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corpnewt/gibmacos

★ 7,069PythonAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A Python script that downloads any macOS version directly from Apple's servers without using the Mac App Store, and can create bootable USB drives for macOS Catalina and older on Windows.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((gibmacos))
    What it does
      Downloads macOS directly
      Bypasses App Store
      Builds bootable USB
    Version notes
      Catalina and older USB
      Big Sur and newer pkg
    Tech stack
      Python
      dd tool
      7-Zip
    Use cases
      System recovery
      Clean installs
      Custom macOS setups
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Download any macOS version installer directly from Apple without using the Mac App Store

USE CASE 2

Create a bootable USB recovery drive for macOS Catalina or earlier on a Windows PC

USE CASE 3

Get the macOS Big Sur or newer InstallAssistant.pkg for a clean installation on a Mac

USE CASE 4

Download older macOS versions for testing or setting up a custom or Hackintosh system

Tech stack

PythonShelldd7-Zip

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Windows USB creation requires dd and 7-Zip and only works for macOS Catalina and earlier, Big Sur and later produce a pkg file instead.

In plain English

gibMacOS is a Python script that downloads macOS installation files directly from Apple's servers. It works on both Python 2 and Python 3. The main use case is getting a copy of macOS without going through the Mac App Store, which is useful for people building custom setups, recovering a system, or testing older versions of the OS. For macOS versions up through Catalina (released in 2019), the script can also build a bootable USB drive for internet recovery from a Windows PC. This requires two additional tools: dd and 7-Zip. The README notes clearly that this Windows USB creation method does not work for macOS Big Sur or later, because Apple changed how it distributes the operating system starting with Big Sur. For Big Sur and newer versions, Apple now distributes macOS as a single package file called InstallAssistant.pkg. The README notes that running this file on a Mac places the installer in the Applications folder directly, so an additional build step is no longer needed. The README is short and does not describe installation steps, command-line options, or detailed usage instructions. It acknowledges three other open-source tools that the project draws from: FetchMacOS, macadmin-scripts, and brigadier.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using gibMacOS, walk me through downloading the macOS Ventura installer files directly from Apple on a Windows PC.
Prompt 2
I want to create a bootable USB drive for macOS Catalina using gibMacOS on Windows. What extra tools do I need and what are the steps?
Prompt 3
I downloaded macOS Sonoma using gibMacOS and got an InstallAssistant.pkg file. What do I do next to actually install it on my Mac?
Prompt 4
Which macOS versions can I create a bootable USB for using gibMacOS on Windows, and which require a Mac to finish the process?
Prompt 5
Help me use gibMacOS to download a specific older macOS version like High Sierra for testing in a virtual machine.
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