Can you save the Big Sur installer to install on an external SSD?

Martin's Macs wrote:

I'm currently running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and I'd like to try macOS 11 Big Sur. It used to be that you could download the current OS installer and then use it to install the OS on an external drive. However, Apple has progressively gotten more autocratic in recent years. From the current screen images, it appears that once downloaded that Big Sur will automatically install on my iMac (2017) with no option to stop the process, save the Big Sur installer, and use it to install Big Sur on an external drive. Is that impression accurate?

Also, Apple seems to have blocked directly downloading the Big Sur standalone installer. Is anyone aware of any site that has the Big Sur standalone installer available for download?

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

You can quite the installer like an other app if it launches automatically—this is not an issue.

If the full installer downloaded successfully it will sit in the Applications folder: "Install macOS Big Sur.app"

reference—

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Yes, you can and there are easy instructions for this.

The first step is to download the installer but DON’T install. When it starts, just quit it.

The installer remains in your Applications folder.

Then you just issue ONE command in Terminal to create the usb thumb drive installer.

Just search online for “create Big Sur usb installer” or something similar. You will find an Apple support document. Follow the instructions therein.

As all previous Contributor have outlined, and I use this Terminal Command

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

where " Untitled "in the above command will match the name of the USB Drives Name " Untitled "

Just be sure the drive is at least 16 GB and nothing on it as the command will erase everything before executing.