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Command not found error bootable OS

"command not found" when using the Catalina Terminal command in this article. Replaced the "MyVolumes" with the actual name of my formatted drive I intend to use to hold the OS and it is plugged in and mounted. Why am I getting this error?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 11, 2023 9:51 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 12, 2023 1:28 PM

Please post the complete command used as well as all output and error messages from that command. This is extremely important when troubleshooting command line issues. We need to see every character and space as each is very important since the command line is very unforgiving.


Either take a screenshot of the Terminal window, or copy everything and paste it here by using the "Code Insertion" tool whose icon looks like "</>" and located on the forum editing toolbar. This is the only way to post text from the command line (or Terminal window) in order to easily view the characters & spaces (uses a special font which makes it much easier to read for us and notice the small details).


Also make sure you have the full Catalina installer app in the Applications folder. Many times the App Store may only download just the stub installer. The full installer is about 5-6GB in size. If you find only the stub installer, then run the stub installer which will download the rest of the installer. Once this download is complete and it asks to proceed, just quit it like you would any normal app. Verify the installer is about 6GB in size and try the Terminal command again.


You can also use the command line to download the full Catalina installer (it may be best to delete the stub installer first before using this option):

softwareupdate  --fetch-full-installer  --full-installer-version  10.15.7


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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 12, 2023 1:28 PM in response to froggiefingaz

Please post the complete command used as well as all output and error messages from that command. This is extremely important when troubleshooting command line issues. We need to see every character and space as each is very important since the command line is very unforgiving.


Either take a screenshot of the Terminal window, or copy everything and paste it here by using the "Code Insertion" tool whose icon looks like "</>" and located on the forum editing toolbar. This is the only way to post text from the command line (or Terminal window) in order to easily view the characters & spaces (uses a special font which makes it much easier to read for us and notice the small details).


Also make sure you have the full Catalina installer app in the Applications folder. Many times the App Store may only download just the stub installer. The full installer is about 5-6GB in size. If you find only the stub installer, then run the stub installer which will download the rest of the installer. Once this download is complete and it asks to proceed, just quit it like you would any normal app. Verify the installer is about 6GB in size and try the Terminal command again.


You can also use the command line to download the full Catalina installer (it may be best to delete the stub installer first before using this option):

softwareupdate  --fetch-full-installer  --full-installer-version  10.15.7


Mar 12, 2023 1:51 PM in response to HWTech

Thank you for the response. I ended up using a bootable clone after pressing a mandatory "update" dialogue box that I thought would being me up to Ventura. Surprisingly it didn't update and preserved 10.15.7 from the bootable clone. I will keep this info in case I run into issues in the future and have to install via Terminal instead. Seems like it could be a more reliable way to do it.

Command not found error bootable OS

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