How to make a bootable macOS High Sierra install disk on USB or Thunderbolt drive

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  • Reply 21 of 27
    FYI, content caching is no longer part of macOS server, it is just in the sharing preferences of any Mac running High Sierra.
    Soli
  • Reply 22 of 27
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,837administrator
    FYI, content caching is no longer part of macOS server, it is just in the sharing preferences of any Mac running High Sierra.
    Would you look at that! So it is. 

    You learn something new and different every day. That'll make the Tip about it a lot easier.
  • Reply 23 of 27
    blah64blah64 Posts: 993member
    The problem with these instructions is that for many people the actual installer doesn't download right away, but instead a small (19MB) intermediate "installer-downloader" is downloaded instead.  There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who gets the actual installer and who gets the downloader app.  See more info here:
        http://osxdaily.com/2017/09/27/download-complete-macos-high-sierra-installer

    Some time back I tried various tips and tricks one afternoon to get the actual installer to download without success.  It was pretty annoying, especially since over the years I've built USB installers for Mavericks, Yosemite, ElCap and Sierra using createinstallmedia without any issues.  (BTW, you can remove the identifying MAS receipt without problem from the installer if you don't want that info propagating to the various machines you might install/upgrade.  But I digress...)

    I didn't want to actually launch what appeared to be an installer on the machine I was using.  Due to the size it's clear it wasn't the full installer, but it was not clear at all what would happen if it was opened.  Since it wasn't a big deal to me (no real need/desire to upgrade at the time in any case) I didn't pursue it.

    After reading this AI article just now, I went back to see if there was any better info on the problem and found a Dec 11 post by someone called Crazy Forthreed late in the comments on the above article that makes better sense to me.  I haven't tried yet, but I'll paste it here in case anyone is having similar problems and wants to give it a go.  If it helps, please post something here.

    Crazy Forthreed says:

    If you go ahead and run the 19MB installer (/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra), it will download the remaining install files and place them under /macOS Install Data.
    Simply abort the install when it asks which disk you want to install to.

    To restore the ability to create install media, do the following:
    Open Terminal and run: sudo -s
    Enter admin credentials to gain root access and cut-n-paste the following 3 commands

    mkdir /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport
    cd /macOS\ Install\ Data
    find . -mount | cpio -pvdm /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport

    You can now use the normal createinstallmedia command:

    cd /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources
    ./createinstallmedia –help



  • Reply 24 of 27
    I tried to do a fresh install of High Sierra on my Mac mini late 2012. I made a bootable disk with 3 different media, it never worked. 
    I found out what the problem was. High Sierra doesn't support Mac mini with Fusion Drive! 
  • Reply 25 of 27
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,837administrator
    I tried to do a fresh install of High Sierra on my Mac mini late 2012. I made a bootable disk with 3 different media, it never worked. 
    I found out what the problem was. High Sierra doesn't support Mac mini with Fusion Drive! 
    That's not right. High Sierra just won't convert the fusion drive to APFS. It works fine otherwise.
  • Reply 26 of 27
    I tried to do a fresh install of High Sierra on my Mac mini late 2012. I made a bootable disk with 3 different media, it never worked. 
    I found out what the problem was. High Sierra doesn't support Mac mini with Fusion Drive! 
    That's not right. High Sierra just won't convert the fusion drive to APFS. It works fine otherwise.
    I searched and I see that many people has the same problem I have. 
    https://macriot.com/mcrt/?p=2823

    Btw I listen to your podcast every week. Thanks! :D 
    edited March 2018
  • Reply 27 of 27
    Instead of using Terminal - I downloaded High Sierra from the App store and then once it auto-opened, I left it opened and launched 'Disk Utility'.  With a USB drive inserted, on disk utility and select that USB drive.  Select 'Restore' from the top selection bar, then select 'InstallESD' as the drive to restore from.  This will copy the High Sierra install files to the USB drive.
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