HT201372: Create a bootable installer for OS X

Learn about Create a bootable installer for OS X
Paul Korntheuer

Q: Command not found.

I'm trying to create a bootable USB stick - I've already formatted it and copied the OSX Installer to it. But I'm failing at Unix 101 with my path...

 

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

 

The name of my USB is called - ElCapInstaller

 

Paul

Posted on Apr 14, 2016 7:44 AM

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Q: Command not found.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by keg55,Apple recommended

    keg55 keg55 Apr 14, 2016 2:18 PM in response to Paul Korntheuer
    Level 6 (8,368 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 2:18 PM in response to Paul Korntheuer

    You only need to format the USB thumb drive to OS X Extended (Journaled) with the GUID partition scheme and a name of MyVolume. Do not put the Install OS X El Capitan.app file on the thumb drive.

     

    Then use the sudo command to create your installer. The Terminal command you show is correct. So, make sure you have the Install OS X El Capitan.app file in your /Applications folder and your USB thumb drive partition is named MyVolume because the command will use those paths. See below in BOLD. The command is looking for your source file in Applications and your destination as MyVolume.

     

    sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

  • by Paul Korntheuer,

    Paul Korntheuer Paul Korntheuer Apr 14, 2016 2:25 PM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (95 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 2:25 PM in response to keg55

    It worked. I believe the issue may have been that I have multiple logon accounts on this computer. In Terminal, it was under my account with the path to Applications in my account, not the Applications root folder. (?)

    In any case, it worked. Much appreciated. Next up is replacing a hard drive in a friend's MacBook Pro5,4 with an SSD drive. I should be able to boot up the MBP with the USB stick, install 10.11.4 and then restore the new drive using a Time Machine Backup from an external hard drive.

    Thanks!

    Paul

  • by DJ JOWELL,

    DJ JOWELL DJ JOWELL Apr 19, 2016 8:43 AM in response to Paul Korntheuer
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 19, 2016 8:43 AM in response to Paul Korntheuer

    To make it easy just rename your thumb drive to MyVolume and be sure to have over 6G of storage on it. Also make sure that you have completely downloaded El Caption and make sure it is in your Applications folder.