I'm trying to find an answer for user that needs the full installer for High Sierra. He selects to download macOS High Sierra from the App Store. However, the installer arrives as a small 19 MB file that does not include the BaseInstall.dmg or any other components of the actual installer. Trash and download again with same results. He tried on both iMac and MacBook Pro.
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)
I was having this issue tonight and had read through a lot of forums without any answer.
When I would select download on the High Sierra page within the MacApp Store - It was only downloading the 19MB file as many have mentioned - however I couldn't get the full installer.
I gave up searching for the answer and I removed the 19MB installer from the Applications folder and emptied the trash.
I then restarted the computer and ran all the software updates to current Operating System (Sierra).
I went back into the MacApp store and selected download on the High Sierra OS. It the downloaded the full 5.0GB file.
Can't believe it was that easy. Hopefully this can help some other people too.
Ooops, meant to hit Helpful for John not myself. Now I can't add helpful for John. Is there a way to edit Helpful and Solved?
I suppose the reason will remain a mystery.
Was your El Capitan Mac 10.11.6 as I stated above?
You rock!!!!
Tried Safe Mode?
What about creating a new, test User Account, then logging in under the App Store with the Apple ID used for his usual account.
No proxy servers?
If the problem persists it's likely to be caused by something external to the Macs: the particular network, his ISP, or the DNS Server(s) used. The solution is to use different ones.
It is seeming fairly likely that the small download is related to the firmware update. Still something of a problem, though, since some are reporting that they can’t salvage the install app when the process begins with the stub installer.
The thread at Macintouch is dealing with all issues related to High Sierra, so as you say, it’s a lot to work through, but there are some very savvy folks there and the information tends to be very good. It’s one of my daily must-see sites.
macOS High Sierra installer downloads as 19 MB file
