Startosinstall issue

[CrawfordRobson]

Hi,

I’m using the command below but the --preservecontainer usage doesn’t appear to work tried it before the  eraseinstall and after.

'/Applications/Install macOS Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall' --agreetolicense --preservecontainer --eraseinstall --forcequitapps --newvolumename 'Macintosh HD'

Anyone know what I’m doing wrong here?

could it be the --newvolumename 'Macintosh HD' causing --preservecontainer not to work?

[IngoSiegel]

I observe this behavior as well. --newvolumename must be used together with --eraseinstall, --preservecontainer preserves other volumes (in APFS container) when using --eraseinstall.

--newvolumename, the name of the volume to be created with --eraseinstall.
--eraseinstall, (Requires APFS) Erase all volumes and install to a new one. Optionally specify the name of the new volume with --newvolumename.
--preservecontainer, preserves other volumes in your APFS container when using --eraseinstall.

[Andreas_Schenk]

Obviously not the thing you want to hear, but I think ist working as intended.

The wording from Apple is: "preserves other volumes" NOT the System Volume.

[IngoSiegel]

yes, a "user-data-volume" will be preserved. startosinstall's intension is to install a new version of macOS. This deletes or updates an existing macOS volume group.

startosinstall intension is to install a new version of macOS. This deletes or updates an existing macOS volume (OS + Data).

The InstallAssistant /Applications/Install macOS Ventura.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallAssistant opens the familiar GUI. Via the dialog of the assistant you can select another volume, which is then used for the macOS installation - without deleting (all) other volumes, it preserves them.

I wonder if this can also be initiated on the command line... Do you have any idea?