Creating a bootable disk image on an external drive from a time machine save
Hello,
I recently wiped my macbook and upgraded from Mountain Lion to Sierra as things were getting too messy. Before doing so I created a single time machine backup (on drive Ext2 along with a duplicate on Ext1) which I have not restored because I wanted a clean start. However, some of the files on that backup are only accessible through software I do not want to reinstall (compatibility issues with new versions and tons of weird extensions to hunt for again). If I had thought my stuff through I'd have made a bootable disk image, which is what I'm trying to do now.
From what I've read, the only way to do so is to reinstall the exact same version of Mountain Lion onto an external drive (Ext1) then restore the time machine backup (from Ext2).
However, as this would really be a pain to go through, I figured I might ask if it would it be sufficient to dump all of Backups.backupdb/My Mac/save-date/Macintosh HD/'s content into an empty disk image, as I only have a single backup date containing everything down to the hidden files. I don't know much about the way an OS works, so this might be a completely ridiculous idea.
If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to stick to the first option. In that case, how do I figure out the proper OSX and get the installer? As I've recently installed Sierra I know the rest of the process
