Back in March, I authored a post on using DeployStudio to image the latest macOS releases that utilized APFS formatting. With the release of Catalina, I had figured this method of preparing machines would end. This is because of Catalina’s unique method of partitioning the APFS container into multiple sections, including both a read-only system volume and a writeable data volume. However, thanks to an updated version of AutoDMG, DeployStudio lives again.
As far as the steps to deploy an APFS image to a machine using DeployStudio, refer to the other article, nothing has changed. Also, remember that this will not work on machines with a T2 chip. The writing is on the wall; that being said, I still have a lot of non-T2 chip machines which makes this worthwhile.
Please only file an issue here for code-related problems. This is not an issue system for resolving issues with using the compiled binaries, or discussing functionality issues with Catalina on your unsupported machine. If you follow in the macOS Catalina for unsupported Macs you would see all the issues we are having with 10.15.4 and even on discord if you are on a fully supported Mac you can install macOS Catalina 10.15.4 from the software update no need you use the patcher, He did as several of us tried to install 10.15.4 including Dosdude and can't get into the desktop so he reveled it back so we can at.
The key here is using the latest beta version of AutoDMG (at the time of writing this, it is v1.10b587). According to the release notes, it supports creating DMGs of macOS Catalina. However, if you try and create a DMG like normal using AutoDMG, you’ll get an error suggesting that InstallInfo.plist is not present in the Catalina installer (which isn’t true). After reading through some of the reported issues with the latest beta, it was suggested that creating a DMG with the Catalina installer on it, then mounting said DMG and using the Catalina installer from that will resolve the issue. Here is what I had success with:
- First of all, make sure you’re performing this on a computer with plenty of free space. You not only have to download the full macOS Catalina installer, you also have to copy it onto a DMG, and then create the final deployable DMG. This will take up roughly 30 GB of storage, so be prepared.
- Download the latest version of AutoDMG (linked to above).
- Download DosDude’s Catalina Patcher Tool to aid in downloading a full macOS Catalina installer. Upon opening the Patcher Tool, you’ll want to click Continue until you see this screen and can click Download a Copy. If you try downloading Catalina from the App Store, you may get a partial installer app that won’t work with AutoDMG. Make sure to use the Patcher Tool. Once you have downloaded a full macOS Catalina Installer app, you can quit the Patcher Tool.
- The macOS Catalina Installer app should now be present in your ~/Downloads folder. Create a new folder (anywhere, probably easiest just in your Downloads folder) and place the Catalina installer inside of the folder.
- Open the Disk Utility application and navigate to Menu Bar > File > New Image > Image from Folder… I suggest not compressing the disk image, as I have had compression cause issues with mounting/cloning/copying in the past. You can change the Image Format from Compressed to Read-Only. Select the folder that the macOS Catalina installer is in (not the installer itself) and click Save. This will begin a process which creates a disk image with the macOS Catalina Installer on it. For some strange reason, this is what will resolve the error that AutoDMG throws up when trying to create a deployable Catalina disk image.
- After the disk image is created, mount the disk image. Open AutoDMG and drag the macOS Catalina installer app from the disk image onto AutoDMG (like usual).At this point, it’s business as usual. AutoDMG will create an image that you can copy to your DeployStudio repository and deploy to your Macs. Remember that you must select “First Disk Available” when deploying an APFS image in DeployStudio in order for it to work correctly.
Hopefully this helps someone! If you have non-T2 chip Macs that ever need re-imaging, and you happen to already have access to a DeployStudio server, it’s a no brainer. Thanks for reading!
Peace,
Dosdude Mac Os Catalina
Joel
How Large Is Macos Catalina
1.0b1 - 6/24/2019
• Initial release
1.0b2 - 6/24/2019
• Fixed a compatibility issue with Mac OS X version 10.6 through 10.8
1.0b3 - 6/25/2019
• Removed the need to set the boot-args key of your NVRAM before installation
1.0b4 - 6/26/2019
• Fixed a crashing issue some users may experience
1.0b5 - 6/30/2019
• Added an all-new post-install tool, which will now be applied automatically after the system is installed
1.0b6 - 7/1/2019
• Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch
1.0b7 - 7/5/2019
• Added a new patch for legacy Marvell Ethernet controllers
• Added a new patch for legacy Intel Parallel-ATA/IDE controllers
• Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch
1.0b8 - 7/10/2019
• Patch Updater, a program used to update and re-install system patches, is now included with Catalina Patcher
1.0b9 - 7/11/2019
• Software APFS booting implementation is now included, and now no longer requires native APFS BootROM support to run Catalina
1.0b10 - 7/14/2019
• An option to disable the software APFS booter is included, allowing installation of it to be skipped even on machines on which it is required
• Fixed an issue where the kextcache may not get rebuilt after automatic installation of post-install patches
1.0b11 - 7/16/2019
• Updated to add support for Catalina Developer Preview 4/Public Beta 3
1.0.1 - 7/23/2019
• First non-beta release
• All installation methods are now fully implemented
• Added logging functionality in order to pinpoint issues if they do occur
1.0.2 - 7/25/2019
• Fixed an issue with the in-place installation feature
• In-place installation now no longer requires a machine with native APFS BootROM support
1.0.3 - 7/31/2019
• Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 5/Public Beta 4
1.0.4 - 8/3/2019
• Fixed an issue with a portion of the in-place installation feature
• Improved logging verbosity, and error handling
1.0.5 - 8/8/2019
• Fixed an issue with a portion of the in-place installation feature
1.0.6 - 8/9/2019
• Added a new boot disk selection feature for machines that do not support APFS booting natively, allowing you to easily switch between multiple macOS installations on different APFS volumes
1.0.7 - 8/20/2019
• Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 6/Public Beta 5
1.0.8 - 8/21/2019
• Fixed an issue where performing a forced cache rebuild using the Post-install tool may result in an unbootable system
• Added an option to allow users to disable the automatic Post-install patch installation feature for debugging purposes
1.0.9 - 8/28/2019
• Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 7/Public Beta 6
1.1.0 - 8/29/2019
• Improved the macOS installer app downloader implementation
• Fixed a potential prelinkedkernel rebuild issue with the post-install tool
1.1.1 - 9/10/2019
• Added new fixes for Legacy Video Card patches
• Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 8/Public Beta 7
1.1.2 - 9/11/2019
• More improvements made to the Legacy Video Card patches, drastically reducing the size of the application
1.1.3 - 9/23/2019
• Added official support for Catalina Developer Preview 9/Public Beta 8
1.1.4 - 9/24/2019
• Fixed an issue where the kextcache may not get rebuilt properly after applying post-install patches
1.1.5 - 9/25/2019
• Fixed a compatibility issue with the Legacy Video Card Patch and Catalina Developer Preview 9/Public Beta 8
1.1.6 - 10/7/2019
• Added support for the final release of Catalina
• Fixed minor UI inconsistencies
• Fixed an issue with the APFS booter during the installation process
1.1.7 - 10/8/2019
• Fixed an issue where the installation of Catalina would not work properly on machines using an encrypted APFS volume with the APFS booter
1.1.8 - 10/15/2019
• Added installer app support for macOS 10.15.0 w/ supplemental update (app version 15.0.33)
• Added new Volume Control Patch for some iMac systems
• Fixed an issue with the APFS booter implementation
1.1.9 - 10/15/2019
• Fixed an issue with the Legacy Video Card Patch
1.2.0 - 10/19/2019
• Added new SSE4.2 emulator, 'MouSSE' by Syncretic, which fixes the compatibility issue with newer Metal-compatible AMD video cards and the MacPro3,1
1.2.1 - 10/29/2019
• Added support for Catalina version 10.15.1
1.2.2 - 11/1/2019
• Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch, fixing an issue where users may experience crashes when using Notification Center on machines with non-Metal video cards
1.2.3 - 11/2/2019
• Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch, finally fixing the long-present grey Menu Bar and Finder Sidebar issues users would experience in Light Mode with non-Metal video cards. Huge thanks to @ASentientBot and @testheit for their work on developing these patches
1.3.0 - 12/11/2019
• Added support for Catalina version 10.15.2
• This version also supports Catalina version 10.15.3
• Added a feature to detect whether or not certain Mac models need to have newer system firmware installed
1.3.1 - 3/24/2020
• Added support for Catalina version 10.15.4
1.3.4 - 3/25/2020
• Due to major issues with 10.15.4, this version of Catalina Patcher has been reverted to 10.15.3 support only
1.3.5 - 3/28/2020
• Fixed all 10.15.4 issues, 10.15.4 support has now been fully restored
1.3.6 - 3/31/2020
• Fixed an issue where AMFI may prevent some third-party applications from launching in 10.15.4
1.4 - 3/31/2020
• Fixed a minor SIP issue
• Fixed an issue where brightness control and/or Night Shift options would not appear under the Displays pane of System Preferences
1.4.1 - 4/6/2020
• Fixed an issue where permissions for some third-party applications may not work
1.4.2 - 4/16/2020
• Fixed an issue where Safe Mode may not work on some systems
• Added more warnings to alert users if their machine needs a system firmware update in order to boot from APFS volumes
1.4.3 - 4/17/2020
• Added support for creating bootable Recovery partitions
1.4.4 - 5/28/2020
• Fixed compatibility with Catalina version 10.15.5
• This version also supports Catalina version 10.15.6 and 10.15.7