Mojave - "An error occurred installing macOS" error

Hi All,

So I worked closely with a senior support team member (Thanks, Dean!) for the past week on this issue and I managed to resolve it.

First off, I run VyprVPN, Spoof-Mac (don't ask) and BitDefender.

Now, when I attempted to install Mojave the first time, I encountered an error similar to, if not identical to what has been described here, purportedly related to the BridgeOS failing to personalize and installation falling over with a non-descript error message (throwing codes such as 602, 204).

I captured my system data and sent it over to an engineer and he pointed me to my network connection is the likely root cause. The first suggestion was to create a new network location and test, then create an admin user account and try again, and also attempt to install after disabling/uninstalling any VPN, anti-virus or other network traffic manipulating software (including things that mask hardware addresses) and my firewall.

I also whitelisted *.com.apple.* addresses, and whitelisted the Mojave Installer in my network settings.

None of this worked for me.

However, I did make a significant change to my VPN configuration which finally allowed the installation to complete.

VyprVPN uses a proprietary protocol known as Chameleon which is an encrypted connection masked to outwardly appear as regular traffic. Basically, a VPN designed to not appear to be a VPN (this is to avoid the usual scanning done by certain ISP's, websites or government internet gates that would flag this kind of traffic and restrict or otherwise hinder it). By switching my VPN protocol to OpenVPN (still 256 encrypted but no longer outwardly appearing and regular traffic), my BridgeOS personalization step was able to complete and my installation progressed and finished without issue.

My suspicion is that Apple's listener has a decision tree on incoming connection attempts based on the traffic. As the installer sent its request under Chameleon protocol, I doubt there was any decision in place to handle an Apple installer connection coming in encrypted, looking un-encrypted.

Hopefully, this helps some of you all out!

I too had this issue and retried over 20x to install. I even tried all the fixes here on this page to no avail. The only thing that worked for me was to delete the installer in the applications folder and re-download the installer via ethernet adapter. The install worked on the first try. Hope this helps someone.

Finally managed to install it after numerous SMC resets, etc.

What I did is:

1) In network configuration, disable all "automatic proxy detection", custom DNSes, stop dnsmasq service (local dns)

2) Turn off any VPN software

3) Shutdown and SMC reset

4) Before logging into my account, I've logged into Disk Manager and unlocked it (my disk is encrypted)

5) Logged into main account and finally managed to upgrade.

Realized the WiFi at my work was only getting me 5Mbps. 😟 I went home (where I get 100Mbps), reset SMC again, re-downloaded the installer and it worked just fine.

Hopefully the future holds a lot of ethernet to usb c cables so a lot of us won't have this issue again.

For me worked:

-Remove all old downloaded update-installations from finder

-restart the MBP

-connect via lan to the internet, not WiFi! (with WiFi it fails all the time)

-download the same update again

-quit the automatically starting installation process

- restart the MBP

- open finder and instal the update.

I have no idea, why it worked and it was not my solution, I found that work around here.

But for my MBP 2018 13” it worked at the first try!

I got same problem on MacBook pro, try to resetting the SMC does not work for me. But i finally worked out by installing 10.13.6(Also fail to install this update under normal mode) under safe mode(Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support), and then no problem to install Mojave under normal mode.

Found a solution -

1. Make a bootable drive (on a USB stick) of Mojave.

2. You'll need to change your security levels in the Recovery mode (About Startup Security Utility - Apple Support) to medium security and allow booting from external media.

3. change the startup disk to the USB by clicking on the apple logo on the top left to the USB drive. It'll restart and boot from that USB.

4. It said I needed to update something before installing - I had to use a wired connection after numerous fails which came down to me using wifi. As soon as I connected with a cable, no issues.

5. After that, it should start up in recovery mode again and then you'll be able to 'Upgrade' to Mojave from the bootable drive, instead of reinstalling High Sierra.

Annoying yes - Apple will eventually fix this automatically, but if you want it now - this is the fix!

Try resetting the SMC first. How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

Check any network blocking apps you have installed including little snitch, trip mode, etc. THE INSTALLER NEEDS TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET to download supplementary files. This fixed the issue for me.

Hi, I have the same problem as you, and I think it caused by the T2 chip at first time too. I solved it by reset all the proxy in the network setting and shut down all the proxy application. After that, reinstall the mojave-upgrade application and it works

I am in China and turning on the VPN before running the installer did the trick for me.

Solved here in China by setup the VPN, it seems to be the network problem in my case.

Macbook Pro 2018 15''

Hi all,

After more than 25 downloads it finally worked for me. Below step by step guide that I followed and its hopefully easy to follow for non technical people.

1. Disable Wi-Fi during the complete installation
   1. System Preferences -> Network
   2. Select Wi-Fi and click "Turn Wi-Fi off"
2. Plug in USB LAN Port to connect to your router (you need a special adapter to support USB-C)
3. I had the "AdBlocker Pro" software installed which uses Proxies (you need to clear the proxies)
   1. To disable the Proxies go to System Preferences -> Network -> USB 10/100 ....
   2. Select Advanced -> Proxies
   3. Un-click all protocols
   4. Click Ok and then Apply
   5. Close network
4. In Finder: Open Applications and delete "Install macOS Mojave" and other versions as well
5. Restart your MBP - it is essential that you reboot AFTER you have removed the Proxies - Proxies are still enabled even if you have done as described above until you have done the reboot.
6. In App Store search for "MacOS Mojave" and download
7. Install Mojave (30 min or more)
8. When done re-enable Wi-FI and the proxies you need

I hope it works for you - it did for me. It is all about sequence

Sorry to spam this same answer on every thread, just wanting to spread the word, and perhaps help people save some time, if possible! I struggled with this for 3 days, and I was finally able to install Mojave. Before I proceed with any steps, please confirm that you are perhaps stuck at the same spot I was at:

• The installer stops when there's about 15 seconds remaining, an error shows up saying "An error occurred installing macOS", and clicking on 'OK' quits the installer.
• After this, open up Spotlight Search (Cmd + Space), type 'console' and press Enter. In the console sidebar to the left, click on the /var/log directory, and then select 'install.log' in the resulting sidebar.
• Check whether there are any error messages in the log stating 'Could not personalize boot/firmware bundle' or 'Failed to personalize with options'. You can use the search field to search for these messages. My error log looked exactly like djeux's log here: Re: Re: Mojave - "An error occurred installing macOS" error

If you see an error message that includes the above, the following solution might help:

1. Create a new admin user using the steps mentioned here: http://osxdaily.com/2017/07/17/how-create-new-admin-account-mac/. You will need to reuse the password for admin logins, so use something handy.
2. Login using the newly created admin user and run the Mojave installer again. It should install just fine this time. If it doesn't and if the console error log says that 'BridgeOS could not be updated' or something similar this time, disable the firewall by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Lock button in bottom left > Turn Off Firewall. You can re-enable it later, but this part may be unnecessary to most people.
3. The installation will be completed and you will be logged back into this newly created admin account. You can then log out and log back in to your usual admin account, and you can delete the other account and its home folder if necessary.

I have had conversations with about 6 different Apple support agents, and it seems like Apple may be unaware about this error in particular. I tried all their solutions, resetting the SMC, installing from safe mode, from internet recovery mode, disabling auto proxy discover, using an Ethernet adapter, and nothing worked except this.

They also suggested I try a bootable installer for Mojave, but that would've been time consuming and I haven't tried it yet as I found a better alternative before that. But if you the above solution didn't work, you can give it a try yourself by following the steps here: How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help!

-- Sufi

I tried everything myself the recovery mode, SMC & everything in between. But then I went to change the proxy’ Setting , restart then re install mojave & voilà it worked.

FYI I have MacBook Pro 15” 2018

System preferences > Nework> Advanced> proxies . Then make sure you are NOT selecting “Auto

Proxy Discovery” Or “Automatic Proxy Configuration”

Then click “Ok”> “ Apply”

Lastly restart and try updating again.

Good luck