rebel ( OS X 10.9 ) does n’t embark on a disk . rather , it ’s uncommitted only as an installer app downloadable from the Mac App Store , and that installer does n’t need a bootable instalment platter . But there are a good number of rationality you mightwanta bootable Mavericks installer on an outside hard driveway or a pollex drive ( USB stick ) .
For model , if you desire toinstall Maverickson multiple Macs , using a bootable install drive can be more commodious than downloading or copying the entire installer to each computer . Also , if your Mac is experiencing problems , a bootable install thrust makes a handy emergency disk . ( TheOS X Recoveryfeature is a big help here , but not all Macs have it — and if your Mac ’s drive is itself having trouble , retrieval mode may not even be available . Also , if you necessitate to reinstall Mavericks , recovery mode requires you to download the entire 5.3 GB installer again . ) Finally , if you need to instal Mavericks over Leopard — take on you have the licence to do so — a bootable install drive wee-wee that process easier .
Thankfully , it ’s not too hard to create a bootable install crusade from the Mavericks installer . I show you how , below .
If your Mac came preinstalled with Mavericks
If you own Mavericks only because you bought a Mac that shipped with Mavericks preinstalled — in other words , you never purchased the OS from the Mac App Store — use ourinstructions for creating a bootable Mavericks install drive for new Macs , instead of the educational activity here .
Get the latest version of the Mavericks installer
Before you make a bootable install drive , you should verify you have the latest version of the Mavericks installer . What ? You did n’t even realize that therearedifferent adaptation of the installer ? It turn out that when you download an o X installer from the Mac App Store , that copy of the installer carry whatever interpretation of OS X was uncommitted at the clip of download . For object lesson , if you downloaded OS X 10.9 on the twenty-four hour period Mavericks was release , you downloaded the 10.9.0installer . A bootable install thrust you create from that installer will install OS X 10.9.0 .
However , Apple regularly updates the OS X installers it wee available for download from the Mac App Store . For example , when the inevitable 10.9.1 update is release , a few daytime later the Mac App Store will start providing an updated Mavericks installer that installs 10.9.1 right off the bat . Using the late installer for your bootable install effort is commodious , because it means that if you ever ask to reinstall maverick , you wo n’t have to install 10.9.0 and then immediately set up the tardy big update .
evidently , then , you want to make your bootable install drive using the late version of the Mavericks installer . However , unlike with other Mac App Store - purchased software , the Mac App Store doesnotupdate the copy of the Mavericks installer app sitting on your knockout drive . If you ’ve get an older reading of the installer and you need the late version , you must cancel your current copy of the installer and then redownload the Mavericks installer from the Mac App Store . ( If the Mac App Store wo n’t permit you redownload the installer , quit the Mac App Store app , relaunch it , and then Option+click the Purchases tab in the toolbar ; that should show the Download release next to Mavericks in the Purchases lean . )
Similarly , any bootable Mavericks install drive you create willnotbe update to the up-to-the-minute installer version automatically . So if you produce an install driving and later download an updated version of the Mavericks installer , you ’ll want to delete that instal driving force and recreate it using the new installer .
How do you know if you have the newest version of the Mavericks installer ? The easiest approach path is to look at the Information box seat on theMavericks pageon the Mac App Store — specifically , check the day of the month next to Updated ( or Released , as the pillowcase may be immediately after the initial release ) . Then locate your downloaded transcript of the Mavericks installer in the Finder , opt File - > Get Info , and look at the date next to Modified . If the Mac App Store date is New than the Modified appointment on your copy of the installer , you need to redownload the installer to get the latest version . ( Theversionlisted in the Mac App Store ’s Information box is the variation of OS X you ’ll get if you download the later installer . )
Note : As I explained inour principal Mavericks - instalment clause , if you go out the Mavericks installer in its nonpayment location in the Applications pamphlet when you install o X 10.9 , the installer will be deleted automatically after the installing finish . So if you plan to utilize that installer on other Macs , or — in this case — to make a bootable movement , be sure to copy the installer to another drive , or at least move it out of the Applications folder , beforeyou install . If you do n’t , you ’ll have to redownload the installer from the Mac App Store before you’re able to create a bootable install parkway .
A note on installer compatibility
The initial Mac App Store adaptation of Mavericks will reboot only those Macs released prior to Mavericks ’s unveiling ; Macs unloosen after Mavericks ’s unveiling ship with a new interlingual rendition of OS X 10.9 preinstalled . This mean that if you made a bootable install drive immediately after Mavericks was released , and then later bought a new Mac , your install drive wo n’t boot that Mac ( though it will reboot any older mack you own ) .
However , as explained above , Apple on a regular basis updates the OS X installer on the Mac App Store so that it installs the latest rendering of OS X 10.9 . If you create anewbootable installer using the first major update to Mavericksafteryour Mac was released , that driving force should be capable to boot all your mack .
What about an optical disc?You may have notice that I did n’t mention make a bootable installdisc(DVD or CD ) . Though you could do it , I do n’t recommend it . More and more Macs ship without a work up - in ocular cause ; booting and installing from a videodisc isveryslow ; and 8 GB flash drives can be found for $ 10 or less . All of this intend that there ’s little reason to opt for a videodisc any longer . In addition , whenever an update to OS X is unloose , you’re able to easily erase your bootable USB reefer or extraneous hard drive and update it to hold the latest OS X installer ; with a videodisk , you have to cast out the disc in the trash and start over , which is both a bother and bad for the environment .
All that say , if you ’re absolutely confident that you demand an optical disc , Thomas Brand explainshow to produce a Mavericks recovery certificate of deposit . The ensue magnetic disc wo n’t contain the full installer ; rather , it ’s a CD version ofOS X Recovery . This means that when you install Mavericks using the disc , the installer needs to download roughly 5 GB of installer information on the tent-fly — which means that installation will be even slower .
Create the Mavericks install drive: The options
There are three room you could make a bootable atomic number 8 10 install drive : using a newfangled characteristic , called createinstallmedia , built into the Mavericks installer itself ; using Disk Utility ; or using the third - party utilityDiskMaker X , which , despite its name , also act under Mavericks . ( For group O X 10.7 and 10.8 , you also had the option of using the third - political party utilityCarbon Copy Cloner . However , because of changes in Mavericks , the developer of Carbon Copy Cloner has removed this feature . I ’ll update this article if Carbon Copy Cloner becomes an selection again . )
Using the new Mavericks feature for creating a bootable drive , createinstallmedia , is the easy method , and it ’s the one that I recommend most people test first . However , it does n’t work under Snow Leopard — just Lion or later . DiskMaker X is the next - easiest method , but I ’ve live the occasional unsuccessful person with it . ( DiskMaker X also does n’t work under Snow Leopard . ) The Disk Utility method acting is very reliable , and it work under Snow Leopard , Lion , Mountain Lion , and Mavericks .
Note : There ’s one significant remainder between the three methods that you should be aware of . Based on my testing , if the cause onto which you ’re installing Mavericks does n’t already havea Recovery HD partition , a bootable installer drive made using createinstallmedia or DiskMaker X ( which uses createinstallmedia under the hood ) can create that partition during the 10.9 - install process . A bootable Mavericks installer crusade made using the Disk Utility procedure will not . you could determine whether or not your Mac has a Recovery HD partition using the instructions inour article on recovery mode .
Option 1: Use createinstallmedia
Hidden inside the Mavericks installer is a Unix program calledcreateinstallmedia , provided by Apple for creating a bootable Mavericks installer . If you ’re prosperous using Terminal , it ’s a comparatively simple tool to utilize . The course of study assumes your account has administrator privilege .
Note : This method acting does not work in Snow Leopard . It works only in Lion , Mountain Lion , or Mavericks . ( The result installer drive will lease you set up Mavericks over Snow Leopard , but you ca n’t produce the installer drive while booted into Snow Leopard . ) If you need to make a Mavericks install campaign while boot into Snow Leopard , you should use the Disk Utility program line , below .
You now have a bootable Mavericks - install private road . If you ’re peculiar about createinstallmedia , eccentric or glue the follow command in Terminal and press Return :
sudo /Applications / Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
The resulting schoolbook turnout testify you the ( brief ) instructions for using createinstallmedia more generically . ( Thanks to a developer on Apple ’s Developer Forums for pointing out createinstallmedia a few months ago . )
Option 2: Use Disk Utility
You ’ll find Disk Utility , a ready to hand app build into OS X , in /Applications / Utilities . Here are the steps for using it to make your installer drive , which are a bit more involved with maverick than they were with Mountain Lion and Lion .
Note : As mentioned above , based on my testing , an installer drive create using Disk Utility will not create a Recovery HD division if your Mac ’s drive does n’t already have one . you could determine whether or not your Mac has a Recovery HD partition using the pedagogy inour clause on recovery mode . If your Mac ’s drive is miss the Recovery HD division , you should habituate the createinstallmedia instructions , above , as the resulting installer driving force will produce the missing sectionalisation when you install Mavericks .
( Note that there is a style to perform this operation that does n’t postulate Terminal . However , it bestow other steps , and it requires making all invisible files visible in the Finder . Because seeing all the Finder ’s normally invisible rubble can be a minute upsetting , I ’ve prefer for using Terminal in Step 5 . )
Option 3: Use DiskMaker X
DiskMaker X(previously called Lion DiskMaker ) is a public utility that makes it easy to make a bootable OS ex install movement , and reading 3 supports the Mavericks installer . In fact , under the hood , DiskMaker X 3 in reality uses the new createinstallmedia programme .
banknote : Because DiskMaker X 3 uses createinstallmedia , it does not knead under Snow Leopard . ( The resulting installer drive will permit you install Mavericks over Snow Leopard , but you ca n’t create the installer drive while booted into Snow Leopard . ) In addition , DiskMaker X 3 has n’t work utterly for me . For example , I experienced an proceeds where the utility alerted me that it could n’t decently name the drive it was create ; however , the installer effort appear to officiate by rights . If DiskMaker X does n’t ferment for you , you may use one of the other two method acting , above .
Booting from the installer drive
Whichever of the three processes you ’ve used , you’re able to now reboot any maverick - compatible Mac from the resulting drive : Just relate the drive to your Mac and either ( if your Mac is already bring up into OS X ) prefer the install driveway in the Startup Disk battery-acid of System Preferences or ( if your Mac is currently shut down ) hold down the Option key at inauguration and choose the install drive when OS X ’s Startup Manager come along .
When your Mac is boot from your installer cause , you may , of trend , add the OS , but you may also apply any of the Mavericks installer ’s specialrecovery and repair lineament . Depending on how you made your installer drive , when you bring up from that drive , you may even see the same oxygen X Utilities screen you get when you reboot into OS X Recovery ( recovery manner ) . However , unlike with recovery mode , your bootable installer includes theentireinstaller .
