MIST – macOS Installer Super Tool

A Mac command-line tool that automatically downloads macOS Installers / Firmwares:

Apple

Intel

Features

  • List all available macOS Installers / Firmwares available for download:
    • Display names, versions, builds, sizes and release dates
    • Optionally export list as CSV, JSON, Property List or YAML
  • Download an available macOS Installer / Firmware:
    • For Intel based Macs:
      • Generate an Application Bundle (.app)
      • Generate a Disk Image (.dmg)
      • Generate a macOS Installer Package (.pkg)
        • Supports macOS Big Sur packages with a massive 12GB+ payload!
      • Optionally codesign Disk Images and macOS Installer Packages
      • Check for free space before attempting any downloads or installations
      • Optionally specify a custom catalog URL, allowing you to list and download macOS Installers from the following:
        • Customer Seed – AppleSeed Program
        • Developer Seed – Apple Developer Program
        • Public Seed – Apple Beta Software Program
    • For Apple Silicon Macs:
      • Download a Firmware Restore file (.ipsw)
      • Validates the SHA-1 checksum upon download

Usage

OVERVIEW: macOS Installer Super Tool.

Automatically download macOS Installers / Firmwares.

USAGE: mist <subcommand>

OPTIONS:
  -h, --help              Show help information.

SUBCOMMANDS:
  list                    List all macOS Installers / Firmwares available to download.
  download                Download a macOS Installer / Firmware.
  version                 Display the version of mist.

  See 'mist help <subcommand>' for detailed help.

Examples

# List all available macOS Firmwares for Apple Silicon Macs:
mist list --platform "apple"

# List all available macOS Installers for Intel Macs:
mist list --platform "intel"

# List only macOS Big Sur Installers for Intel Macs:
mist list "macOS Big Sur" --platform "intel"

# List only the latest macOS Big Sur Installer for Intel Macs:
mist list "macOS Big Sur" --platform "intel" --latest

# List + Export macOS Installers to a CSV file:
mist list --export "/path/to/export.csv"

# List + Export macOS Installers to a JSON file:
mist list --export "/path/to/export.json"

# List + Export macOS Installers to a Property List:
mist list --export "/path/to/export.plist"

# List + Export macOS Installers to a YAML file:
mist list --export "/path/to/export.yaml"

# Download the latest macOS Big Sur Firmware for
# Apple Silicon Macs, with a custom name:
mist download "Big Sur" --platform "apple" --firmware-name "Install %NAME %VERSION%-%BUILD%.ipsw"

# Download the latest macOS Big Sur Installer for Intel Macs:
mist download "Big Sur" --platform "intel" --application

# Download a specific macOS Installer version for Intel Macs:
mist download "11.4" --application

# Download a specific macOS Installer version for
# Intel Macs, with a custom name:
mist download "11.4" --application --application-name "Install %NAME %VERSION%-%BUILD%.app"

# Download a specific macOS Installer version
# and generate a Disk Image with a custom name:
mist download "11.4" --image --image-name "Install %NAME %VERSION%-%BUILD%.dmg"

# Download a specific macOS Installer build and generate
# a codesigned Disk Image output to a custom directory:
mist download "19H15" \
     --image \
     --image-signing-identity "Developer ID Application: Name (Team ID)" \
     --output-directory "/path/to/custom/directory"

# Download the latest macOS Big Sur Installer and generate
# an Installer Application bundle, a Disk Image and
# macOS Installer Package, both with custom names, codesigned,
# output to a custom directory:
mist download "Big Sur" \
     --application \
     --application-name "Install %NAME% %VERSION%-%BUILD%.app" \
     --image \
     --image-name "Install %NAME% %VERSION%-%BUILD%.dmg" \
     --image-signing-identity "Developer ID Application: Name (Team ID)" \
     --package \
     --package-name "Install %NAME% %VERSION%-%BUILD%.pkg" \
     --package-identifier "com.mycompany.pkg.install-%NAME%" \
     --package-signing-identity "Developer ID Installer: Name (Team ID)" \
     --output-directory "/path/to/custom/directory"

Build Requirements

  • Swift 5.4.
  • Runs on macOS Yosemite 10.10 and later.

Download

Grab the latest version of Mist from the releases page.

Credits / Thank You

Version History

  • 1.5

    • Added List search support
      • mist list <search-string> to filter on results
      • --latest to filter the latest (first) match found
      • --quiet to suppress verbose output
      • --output-type to specify a custom output type
    • Added progress indicators
      • Displays current and total download amounts
      • Displays overal percentage downloaded
    • macOS Firmwares and Installers will fail to download if they already exist
      • Use --force to overwrite this behaviour
    • Faster macOS Firmwares list retrieval time
    • Faster macOS Installers list retrieval time
    • Replaced SANITY CHECKS headers with more inclusive INPUT VALIDATION
    • Fixed a bug with partial string matching when searching for downloads
    • Improved error handling and messaging

  • 1.4

    • Support for downloading macOS Firmware (IPSW) files
      • Shasum is validated upon download
    • Moved list, download and version options to subcommands:
      • mist --list is now mist list
      • mist --download is now mist download
      • mist --version is now mist version
      • See mist <subcommand> --help for detailed help
    • Renamed --list-export option to --export
    • Re-added --application output option, back by popular demand!
    • Removed short flags for output options due to naming collisions:
      • Removed -a for --application
      • Removed -i for --image
      • Removed -p for --package
    • Lists now display / export total size
    • More verbose output for input validation

  • 1.3.1

    • Fixed bug where SUCatalog files were not being parsed correctly

  • 1.3

    • Removed --name, --mac-os-version and --build options, --download now supports all three
    • Removed --list-format option and renamed --list-path to --list-export, file extension determines export type
    • Removed --application and --zip options
    • Added --catalogURL
    • Added --temporary-directory option
    • Added --keychain option
    • Added free space check before downloads are initiated
    • Support for building hardware specific installers on all Macs
    • macOS name is now determined from the distribution files, no longer hardcoded
    • CSV cells with spaces now display correctly
    • Better input validation before downloads are initiated
    • Cleanup of standard output messaging (less verbose)
    • Removed download progress output
    • General code refactoring

  • 1.2

    • Downloads now show progress: current + total download sizes and % completed
    • Mist will now create the --output directory if it does not exist

  • 1.1.1

    • --application and --zip flags are now detected correctly

  • 1.1

    • Specify custom catalog seeds: Customer, Developer and Public
      • This allows downloading macOS Install Betas
    • Output the macOS Installer application bundle to a custom directory
    • Generate a ZIP archive of the macOS Installer application bundle
    • Checks for free space before attempting any downloads and installations
    • Cleaned up CLI argument flags, options, and formatting

  • 1.0

    • Initial release

License

Copyright © 2021 Nindi Gill

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

GitHub

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