Tried to install os x el capitan and received this error message INSTALL_ERROR_DISTRIBUTION_SIGNED_BY_APPLE

Bad download. Delete the file and re-download it. Also, see; Basic Steps for Upgrading OS X. And, see the links below under More Like This.

I have nothing further to suggest. I've never seen the error myself. I suggest you do a Google search for "INSTALL_ERROR_DISTRIBUTION_SIGNED_BY_APPLE" that should yield a number of links with different solutions such as having an out of sync clock - check you have the correct time. There were several others.

Greetings staceybeee,

I'm sorry to hear that you're having an issue with downloading OS X El Capitan. I was actually able to resolve this issue.

I opened up the console and received an error command about a file being found in /var/folders/rz/XXXXX-XXXXXX/C/com.apple.appstore/

I opened up Finder > Go > Go to Folder and typed in /var/folders/ and went into RZ went into the file name which was replaced by X and I took that com.apple.appstore folder and pushed it into the trash can. I was immediately able to use the App Store and download OS X El Capitan.

I hope this helps!

TY quiz helper! this worked for me

This was also frustrating me to no end! Here's what worked for me:

I had Lion 10.7.5 and tried to upgrade to El Capitan via the App Store. Since I had tried Keychain Access and Clock, none of which worked, I called Apple Support.

Since I could still access everything in the App Store, except the upgrade, they suggested going into my purchase history and downloading Lion again. I was reluctant, as I didn't want to mess up my existing customization of my software. But, what was the alternative? So I did. It worked! However, although my bookmarks were there, they reverted to regular folders, where once I had each icon customized. Still, I was FINALLY able to access and download El Capitan and nothing else had changed. (Except I got newer versions of Safari, Photos and iMovie.) Oh, and there's no more iPhoto. It migrates over to Photos.

I don't think it matters which version of software you are running. As long as you're upgrading, it seems this should work.

You're welcome. I was able to fix it again on another one of my computers using this exact troubleshooting.

Hi quizhelper,

I have a macbook air 11, having the same problem but when I tried your method I can only see 3 folders - bt, mv, zz.

Would you know where to go from here?

Thanks!

Greetings Jase,

I would pull up the Console Application found in Applications > Utilities or use Spotlight (Magnifying Glass in the Upper right Corner) and click on the disclosure triangle next to the last few commands.

You may need to reproduce the error message by opening up the App Store and attempting to redownload it again so that way the error message can be clear at the bottom.

Once you find out what the file path is from the Console you can go to the file file /var/folders/ and follow the file path specific to your computer. Remove the com.apple.AppStore file.

Jase, if you don't want to used the console, look through all the folders until you find com.apple.appstore folder. I found mine in /var/folders/k_/C

Once I moved it to the trash the problem was instantly fixed. I wasn't able to get any information from the "Learn More" option in the error window so I had to just search, but it seems that the problem is located in /var/folders.

Good luck!

Help! This is what I found:

2/26/16 5:40:45.342 PM App Store: FRPurchaseManager: Preflight operation for 1018109117 failed with error: Error Domain=com.apple.appstore Code=0 "INSTALL_ERROR_DISTRIBUTION_SIGNED_BY_APPLE" UserInfo=0x10edb36d0 {NSLocalizedFailureReason=Distribution file "file://localhost/var/folders/6x/k85xsgdj7q1dygqgkfjp30qc0000gn/C/com.apple.app store/1018109117/preflight.pfpkg" is not signed by apple, NSLocalizedDescription=INSTALL_ERROR_DISTRIBUTION_SIGNED_BY_APPLE, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe0cc1cf270 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (PKProductErrorDomain error 0.)"}

What is going wrong? Can anyone help me get El Capitan loaded?

Thanks in advance!

I don't know what I did, but it's loading, thanks for reading anyway!

Hi quizhelper,

Thanks for your prompt response and detailed instructions, I'll try this right now! 🙂

Jase

Brilliant. You guys are great, thank you Quizhelper and zsoltsilver! Both instructions were perfect, found the message in console originally and traced path to the source of the problem with was the preflight.pfpkg file and deleted it.

Downloading now!

Thanks a million 🙂

Yep, mine was in the C folder too 🙂 Thanks!!