Cannot install software on macOS "The installation failed"

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Level 1

26 points

Cannot install software on macOS "The installation failed"

I cannot install any software using the Installer app where it takes you through the steps from Introduction to Summary. The error occurs in Summary saying that the Installer encountered an error.

Initially I had problems installing Tableau thinking it was an error with Tableau but it seems all apps have this issue and can't work out why.

What I get is the following:

Attached is the Installer report from trying to install a couple of app including Apple's own.

Installer log 2

Installer log 1

Also, not sure if the issue is related but Im also not able to update macOS. It downloads fine but the installation doesn't work and it ends up logging into the current version installed with an error in the notification. I have 10.15.4 but haven't been able to install 10.15.5 and 10.15.6.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 6, 2020 5:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

73,134 points

Aug 11, 2020 3:24 AM in response to erahi

Yes, I mean erase and install and then only migrate the user accounts from the backup.

In addition to the Time Machine I also make a bootable clone with SuperDuper! before I erase the drive. Not only this allows me to boot into it if necessary; plus since we’re about to erase the drive we don’t want to be left with one single instance of our data.

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Answer 2

i_rina

Community Specialist

Aug 10, 2020 5:43 AM in response to erahi

Hello erahi!

We understand you are having some issues with installing apps on your iMac and we can definitely see how that would be a problem. We can help. Let's try a few different steps to narrow down the cause

To start, test this issue in a test user account to see if it continues: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

After that check to make sure you have storage space to install these applications: How to free up storage space on your Mac

Finally try installing the latest macOS update via macOS recovery using the "Option-⌘-R" from this article: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery

We hope those steps help get this issue resolved so you can install those applications! Have a great rest of your day.

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Answer 3

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Aug 10, 2020 1:24 PM in response to erahi

erahi,

Thanks for trying those steps and updating us! Let's see if this issue is related to the security settings on your device. If you go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Allow apps downloaded from, is that set to "App Store" or "App Store and identified developers"? Try setting it to the second option if not done already and testing once more. This article goes into more detail about securely downloading apps from third parties as well: Safely open apps on your Mac

If that does not resolve the issue, try running First Aid on your disk to see if the drive itself is causing the trouble: How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility

Take care!

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Answer 4

erahi Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 13, 2020 4:26 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thank you, clean install of macOS worked! I was able to install Tableau and all the other apps.

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Answer 5

Aug 12, 2020 1:25 AM in response to erahi

If you erase and install from recovery, I believe you will get whatever version of the OS your mac shipped with. This should still work but presumably take a long time. Of course you can then update that system.

An alternative may be to have a friend downloading and creating the installer for you.

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Answer 6

Aug 11, 2020 1:58 AM in response to erahi

The report does not show any obvious bad actors, but it does show one thing:

This system has been upgraded over several major versions of OS X and macOS.

There are several extensions that are now too old and could cause issues. You even even have stuff in “StartupItems”, which doesn’t work ever since OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

I think it is high time to do a clean install.

I can give you a full recipe for that when I am back at my mac later today, but don’t try anything before you have solid BACKUP.

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Answer 7

Aug 10, 2020 1:47 PM in response to erahi

Does installation work in Safe Mode?

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here.

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Answer 8

Ronasara

Level 6

15,519 points

Aug 10, 2020 3:46 PM in response to erahi

Here is another thought. Many times I've found that people encounter such problems because they did the download via wi fi rather than a direct connection to their router/modem. With wi fi, it's often possible that corruption occurs because so much data is being downloaded (unless you have interruptions in your internet). Here are two options I have found to help. Temporarily move the computer and use a wired ethernet connection to do downloads, or throw out your downloaded file and retry it until you get one that works. Good luck.

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Answer 9

erahi Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 12, 2020 1:29 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204904

Using Option-⌘-R we can update to the latest macOS, which should be 10.15.6 or either way use ⌘-R which will install 10.15.6, which is what I have currently installed.

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Answer 10

erahi Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 10, 2020 10:02 AM in response to i_rina

Hi,

I tried this on a new Standard user account and the issue still occurs both with Tableau and macOS Public Beta Access Utility.

I have adequate storage space of 800GB.

I have installed the latest MacOS of 10.15.6 via Recovery Mode however the installation issue is still there.

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Answer 11

erahi Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 10, 2020 5:44 PM in response to chris_g1

Hi,

"App Store and identified developers" had already been and it hasn't fixed the issue. This was one of the troubleshooting steps Tableau had suggested from the start.

I ran First Aid on all drives as suggested and that hasn't fixed the installation issue

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Answer 12

erahi Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 11, 2020 2:37 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi, yes I agree and was thinking of doing it anyway in time for Big Sur and I have never done one before in the 15 years I've used Mac.

When you mention clean install, does this mean erasing the disk entirely, re-installing latest version macOS, and restoring files only and not restoring things like settings, Library folder, apps and all their baggage like preference files etc?

I currently have Time Machine backups from July until one hour ago.

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Answer 13

Aug 11, 2020 8:50 AM in response to erahi

Here is how I suggest you do a clean install:

1) VERY IMPORTANT - BACKUP! You are about to erase your system drive. Never do that without a backup - well, actually, you should have at least two... I recommend a Time Machine on one drive, and a full clone of your system drive in a separate one.

2) Download the full Catalina installer from the App Store. If the installer starts automatically, quit it.

3) Create an installer drive on a thumb drive, following the instructions here:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Supportsupport.apple.com › en-us

4) On recent macs, you may need to authorize booting from an external drive, which may be disabled by default. You do this in "Boot Security Utility".

Information about this is available in this support document:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208198

---- do not proceed further without a backup!!!! ----

5) Restart your mac holding the Option key, and select that installer disk to boot your mac

6) Use Disk Utility to reformat your internal drive as APFS

7) Quit Disk Utility and start the installer.

8) When asked, choose to migrate content from "another mac, time machine or drive".

IMPORTANT: elect to migrate ONLY user accounts; NOT applications, settings or other files

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