Then follow these steps to create your bootable macOS Mojave drive. Connect your drive to your Mac. Launch Install Disk Creator. In the main window, you’ll see a pop-up menu under. Skip this step if you are using NTFS. Create the folder /AIO/File/PartIMG on the USB drive and copy the Clover.img and OSX10.14.0Installer.hfs files to this folder. Run PartIMGMapper.exe. Select Clover.img in row 1. Select OSX10.14.0Installer.hfs in row 2. You need to select HFS/HFS+ under Type. A macOS Catalina USB install drive is a great tool to have on hand to for quick and easy macOS 10.15 reinstalls. We show you how in this video tutorial.
Back in March, I authored a post on using DeployStudio to image the latest macOS releases that utilized APFS formatting. With the release of Catalina, I had figured this method of preparing machines would end. This is because of Catalina’s unique method of partitioning the APFS container into multiple sections, including both a read-only system volume and a writeable data volume. However, thanks to an updated version of AutoDMG, DeployStudio lives again.
As far as the steps to deploy an APFS image to a machine using DeployStudio, refer to the other article, nothing has changed. Also, remember that this will not work on machines with a T2 chip. The writing is on the wall; that being said, I still have a lot of non-T2 chip machines which makes this worthwhile.
The key here is using the latest beta version of AutoDMG (at the time of writing this, it is v1.10b587). According to the release notes, it supports creating DMGs of macOS Catalina. However, if you try and create a DMG like normal using AutoDMG, you’ll get an error suggesting that InstallInfo.plist is not present in the Catalina installer (which isn’t true). After reading through some of the reported issues with the latest beta, it was suggested that creating a DMG with the Catalina installer on it, then mounting said DMG and using the Catalina installer from that will resolve the issue. Here is what I had success with:
- First of all, make sure you’re performing this on a computer with plenty of free space. You not only have to download the full macOS Catalina installer, you also have to copy it onto a DMG, and then create the final deployable DMG. This will take up roughly 30 GB of storage, so be prepared.
- Download the latest version of AutoDMG (linked to above).
- Download DosDude’s Catalina Patcher Tool to aid in downloading a full macOS Catalina installer. Upon opening the Patcher Tool, you’ll want to click Continue until you see this screen and can click Download a Copy. If you try downloading Catalina from the App Store, you may get a partial installer app that won’t work with AutoDMG. Make sure to use the Patcher Tool. Once you have downloaded a full macOS Catalina Installer app, you can quit the Patcher Tool.
- The macOS Catalina Installer app should now be present in your ~/Downloads folder. Create a new folder (anywhere, probably easiest just in your Downloads folder) and place the Catalina installer inside of the folder.
- Open the Disk Utility application and navigate to Menu Bar > File > New Image > Image from Folder… I suggest not compressing the disk image, as I have had compression cause issues with mounting/cloning/copying in the past. You can change the Image Format from Compressed to Read-Only. Select the folder that the macOS Catalina installer is in (not the installer itself) and click Save. This will begin a process which creates a disk image with the macOS Catalina Installer on it. For some strange reason, this is what will resolve the error that AutoDMG throws up when trying to create a deployable Catalina disk image.
- After the disk image is created, mount the disk image. Open AutoDMG and drag the macOS Catalina installer app from the disk image onto AutoDMG (like usual).At this point, it’s business as usual. AutoDMG will create an image that you can copy to your DeployStudio repository and deploy to your Macs. Remember that you must select “First Disk Available” when deploying an APFS image in DeployStudio in order for it to work correctly.
Hopefully this helps someone! If you have non-T2 chip Macs that ever need re-imaging, and you happen to already have access to a DeployStudio server, it’s a no brainer. Thanks for reading!
Peace,
Joel
macOS 10.15, code name for Catalina, is the latest operating system shipped for Mac desktop and laptops. And it is the right time to create a bootable USB install USB based on Catalina becasue the signing certificates for old version of macOS and OS X are expired soon. It means only macOS Catalina is available for future macOS install. So before the Mac goes into trouble or just want to install a fresh copy of Catalina, it is highly recommend making a bootable USB installer right now!
Looking for make a bootable USB installer for macOS Catalina for your Mac device but don't know how? Well, this article will guide you straight away with all the preparatory tips and steps to create a bootable macOS Catalina USB install drive in minutes.
Part 1: Preparation for Making a Bootable macOS Catalina Install USB
Before we get started for creating bootable macOS Catalina install USB, there are a few things we should pay attention to. This will avaoid the portential issue within the installation process.
1. An accessible Mac computer where you can download and make the bootable installation drive.
2. An USB drive with a minimum storage capacity of 16 GB. Also, it should be formatted to APFS.
3. Make sure there are enough free space on Mac. The Installer file is over 8G.
Part 2: Download a Copy of Bootable macOS Catalina Installer
There are two ways to download macOS Catalina 10.15. The most common way is via Mac App Store or you can use the third-party apps, which is a good alternative if the operation could not completed successful in App store. This happens a lot at least on my MacBook Pro.
Step 1: Open App Store on Mac and type 'Catalina' in search bar.
Step 2: The macOS Catalina install app appears in search result and click 'Get' button. Now the Software Update interface shows up, asking if you want to download macOS Catalina.
Step 3: Confirm the operation and the system starts to download macOS Catalina Installer. Now wait for the task to be completed. You will find the an app named Install macOS Catalina in Application folder. That's the file for OS installation.
Part 3: Create Bootable macOS Catalina USB Using DMG Editor
If you have download macOS Catalina DMG file, then UUByte DMG Editor is the only tool you can find to make a macOS bootable USB from DMG disk image. However, if you downlaoded the Catalina install app from App store, please skip this part and read the following recommendations.
Step 1: Click above button to download a copy of UUByte DMG Editor.
Step 2: Install the app on a Windows PC or Mac and insert an USB drive into the computer.
Disk Creator Catalina
Step 3: There are three options you can see from the main window. Click 'Burn' button in this step for creating bootable USB.
Step 4: Click 'Browse' button to import the macOS Catalina dmg file into DMG Editor and select the correct USB drive, where the dmg file will be copied to. Now, click 'Burn' button to initial the task.
Step 5: There is a progress bard associated to this process and you can see the estimated time. Wait untile you get 'burning completely' message. This means the burning process is finished successfully and the USB is now bootable!
Eject the USB drive from Mac and insert it to the device where macOS needs to be installed. And follow the instructions to install macOS when the installation wizard is loaded.
Part 4: Create Bootable macOS Catalina USB Using Install Disk Creator
When you get the macOS 10.15 Catalina install file, the next move is to burn the file to USB. However, it is not a single copy-paste. The bootable information should be written to USB at the same time. So you must use third-party apps to get it done. At here, we are using Install Disk Creator, one of the best GUI programs to make a bootable USB from macOS.
Step 1: Click this link to download Install Disk Creator.
Step 2: Unzip the file on Mac and drag the app icon to Application folder. Open the app from Launchpad and insert an USB drive into Mac.
Install Disk Creator Catalina
Step 3: From the app interface, click the USB drive name you just installed and add macOS Catalina Install App file in Application folder. Then click 'Create Installer' to write boot information and copy installation files to USB.
Part 5: Create Bootable macOS Catalina Install USB via Patcher App
You might get this error when trying to download macOS Catalina from App Store. And that's why we need to use third-party apps to replace Mac App Store.
macOS Catalina Patcher is a great utility for creating USB flash drive installer for Mac devices that don't support macOS Catalina. The Patcher tool is available with several new updates and features. However, these updates are not applicable for all the Mac users to upgrade their devices to the latest desktop iOS version. This tool is used for the unofficial installation of macOS Catalina on Macs that wouldn’t normally support an upgrade to Catalina.
Step 1: Connect the USB to Mac and format it to OS X Extended with Disk Utility app.
Step 2: Download the latest version of macOS Catalina Patcher. Go to Tools and click 'Download a Copy' to download the installer app.
Step 3: It will take some while to complete the download as its size is around 8GB. When the download is finished, open macOS Catalina Patcher app and click 'Browse a copy' option to add the downloaded installer file (Install macOS Catalina) in Application folder. Then choose the target USB drive and start the copying installation files to USB.
Step 4: Reboot Mac and hold on to the Option button. Startup Manager will appear on the screen. Nowm use the arrow keys to choose the bootable USB flash drive and click on Return.
Step 5: Open Disk Utility app and format the hard drive to APFS. From the Install macOS screen, select the hard drive on Mac to install the OS.
Step 6: As the installation process is done, shut down the Mac, and reboot back to the install USB drive. This is to ensure post-install patches on that device so that Catalina supports the system.
Step 7: Returning to macOS Recovery environment, hit 'macOS Post Install'. The installer will automatically choose all the accurate patches needed for your device, by default. Then hit Apply Patches and let the process complete. and allow the process to complete. After applying the patches, choose 'Force Cache Rebuild' and hit Restart. Now your device will reboot, where you can easily start the macOS Catalina installation.
Part 6: Make Bootable macOS Catalina Install USB Using Terminal
Another choice to create a bootable macOS USB is through Terminal app. It is completely free and there is no need to install addition apps. However, it takes more time to figure out how it works.
Step 1: Download a copy of macOS Catalina according to the above section.
Step 2: Head to Applications folder. Then right-click on the macOS Catalina Install app icon and pick Show Package Contents. Access Contents and go to Resources folder.
Step 3: Open Terminal app and enter 'sudo' command.
Step 4: Drag the createinstallmedia to Terminal window through the Finder location as shown in Step 4.
Step 5: Type 'volume' and put a space. Head over to Finder -> Go -> Go to Folder, enter '/Volumes' and hit Go.
Disk Maker Catalina
Step 6: Insert the USB drive to the Mac device, which will then be displayed in Finder window.
Step 7: Fetch the volume of the flash drive to Terminal with a drag-and-drop. Hit Return from keyboard to give in the entire command. Then type your password when notified.
Step 8: When prompted, enter 'y' to proceed followed by hitting return from the keyboard. Now the installation erases all content on USB and the installer files will then be copied to the drive. The process will only take a little while to complete.
Summary
Hopefully, both the tips were helpful in guiding you on how to make bootable macOS Catalina on Mac. However, it is best to go with macOS Catalina Patcher app if your Mac device is compatible with Catalina 101.15 version and only needs a bootable USB drive to install the OS.