This Terminal command, called createinstallmedia, can create a bootable copy of the installer using any drive connected to your Mac. In this guide, we're going to use a USB flash drive, but you could also use a normal hard drive or SSD that's connected to your Mac. The process is the same, regardless of the destination. Whatever media you use to create the bootable Mac OS installer on, it will be completely erased by the createinstallmedia command, so be careful. Whether you're going to use a flash drive, a hard drive, or an SSD, be sure to any data on the drive before you begin this process. How to Use the Createinstallmedia Terminal Command. Make sure that the Mac OS installer file is present in your /Applications folder.
Dec 10, 2017 - Even if you are using macOS, you can easily mount a disc image by simply. One of its salient features is the ability to create bootable USB flash drives. What's more, Power ISO can convert all the other image file formats its.
If it's not there, or you're not sure of its name, seethe previous section of this guide for details on the installer file name, and how to download the needed file. Plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Check the flash drive's content. During this process, so if there's any data on the flash drive that you want to save, back it up to another location before proceeding. Change the flash drive's name to FlashInstaller. You can do this by double-clicking the drive's name to select it, and then type in the new name. You can actually use any name you wish, but it must exactly match the name you enter in the createinstallmedia command below.
For this reason, I strongly suggest using a name with no spaces and no special characters. If you use FlashInstaller as the drive's name, you can just copy/paste the command line below instead of typing the rather long command into Terminal. Launch Terminal, located in /Applications/Utilities. Warning: The following command will completely erase the drive named FlashInstaller. In the Terminal window that opens, enter one of the following commands, depending on which OS X or macOS installer you're working with.
The command, which starts with the text 'sudo' and ends with the word 'nointeraction' (with no quotes), can be copy/pasted into Terminal unless you used a name other than FlashInstaller.
Apple uses its App Store to distribute its software, like new Mac operating systems. It’s convenient, but sometimes it can take a while for a download to finish. And if you have multiple Macs, it’s inefficient to download the new OS to each and every Mac. That’s why I like to make a bootable external drive for the sole purpose of installing the Mac operating system. When I need to tend to a bunch of Macs, it’s much faster to use a bootable drive instead of going to each Mac, launching the App Store, searching for the operating system, downloading it (after entering my Apple ID), and then running the installer.
You can create a bootable USB flash drive with the macOS Sierra installer that’s now available. The installer software will take up nearly 5GB of storage space. Here’s how to create a bootable macOS Sierra installer drive. Macworld also has bootable-install-drive instructions for:.
Download the macOS Sierra installer Launch the App Store app, then look for macOS Sierra in the store. (.) Click on the Download button, and your Mac will download the installer to your Applications folder.
If it automatically launches after download, quit the installer. Keep the installer in the Applications folder.
If you’ve already upgraded your Mac to Sierra, the installer is removed from the Applications folder. You can download it again if you go to Purchased in the App Store. Look for macOS Sierra in the list of apps that you’ve bought, and click on the Download button. If it automatically launches after download, quit the installer.
Get an external drive You can use a USB flash drive or a hard drive with room for the installer software. I’ve used different drives with success, including a VisionTek 120GB USB 3.0 Pocket Solid State Drive ($83 on ) and an old 8GB Iomega Micro Mini Hard Drive. Don’t worry if the drive isn’t formatted for the Mac. The drive will be reformatted automatically as part of the process. Change the name of your drive to Untitled; you need to do this for the steps below. The quick and easy way The process detailed below involves the Terminal.
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If your really don’t want to use Terminal, there are a couple of free apps you can use. is a straightforward way to create a boot disk. I was able to make a macOS Sierra external USB boot disk in a few minutes, and the installation worked without a hitch. Also works with older versions of OS X. is a popular app.
It also supports older versions of OS X. Use the Terminal to create a boot disk So you have your external drive, and the Sierra beta installer is in place. Now you’re going to use Terminal to create a boot drive.
If you’ve never used Terminal before, don’t worry. This is pretty easy. Here are the steps to create a macOS Sierra beta boot disk. (.). Connect the external drive to your Mac. (In the Terminal command you will use, I use Untitled to represent your external drive.
If your drive is named something else, you need to change Untitled to the name of your drive.). Launch Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app). Copy the following: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia -volume /Volumes/Untitled -applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app. Go back to Terminal and paste the copied code at the prompt. Terminal will ask for a password. This is your user password.
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Terminal doesn’t display characters when you type it in. Terminal will tell you that it will erase your drive. To confirm that you want to continue, type Y and hit Return. You’ll see that Terminal erases your drive. When that part is done, your Mac may ask you if you want to use the drive for Time Machine. Click Don’t Use. Terminal will copy the installer file to your drive.
This will take a few minutes. After copying, Terminal is done. You should see Terminal display a “Copy complete” and Done notice. You can quit Terminal and your drive is ready for use.
How to boot from the installer drive. Plug your external drive into your Mac.
Power up (or restart) your Mac. Press down on the Option key while the Mac boots. After a few moments, your Mac should display the Startup Manager, which will show you the available boot drives. Click on the external drive and hit Return. (You don’t need to select a network to proceed.).
Your Mac will display an OS X Utilites window. If you want to install Sierra and leave the data intact, select Install OS X. If you want to start over and wipe out the data, you need to go into Disk Utility to reformat the internal drive first, and then install macOS Sierra.