How to Download a Full MacOS Installer from Your Mac Command Line

Are you looking for a way to download the full installer of MacOS 10.13 or higher directly from your Mac command line? If so, you're in luck! With the `softwareupdate` tool and the right syntax, you can fetch and install full macOS installers with ease.

To get started, open the Terminal application on your Mac and issue the following command:

```

softwareupdate -fetch-full-installer -full-installer-version 10.13

```

Replace `10.13` with the version number of MacOS you want to download (for example, `11.6.1` for Big Sur or `10.15.3` for Catalina).

Once you hit return, the full installer application will begin downloading and will appear in your `/Applications` directory once complete.

The syntax for this command is as follows:

```

softwareupdate -fetch-full-installer -full-installer-version

```

Where `` should be replaced with the version number of MacOS you want to download. For example, to download the full installer of MacOS Catalina 10.15.3, the syntax would be:

```

softwareupdate -fetch-full-installer -full-installer-version 10.15.3

```

This command is only available in MacOS Catalina 10.15 and later versions of MacOS, so if you're trying to use it from Mojave or earlier, it won't work.

However, this trick works for downloading full installers of all major MacOS versions, including Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, and High Sierra. Simply replace the `` with the desired version number, and away you go!

Note that if you're running an M1 Mac, the available software installers reported by `softwareupdate` will not include versions that do not support M1 hardware.

Mac os 10.13 dmg