Create Bootable MacOS ISO from Apple's Free PKG

Bootable Mac ISO with Linux.md

Task

Convert mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso.sh from using hdiutil and asr to using Linux utilities.

See https://gist.github.com/solderjs/22d08c4b582779485e0df11c5d84063a#file-mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso-sh

Steps

Important: You will need about 30GB of free disk space.

1. Download OS X 1.11 El Capitan InstallMacOSX.dmg from Apple (7GB)
   • https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886
2. Install hfsprogs, hfsplus, & hfsutils
3. Install xar
4. dmg2img and mount can be used to to mount InstallMacOSX.dmg
5. xar can be used to extract InstallMacOSX.pkg (another 7GB)
6. InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg must be mounted to find BaseSystem.dmg
7. BaseSystem.dmg must be copied to a larger read/write AFPS file system (another 8GB)
8. Certain install files must be copied (see script).
9. The new image must be converted to ISO. (another 8GB)

Resources

• https://askubuntu.com/questions/1117461/how-do-i-create-a-dmg-file-on-linux-ubuntu-for-macos

Mount dmg in Linux

apt install -y hfsprogs hfsplus hfsutils dmg2img build-essential libxml2-dev libssl1.0-dev zlib1g-dev

dmg2img InstallMacOSX.dmg #image is compressed, need to decompress

losetup -P -f InstallMacOSX.img #make block devices for each partition
mkdir -p /mnt/loop
mount /dev/loop0p2 /mnt/loop 

Install xar (pkg unzip) in Linux

sudo apt install -y build-essential autoconf
sudo apt install -y libxml2-dev libssl1.0-dev

Method 1

git clone [email protected]/mackyle/xar.git
pushd xar/xar
./autogen.sh
make -j
sudo make install

Method 2

wget https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/xar/xar-1.5.2.tar.gz
tar -zxvf xar-1.5.2.tar.gz
pushd xar-1.5.2
./configure
make -j
sudo make install

Method 3:

See mackyle/xar#18

Here's what you need to do: In configure.ac, line 332 is:

AC_CHECK_LIB([crypto], [OpenSSL_add_all_ciphers], , [have_libcrypto="0"])

Replace it with:

AC_CHECK_LIB([crypto], [OPENSSL_init_crypto], , [have_libcrypto="0"])

Unpacking .pkg (via xar) in Linux

mkdir ./MacOSX && cd ./MacOSX
xar -xvf /mnt/loop/InstallMacOSX.pkg

Bootable Mac ISO.md

How this works on MacOS

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/uNPp7IbmfsY

Pre-reqs:

1. Download OS X 1.11 El Capitan from Apple
   • https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886
2. Install VirtualBox 6.1.4
3. Install the VirtualBox Extension Pack
4. Create a Virtual Machine named EXACTLY "OS X El Capitan"
   • change RAM to 4GB
   • change CPU cores to 2
5. DO NOT start the virtual machine!!

# Clone this gist as 'mac-os-el-capitan-installer'
git clone https://gist.github.com/22d08c4b582779485e0df11c5d84063a.git ./mac-os-el-capitan-installer

# Move into the 'mac-os-el-capitan-installer' folder
pushd ./mac-os-el-capitan-installer

# Download the full El Capitan installer (free and legal, direct from Apple)
# and convert the downloaded pkg to an ISO
bash mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso.sh

# Add Apple-specific values and recommended VirtualBox settings
bash virtualbox-el-capitan.sh

Now it is okay to start the virtual machine and select the disk image.

ISO Properties

The empty image (included in this repo):

file ./empty.7900m.dmg

./empty.7900m.dmg: Apple Driver Map, blocksize 512, blockcount 16179200, devtype 0, devid 0, driver count 0, contains[@0x200]: Apple Partition Map, map block count 2, start block 1, block count 63, name Apple, type Apple_partition_map, valid, allocated, contains[@0x400]: Apple Partition Map, map block count 2, start block 64, block count 16179136, name disk image, type Apple_HFS, valid, allocated, readable, writable, mount at startup

The final image (all files copied over):

file ./elcapitan.iso 

./elcapitan.iso: Apple Driver Map, blocksize 512, blockcount 16179200, devtype 0, devid 0, driver count 0, contains[@0x200]: Apple Partition Map, map block count 2, start block 1, block count 63, name Apple, type Apple_partition_map, valid, allocated, contains[@0x400]: Apple Partition Map, map block count 2, start block 64, block count 16179136, name disk image, type Apple_HFS, valid, allocated, readable, writable, mount at startup

El Capitan Checksums

• InstallOSX.dmg
  • MD5 5040a59d785d7da609755244c4ed136c
  • SHA1 21e45136e34c6f805e0f1977e38d6ff029a9a1e2
  • SHA2 bca6d2b699fc03e7876be9c9185d45bf4574517033548a47cb0d0938c5732d59
• elcapitan.iso
  • MD5 704e6246548b4c5670c49ab452f4b120
  • SHA1 5286ee4185e0814b77df368830ca8f8ef832f4c0
  • SHA2 6eeb5fa50411085564676bd446be82e579084f2a2c71f88fb9830c62c531f0eb

empty.7900m.img.bz2

mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso.sh

# set strict and verbose modes for bash
set -e
set -u

# Apple provides El Capitan, free of charge
# El Capitan can be upgraded all the way to Catalina, free of charge
# See "How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan"
# https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886

# Download legal, free copy of El Capitan from Apple
# (they also have Sierra, but that didn't boot for me)
# Go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886 and find the link "Download OS X El Capitan"
# (it changes every day)
# http://updates-http.cdn-apple.com/2019/cert/061-41424-20191024-218af9ec-cf50-4516-9011-228c78eda3d2/InstallMacOSX.dmg
if ! [ -f "InstallMacOSX.dmg" ]; then
    echo "Error: Did not find 'InstallMacOSX.dmg'"
    echo "    1. Go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206886"
    echo "    2. Click 'Download OS X El Capitan'"
    echo "    3. Copy 'InstallMacOSX.dmg' to this folder"
    exit 1
fi

if [ -f "elcapitan.iso" ]; then
    echo "'elcapitan.iso' already exists"
    exit 0
fi

# Much of this script came from the instructions here:
# https://techsviewer.com/install-macos-elcapitan-virtualbox-windows/

set -x
# Mount the Full Installer
hdiutil attach InstallMacOSX.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint '/Volumes/Install OS X/'
pkgutil --expand '/Volumes/Install OS X/InstallMacOSX.pkg' './Install OS X/'
hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Install OS X'

# Mount DMG Installer to macOS
hdiutil attach './Install OS X/InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg' -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD/'

# Create a DMG Disk
# (this exact file created by this command is included in the repo as 'empty.7900m.dmg.bz2')
hdiutil create -o /tmp/elcapitan -size 7900m -volname elcapitan -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

# Mount Sierra.dmg disk to your macOS
hdiutil attach /tmp/elcapitan.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/elcapitan

# Create macOS Sierra Installer Disk
asr restore -source '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg' -target /Volumes/elcapitan -noprompt -noverify -erase
rm '/Volumes/OS X Base System/System/Installation/Packages'
cp -rp '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages' '/Volumes/OS X Base System/System/Installation/'
cp -rp '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist' '/Volumes/OS X Base System'
cp -rp '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg' '/Volumes/OS X Base System'
hdiutil detach '/Volumes/OS X Base System'
hdiutil detach '/Volumes/OS X Install ESD'

# Convert DMG Disk to ISO File
hdiutil convert /tmp/elcapitan.dmg -format UDTO -o /tmp/elcapitan

# Move ISO File to Desktop
mv /tmp/elcapitan.cdr elcapitan.iso

# Cleanup
rm /tmp/elcapitan.dmg
rm -rf './Install OS X/'

mac-os-hdiutil-create-help.txt

hdiutil create: create a disk image image
Usage:	hdiutil create <sizespec> <imagepath>
	Size specifiers:
	    -size < ?? | ??b | ??k | ??m | ??g | ??t | ??p | ??e >
	    -sectors <count>
	    -megabytes <count>

	Image options:
	    -library <MKDrivers>
	    -layout <layout>			[GPTSPUD or per -fs]
		MBRSPUD - Single partition - Master Boot Record Partition Map
		SPUD - Single partition - Apple Partition Map
		UNIVERSAL CD - CD/DVD
		NONE - No partition map
		GPTSPUD - Single partition - GUID Partition Map
		SPCD - Single partition - CD/DVD
		UNIVERSAL HD - Hard disk
		ISOCD - Single partition - CD/DVD with ISO data
	    -partitionType <partitionType>	[Apple_HFS or per -fs]
	    -align <sector alignment>		[8 sectors]
	    -ov

	Filesystem options:
	    -fs <filesystem>
		UDF - Universal Disk Format (UDF)
		MS-DOS FAT12 - MS-DOS (FAT12)
		MS-DOS - MS-DOS (FAT)
		MS-DOS FAT16 - MS-DOS (FAT16)
		MS-DOS FAT32 - MS-DOS (FAT32)
		HFS+ - Mac OS Extended
		Case-sensitive HFS+ - Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive)
		Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+ - Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
		Journaled HFS+ - Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
		ExFAT - ExFAT
		Case-sensitive APFS - APFS (Case-sensitive)
		APFS - APFS
	   -volname <volumename>		["untitled"]
	   -stretch < ?? | ?b | ??k | ??m | ??g | ??t | ??p | ??e > (HFS+)

	New Blank Image options:
	    -type <image type>			[UDIF]
		SPARSEBUNDLE - sparse bundle disk image
		SPARSE - sparse disk image
		UDIF - read/write disk image
		UDTO - DVD/CD master
	   -[no]spotlight		do (not) create a Spotlight™ index

	Image from Folder options:
	   -srcfolder <source folder>
	   -[no]spotlight		do (not) create a Spotlight™ index
	   -[no]anyowners		do (not) attempt to preserve owners
	   -[no]skipunreadable		do (not) skip unreadable objects [no]
	   -[no]atomic		do (not) copy to temp location and then rename [yes]
	   -srcowners on|off|any|auto [auto]
	   		on	enable owners on source
	   		off	disable owners on source
	   		any	leave owners state on source unchanged
	   		auto	enable owners if source is a volume
	   -format <image type>			[UDZO]
		UDRO - read-only
		UDCO - compressed (ADC)
		UDZO - compressed
		UDBZ - compressed (bzip2)
		ULFO - compressed (lzfse)
		ULMO - compressed (lzma)
		UFBI - entire device
		IPOD - iPod image
		UDxx - UDIF stub
		UDSB - sparsebundle
		UDSP - sparse
		UDRW - read/write
		UDTO - DVD/CD master
		DC42 - Disk Copy 4.2
		RdWr - NDIF read/write
		Rdxx - NDIF read-only
		ROCo - NDIF compressed
		Rken - NDIF compressed (KenCode)
		UNIV - hybrid image (HFS+/ISO/UDF)
		SPARSEBUNDLE - sparse bundle disk image
		SPARSE - sparse disk image
		UDIF - read/write disk image
		UDTO - DVD/CD master

	Image from Device options:
	Note: Filesystem options (-fs, -volname, -stretch) ignored with -srcdevice
	   -srcdevice <source dev node, e.g. disk1, disk2s1>
	   -format <image type>			[UDZO]
		UDRO - read-only
		UDCO - compressed (ADC)
		UDZO - compressed
		UDBZ - compressed (bzip2)
		ULFO - compressed (lzfse)
		ULMO - compressed (lzma)
		UFBI - entire device
		IPOD - iPod image
		UDxx - UDIF stub
		UDSB - sparsebundle
		UDSP - sparse
		UDRW - read/write
		UDTO - DVD/CD master
		DC42 - Disk Copy 4.2
		RdWr - NDIF read/write
		Rdxx - NDIF read-only
		ROCo - NDIF compressed
		Rken - NDIF compressed (KenCode)
	    -segmentSize < ?? | ??b | ??k | ??m | ??g | ??t | ??p | ??e >
	                 (sectors, bytes, KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB)

	Attach options:
	   -attach			attach image after creation

	Common options:
	    -encryption <crypto method>
	    	AES-128 - 128-bit AES encryption (recommended)
	    	AES-256 - 256-bit AES encryption (more secure, but slower)
	    -stdinpass
	    -agentpass
	    -certificate <path-to-cert-file>
	    -pubkey <public-key-hash>[,pkh2,...]
	    -imagekey <key>=<value>
	    -tgtimagekey <key>=<value>
	    -plist
	    -puppetstrings
	    -verbose
	    -debug
	    -quiet

virtualbox-el-capitan.bat

pushd "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\"

VBoxManage modifyvm "OS X El Capitan" --cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "iMac11,3"
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion" "1.0"
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct" "Iloveapple"
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey" "ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc"
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC" 1

REM pick either of these, but not both
VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode 3
REM VBoxManage setextradata "OS X El Capitan" "VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution" "1920x1080"

VBoxManage modifyvm "OS X El Capitan" --memory 3072 --cpus 2 --vram 128
VBoxManage modifyvm "OS X El Capitan" --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --boot4 none
VBoxManage modifyvm "OS X El Capitan" --usb on --usbxhci on
REM VBoxManage modifyvm "OS X El Capitan" --nic1 bridged --bridgeadapter1 en0
REM TODO mark hard drive as --nonrotational

virtualbox-el-capitan.sh

# set strict and verbose modes for bash
set -e
set -u
set -x

###############################################
# VirtualBox Configuration for OS X and MacOS #
###############################################

# my_vm must EXACTLY match the name in the VirtualBox VM list
my_vm="OS X El Capitan"

# I believe that this sets the CPU ID to match that on an actual Apple motherboard
VBoxManage modifyvm "$my_vm" --cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
# This is just the common product name. "MacBookPro11,3" is another valid option
VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "iMac11,3"
VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion" "1.0"
# This seems to be arbitrary
VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct" "Iloveapple"
# A special key Apple uses to determine if a product is genuine
VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey" "ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc"
VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC" 1

#############################
# Set the Screen Resolution #
# (may require vbox guest)  #
#############################

# You can pick either way of setting these settings, but NOT both
# (otherwise you have to shut down the VM and manually edit the .vbox XML file to remove it)

VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode 3

#VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode 4
# 0 640x480
# 1 800x600
# 2 1024x768
# 3 1280x1024
# 4 1440x900
# 5 1900x1200


#VBoxManage setextradata "$my_vm" "VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution" "1920x1080"
# 1280×720 (HD)
# 1920×1080 (FHD)
# 2560×1440 (QHD)
# 2048×1080 (2K)
# 3840×2160 (4K)
# 5120×2880 (5K)

####################
# General Settings #
####################

VBoxManage modifyvm "$my_vm" --memory 4096 --cpus 2 --vram 128
VBoxManage modifyvm "$my_vm" --boot1 dvd --boot2 disk --boot3 none --boot4 none
VBoxManage modifyvm "$my_vm" --usb on --usbxhci on
#VBoxManage modifyvm "$my_vm" --nic1 bridged --bridgeadapter1 en0
# TODO mark hard drive as --nonrotational

Well then stop once you get an ISO and don't follow any of the extra steps to burn the ISO to a USB.

https://gist.github.com/coolaj86/22d08c4b582779485e0df11c5d84063a#file-mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso-sh-L60

Sorry, can you make me instructions how to convert Mac OS pkg file to ISO in Windows? From: AJ ONeal ***@***.***> Sent: niedziela, 24 października 2021 20:45 To: coolaj86 ***@***.***> Cc: Michael ***@***.***>; Comment ***@***.***> Subject: Re: coolaj86/Bootable Mac ISO with Linux.md @coolaj86 commented on this gist.

…

________________________________ Well then stop once you get an ISO and don't follow any of the extra steps to burn the ISO to a USB. https://gist.github.com/coolaj86/22d08c4b582779485e0df11c5d84063a#file-mac-os-el-capitan-pkg-to-iso-sh-L60 — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<https://gist.github.com/22d08c4b582779485e0df11c5d84063a#gistcomment-3937966>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AQ3NUQG5CFVA42QNFBW3QF3UIRH3DANCNFSM5F3PVJCA>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS<https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>.

Hello, would you happen to know how I could simply use this tutorial to create a bootable usb key for macos from linux? the linux part does not give me an ISO but rather some weird looking files.

helped me a lot! thanks!!

any possible solution to do it in windows? converting pkg to iso.

You can extract the files easily enough with 7-Zip, but there aren't any free native Windows tools to create or write to an HFS+ or APFS file system in Windows. Paragon has a shareware utility that should work. If you really need an ISO image, as opposed to just a bootable flash drive, you're probably going to have to use text-mode programs at least a little.

In macos

Mount the dmg you downloaded from apple, copy the file InstallMacOSX.pkg somewhere else
Unpack with

pkgutil --expand-full InstallMacOSX.pkg ./InstallMacOSX_out

Inside the new InstallMacOSX_outfolder, there is a InstallMacOSX.pkg. Don't let the icon fool you, it is a folder. Right click and use Show package contents.

Inside you can find InstallESD.dmg, double click to mount it.

In your terminal, navigate to /Volumes/OS X Install ESDand use lscommand.

There you can find BaseSystem.dmg, copy it somewhere else