How to Make a Bootable USB Mac OS / macOS Installer 10.4 – 12.4 (2022)

First of all, why? — In my case, we needed a bootable OS X installer to wipe an old iMac to be processed for surplus/ewaste. Periodically we get old machines no longer supported, and need to wipe the drives prior to dispossession. I also like to install a clean copy of the latest supported OS, partially to overwrite part of the drive, but also in case it finds a new home somewhere.

10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard, and 10.6 Snow Leopard

  • With 10.6 Snow Leopard and earlier, you can simply restore the dmg/iso image onto your installation medium.
  • Note: Most PPC Macs cannot boot from USB, you may need to use a (powered) external hard drive, or burn to a DVD.
  • DMG/ISOs may be available from sites like archive.org or isoriver.com (obtaining from anywhere other than Apple directly, is 100% at your own risk!)

10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion

  1. The installers is no longer available in the App Store, so download Installer from Apple:
  2. Double click to mount the DMG to mount it.
  3. Open Terminal.app and run the following commands:

$ cd /Volumes/Install\ Mac\ OS\ X
$ mkdir ~/Desktop/MtLion
$ cp InstallMacOSX.pkg ~/Desktop/MtLion
$ cd ~/Desktop/MtLion
$ mv InstallMacOSX.pkg InstallMacOSX.xar
$ xar -xf InstallMacOSX.xar
$ mv InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg .
$ asr imagescan --source InstallESD.dmg
$ sudo asr restore --source InstallESD.dmg --target /dev/disk3s2 –-erase

  • Mind the space+period at the end of line 7.
  • Make sure to choose the proper volume in line 9.
  • Similar process (file paths will differ slightly) for 10.7 Lion.
  • https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2077

10.9 Mavericks


10.10 Yosemite and later, through 12.4 Monterey

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ Sierra.app

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

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

$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

  • Note that “--applicationpath...” is required for Sierra and earlier, but not for High Sierra and later.
  • Something is broken in the Sierra installer, and createinstallmedia was giving me an error “not a valid mount point“. Thanks to a MacRumors forum post from user: EricFromCanada, the following command will edit a plist file, and it should work:

$ sudo plutil -replace CFBundleShortVersionString -string "12.6.03" Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Info.plist
$ sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ Sierra.app


You now theoretically can make a bootable installer for every version of OS X/macOS from 10.4 Tiger through 12.4 Monterey.


Other notes

Along the way, for versions of macOS that have expired certificates, I found two semi-manual processes to make USB Installation Media. In the end, while they did “work,” I did not need to employ these methods, but they may come in handy the next time the certificates expire.

Centurios Blog method:

$ cd /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X
$ mkdir ~/Desktop/Yosemite
$ cp InstallMacOSX.pkg ~/Desktop/Yosemite
$ cd ~/Desktop/Yosemite
$ pkgutil --expand InstallMacOSX.pkg yosemite
$ ls -F yosemite
Distribution* InstallMacOSX.pkg/ Resources/
$ cd yosemite/InstallMacOSX.pkg/
$ tar -xvf Payload
...file listing...
$ mv InstallESD.dmg Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/
$ sudo Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia" --volume /Volumes/Yosemite --applicationpath Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app

If the above doesn’t work for 10.10 and greater, there is another more manual process here, but there’s some funkiness with the installation:

$ cd /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X
$ mkdir ~/Desktop/Yosemite
$ cp InstallMacOSX.pkg ~/Desktop/Yosemite
$ cd ~/Desktop/Yosemite
% mv InstallMacOSX.pkg InstallMacOSX.xar
$ xar -xf InstallMacOSX.xar
$ mv InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg .
$ hdiutil attach InstallESD.dmg
$ cp /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg .
$ asr imagescan --source BaseSystem.dmg
$ sudo asr restore --source BaseSystem.dmg --target /dev/disk3s2 –-erase
$ rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
$ cp -R /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/
$ cp -R /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem* /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/

Sources:

Notes from a nutrition lecture on Youtube

I took these notes, but forgot to cite who gave the talk, or bookmark the video.

  • No refund sugars or grains
  • Eat healthy sources of dietary fat
  • Processed foods are blatantly unhealthy
  • Nourishing your body through whole foods
  • Pursuing greater health through nutrition
  • The way we’re doing things now ain’t working

 

  • Eat real food
  • Test blood glucose
  • Realize people with insulin resistance need this most
  • Believe in importance of macros
  • Produce ketones through fasting
  • Consume saturated and mono-unsaturated fats
  • Realize ketosis is a natural metabolic state
  • We are not the same

 

  • Don’t eat CRAP
  • Carbonated drinks
  • Refined carbohydrates
  • Added sugar
  • Processed foods

-That Sugar film

Awe Nuts!

I’m trying to get a handle on what to keep around in terms of snack foods. Nuts and seeds seem like an obvious choice, as they’re a source of protein and good fats, as well as digestible fiber. From looking at a few websites it seems the best ones (in terms of net carbs) are:

  • Brazil Nuts (4.24)
  • Pecans (4.26)
  • Macadamia (5.22)
  • Hazelnuts (7)
  • Walnuts (7.01)
  • Coconut (unsweetened) (7.35)
  • Flax Seeds (1.58)
  • Hemp Seeds (4.67)
  • Chia Seeds (7.72)

* net carbs, per 100g serving
* source: KetoSummit

Peanuts fell within the range, but they’re a legume, and the source of some controversy. Nuts/seeds that are higher in carbs include: Chestnuts (37), Pumpkin seeds (35), Cashews (27), Pistachios (18), Sesame Seeds (12), Sunflower Seeds (11), Pine Nuts (9) and Almonds (9).

I’m not a big fan of Brazil Nuts, but I do like Pecans, and Macadamia Nuts, Walnuts on occasion, and coconut products. Hazelnuts, or more appropriately Filberts, are a local staple, so I’m trying to learn to like them more. I am sad to phase out Cashews and Pistachios, but that might be limiting them as opposed to avoiding altogether.