Create Bootable mac .pkg to USB Program Easily

As a macOS administrator or enthusiast, having a bootable installer on a USB drive can be incredibly useful for troubleshooting, installing the operating system on multiple machines, or even upgrading your own Mac. In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a bootable macOS installer on a USB drive using a .pkg file.

Prerequisites

• A Mac running macOS High Sierra or later
• A USB drive with at least 16 GB of free space
• The macOS installer .pkg file (downloaded from the Mac App Store or obtained from an Apple Support page)
• A basic understanding of Terminal commands

Step 1: Prepare the USB Drive

Before we begin, make sure to backup any important data on the USB drive, as it will be erased during the process.

# List all available disk drives
diskutil list

# Identify the USB drive (e.g., /dev/disk2)

Once you’ve identified the USB drive, unmount it using the following command:

# Unmount the USB drive
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

Step 2: Convert the .pkg File to a .dmg Image

The .pkg file is not directly usable for creating a bootable installer. We need to convert it to a .dmg image first.

# Convert the .pkg file to a .dmg image
hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o /path/to/output.dmg /path/to/installer.pkg

Step 3: Create a Bootable Installer on the USB Drive

Now that we have the .dmg image, we can create a bootable installer on the USB drive.

# Create a bootable installer on the USB drive
sudo hdiutil attach -readwrite -noverify /path/to/output.dmg
sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/installer.dmg -target /Volumes/USB_DRIVE_NAME --eraseinstall --nointeraction

Replace /path/to/output.dmg with the actual path to the .dmg image, and USB_DRIVE_NAME with the actual name of the USB drive.

Step 4: Verify the Bootable Installer

Eject the USB drive and verify that it’s bootable by inserting it into a Mac and restarting while holding the Option key.

# Eject the USB drive
diskutil eject /dev/disk2

Key Points

• Create a bootable installer: Use a .pkg file to create a bootable macOS installer on a USB drive.
• Convert .pkg to .dmg: Convert the .pkg file to a .dmg image using hdiutil.
• Use asr restore: Use asr restore to create a bootable installer on the USB drive.
• Verify bootability: Verify that the USB drive is bootable by inserting it into a Mac and restarting while holding the Option key.

Technical Specifications

• macOS version: High Sierra or later
• USB drive capacity: At least 16 GB of free space
• .pkg file: macOS installer package file

Conclusion

Creating a bootable macOS installer on a USB drive using a .pkg file is a straightforward process that requires some basic Terminal commands. By following these steps, you can easily create a bootable installer for troubleshooting, installation, or upgrade purposes.

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