command not found.

May be time for it to go to Ewaste.

PC

^^^^^^
Or your neighborhood Apple Store.

quote:

Originally posted by PCWyoming:
Thank you for the information.
I have been trying to install High Sierra on a 2011 iMac but it can't find recovery server (am online).

Tried your method but says softwareupdate: command not found.

May be time for it to go to Ewaste.

PC

Have you checked your Path variable?

echo $PATH

To reset it back to the default, if it's been changed:

export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin"