Weetnie
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Migrate from Mavericks to El Capitan

I have a MacBook Pro (mid 2010 running Mavericks) and would like to do a clean installation of El Capitan on it. Would it be possible to use Migration Assistant to migrate the latest Mavericks Time Machine backup (on a NAS) to this clean installation? In other words is there backward compatibility?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), null

Posted on Apr 13, 2016 3:41 AM

by Lexiepex,Solvedanswer
Lexiepex Lexiepex
Level 6 (10,477 points)
Mac OS X
A:

If you migrate to another mac, use MigrationAssistant, this brings over all your stuff.

if you upgrade in the same mac, do not use MigrationAssistant, you can just upgrade without formatting first and then you have everythingon it.

Posted on Apr 13, 2016 7:24 AM

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Weetnie

Q: Migrate from Mavericks to El Capitan

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Apr 13, 2016 4:44 AM in response to Weetnie
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 4:44 AM in response to Weetnie

    It is not quite clear what you want to accomplish:

    a clean install means that you reinstall everything apps/tools afterwards and then copy use userdata from a backup:

    If you want to use TM, you can use your latest user data and restore.

    MigrationAssitant is what you can use when you switch to a new mac and migrate.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Apr 13, 2016 4:51 AM in response to Weetnie
    Level 5 (6,211 points)
    Mac App Store
    Apr 13, 2016 4:51 AM in response to Weetnie

    If you mean will all the applications you have running in Mavericks be compatible with El Capitan, probably not. At the least you would have to upgrade some apps.

  • by Weetnie,

    Weetnie Weetnie Apr 13, 2016 7:07 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 7:07 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Thank you for the response. I would like to perform what this document Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support suggests. I am not to sure from the document whether there is a backward compatibilty between Migration Assistant on El Capitan and the latest TM backup of Mavericks - latest means the one I do before I wipe the disk and do this How to reinstall OS X on your Mac - Apple Support.

    And more: Will MA find and recognise the TM backup if the computer names are different? The rules are not clear from the said document.

  • by Lexiepex,Solvedanswer

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Apr 13, 2016 7:24 AM in response to Weetnie
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 7:24 AM in response to Weetnie

    If you migrate to another mac, use MigrationAssistant, this brings over all your stuff.

    if you upgrade in the same mac, do not use MigrationAssistant, you can just upgrade without formatting first and then you have everythingon it.

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Apr 24, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Weetnie
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 24, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Weetnie

    It appears you want to erase your Macintosh HD, install OS X El Capitan and migrate your user accounts, settings and data onto the erased drive.

     

    You can create a USB thumb drive installer (8GB) with OS X El Capitan - 10.11.4. Boot from this thumb drive. Open Disk Utility to erase your MBP internal Macintosh HD; then Reinstall OS X from the OS X Utilities Menu. During Setup after installation, you can use the Setup Assistant to migrate what you want from your Time Machine back up (local or networked). If your back up is networked, you will be prompted to log into it with a valid user account.

     

    It doesn't matter if your reinstall has a different computer name than what was previously used. You can still migrate the data over.

  • by Tracy Reynolds,

    Tracy Reynolds Tracy Reynolds Apr 13, 2016 9:54 AM in response to keg55
    Level 3 (594 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 9:54 AM in response to keg55

    I think you have almost answered the OP's question.  Specifically, will the Migration Assistant working in El Capitan migrate info from a Mavericks Time machine backup?  I haven't done this but I don't know why it would not work.  How else can you update the OS?

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Apr 13, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Weetnie
    Level 6 (12,147 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 10:16 AM in response to Weetnie

    In short, yes, you should be able to use Migration Assistant to bring your content from a Time Machine backup of Mavericks into a fresh install of El Capitan.


    However, I would strongly advise you to also make a full clone of your Mavericks drive to a second external drive. That not only provides additional security, but in case something goes wrong you can immediately boot from the clone and be right back where you were before the update. Also, it *may* be faster to do the migration from that clone instead of from the Time Machine backup.

     

    I never do a major upgrade without and up to date Time Machine backup and one full clone.

     

    To make a clone you can use the free version of SuperDuper! - it is well worth the price of admission to the full version for continuously backing up ("incremental backups", where the software compares the drive and the backup and only copies what is necessary are way faster than a full backup). The free version only does the full backup, but since is the first one you need a full backup anyway.

     

    Carbon Copy Cloner is another reputed alternative. I mention SuperDuper! first because that is what I have been using for many years.

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Apr 13, 2016 10:26 AM in response to Tracy Reynolds
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 13, 2016 10:26 AM in response to Tracy Reynolds

    Tracy Reynolds wrote:

     

    Specifically, will the Migration Assistant working in El Capitan migrate info from a Mavericks Time machine backup?  I haven't done this but I don't know why it would not work.  How else can you update the OS?

    That, I don't know. I've always used Setup Migration from an OS X install to migrate. I've never used Migration Assistant after the fact. I would think it would work.