Best way to install Sierra from El Cap

[jgwatson]

I read somewhere that Apple automatically cached Sierra in 10.11.6. If that is the case, is there an easier way to install this OS now? This is for a lab so ideally needs to be done so I don't have to touch the machine.

Thanks.

[mikeh · Accepted solution]

There is a new startosinstall command-line binary buried in the Sierra installer application. It may suit your needs; refer to the Mac Operations blog post on startosinstall for a general overview on how to use it, its relative advantages and some disadvantages. It should be relatively easy to create a script-and-policy combination to trigger the install on those computers where the Sierra installer has already been downloaded to the computer.

(Also check out this JAMFNation post for a formatting pitfall to avoid when scripting.)

Tim also mentions an alternative, createOSXInstallpkg, which I use to distribute the update to client computers via Self Service. It does require some work on your part to prepare the package, though. Once you've done that, though, you can use a policy to push it out and start the installation.

[donmontalvo]

We disable Automatically check for updates since we use createOSXInstallPkg to deploy (despite JSS's continued inability to handle graceful reboot on initial install policy).

This thread gives me a note-to-self, to report on who has /Applications/Install macOS Installer.app (meaning they somehow enabled the Automatically check for updates option).