How to create bootable macOS Sonoma installation media
How to create a bootable macOS installer | How to make a macOS USB boot disk
On September 26, 2023 (early morning on the 27th, Beijing time), the official version of macOS Sonoma has been released.
Please visit the original link: https://sysin.org/blog/macos-createinstallmedia/ to view the latest version. Original work, please keep the source when reprinting.
Author homepage: sysin.org
current version:
-> macOS Sonoma 14 (23A344) official version ISO, IPSW, PKG download
You can use an external drive or a spare volume as a startup disk for installing Mac operating system.
Preparation and Conditions
Download macOS【Direct download】
Make sure that the downloaded installation package Install macOS *.app ("Install macOS [version name]" App) is in the "Applications" folder.
DMG software package needs to be opened and dragged to the "Applications" folder;
The ISO format can also be dragged to the "Applications" folder, or it is more convenient to just double-click to mount;
Open the software package in PKG format and automatically install it to the "Applications" folder according to the prompts;
Apps downloaded from the Mac App Store are automatically saved in the "Applications" folder.
Prepare boot media: USB removable storage device
You can use one of three media:
(1) U disk: Catalina and above versions require a U disk with a capacity of 16G and above, and other older versions require a U disk with a capacity of 8G (the same applies to SD cards); (2) USB mobile hard disk, such as USB SSD mobile hard disk is
better (Recommended!);
(3) Use the system "Disk Utility" to create a new partition (non-APFS volume), which is suitable for experienced users. For major version updates, it is recommended to use USB external storage to erase the entire internal disk.
Use "Disk Utility" to erase the above media or partitions. The requirements are as follows:
(
1 ) Mac OS
The above dialog box does not render correctly? Please make sure that all devices are displayed (as shown below) for device level operations.
Use the "createinstallmedia" command in Terminal
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume where you want to save the bootable installer.
- Open Terminal in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder.
- Type or paste one of the following commands into Terminal. These commands assume that the installer is in your Applications folder and "sysin" is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you are using. If this is not the name, replace sysin in these commands with your volume name.
Tip: The following commands are for the official version. Early Beta version App names usually add beta.
macOS Sonoma 14：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
ISO image of this site, just double-click to mount:
sudo /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS Ventura 13 :
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
ISO image of this site, just double-click to mount:
sudo /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Ventura/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS Monterey 12：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
ISO image of this site, just double-click to mount:
sudo /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Monterey/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS Big Sur 11：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
ISO image of this site, just double-click to mount:
sudo /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS Catalina 10.15：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS Mojave 10.14：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
macOS High Sierra 10.13：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin
If your Mac is running macOS Sierra or earlier, use --applicationpaththe parameters and installer path similarly to how you would do this in the command for Sierra.
macOS Sierra 10.12：
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app --nointeraction
OS X El Capitan 10.11：
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app
OS X Yosemite 10.10：
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sysin --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction
After typing the command:
- Press the Return key to enter this command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal does not display any characters as you type your password.
- When prompted, type
Yto confirm that you want to erase the volume, and then press Return. While the volume is being erased, Terminal displays the progress. - After a volume is erased, you may see an alert asking Terminal to access the files on the removable volume. Click OK to allow copying to continue.
- When Terminal says the operation is complete, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as "Install macOS Big Sur." You can now exit Terminal and eject the volume.
If the "mount of outer dmg failed" error occurs, please execute the command in the terminal to repair permissions (Big Sur is an example):
sudo chmod 755 /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
Use a bootable installer
Determine whether you have an Apple-powered Mac and follow the steps:
Apple chip
- Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that's connected to the Internet and is compatible with the version of macOS you want to install.
- Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows the bootable volume and a gear icon labeled "Options."
- Select the volume that contains the bootable installer, then click Continue.
- Once the macOS installer opens, follow the on-screen instructions.
Intel processor
- Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that's connected to the Internet and is compatible with the version of macOS you want to install.
- Immediately after turning your Mac on or restarting, hold down the Option (Alt) ⌥ key.
- When you see a black screen showing the bootable volume, release the Option key.
- Select the volume that contains the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press the Return key.
If you are unable to boot from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in the Boot Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media. - Follow the prompts to select your language.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions.
Supplementary chapters:
Create macOS boot media under Windows
macOS is a Unix operating system. In fact, this problem is the same as how to create Linux boot media under Windows.
Writing Linux to USB boot media usually requires an ISO image and a third-party USB Boot creation tool.
It is recommended to use the cross-platform open source free software Etcher. This operation is also applicable to Linux. This method is not required under macOS, although it is also available.
Conditions :
- USB storage media (U disk, macOS 10.15+ requires 16G or above, USB SSD mobile hard drive is better)
- macOS ISO image, you can download it from this site: macOS download summary (system, applications and tutorials)
- Etcher : Cross-platform operating system image USB boot creation tool ( Baidu Netdisk archive )
Steps :
- Use Disk Management to format USB storage media into exFAT format
- Open balenaEtcher, select Flash from file, browse to the downloaded macOS iso file
. Note: Missing partition table will be prompted, click Continue.
- Select the USB storage medium to write to,
in this case the hp x5000m. Automatically selected:
- Click Flash! to start writing (it takes several minutes to tens of minutes, depending on the media itself)
Screenshot of successful writing:
⚠️ Tip: The successfully written USB storage media format is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", which cannot be read by third-party systems such as Windows and is displayed in RAW format.
Macs equipped with Apple chips use IPSW recovery system
This task is applicable to the following Mac computers equipped with Apple chips. For details, see: