MacStudioA Blueprint Series Part 1: Creating a Mac OS X Mountain Lion USB Boot Disk
Script: Blueprint Series Part 1
This is the First of 3 Parts from our Blueprint Series:
Part 1 will show you how to create a Mac OS X USB Boot Disk using Mountain Lion version 10.8.2.
Part 2 will show you how to create a System Image File. And finally in Part 3, we'll be putting it all together using what we created in Parts 1 & 2.
So on to Part 1: Creating A Mac Mountain Lion 10.8.2 USB Boot Disk.
Let's Get Started
"What You'll need"
An Intel Based Mac System.
At least an 8 Gigabyte USB Disk (Make sure to make a backup you USB Disk as all data will be erased when creating the USB Boot Disk).
And finally, purchased copy of the Mac OS X Mountain Lion Operating System.
VERY IMPORTANT Make sure that you have a backup of your hard drive whenever you're working with the Mac Disk Utility program.
So; Assuming you have Mountain Lion, navigate to its location, in my case, it's in the Applications Folder.
Right Click on the Mountain Lion Icon and scroll to where it say "Show Package Contents"
Now Double-click on the Contents Folder,
then Double-click on the SharedSupport Folder,
now we'll just position the folder down here.
Next we need to load the Disk Utility Application,
go to Launchpad and click on the "Other Application" Folder,
and finally click on the "Disk Utility Application".
Now we'll need to insert the USB Disk in one of of the available USB sockets,
when it's loaded,
click on the 8 Gigabytes Flash Disk,
then click the Erase Tab,
then the other "Erase Button" here to start erasing the USB Disk,
you will be presented with a confirmation dialogue box, press the Erase button to confirm, takes about 15 seconds to format.
We next need to partition the USB Disk,
make sure that you USB Disk is still highlighted,
now click the Partition Tab.
This takes a few seconds to load.
Once loaded,
go to Partition Layout and click on the Current Drop-down list,
then click on 1 Partition,
now click on the Options Button,
This will bring up the Partition Options Available. As this is an Intel-based Mac, and by default, the GUID Partition Table button is already selected, so we just need to press the OK Button and click Apply.
Once the pop-up folder appears and when ready,
press the Partition Button,
This will begin to Partition the USB Disk in order for it to auto boot,
this will not take long, about 10-15 seconds (in my case).
Now that the USB Disk is partitioned correctly, we are ready to copy the Mountain Lion 10.8.2 Operating system onto it.
In order to proceed, MAKE SURE that the Untitled 1 Partition is highlighted,
not like before when the Description of your USB Disk was highlighted,
if you have renamed it, make sure the name is highlighted, incidentally; it makes no difference if you name the USB Disk or not, because it will be re-named for you automatically.
Remember the SharedSupport folder that was opened earlier,
well, click and Drag the InstallESD.dmg file to the Source Area of the Disk Utility window,
while in the Disk Utility window, Click and drag the Untitled 1 Partition to the Destination Area.
Now press the Restore Button to proceed,
you will then be presented with a Dialogue folder asking if you are sure,
press the Erase Button when ready,
you will finally be presented to enter your Admin details,
enter your name and password and press OK to begin the creation of your USB Mountain Lion 10.8.2 Boot Disk.
The process indicated that it will that about 1Hr and 28 mins, but took only 16 mins for me.
Once it's created, a pop-up folder will appear, showing the name of the boot disk, which has been named "Mac OS X Install ESD", along with all the files associated with it.
We can now close all opened folders and eject the USB Boot Disk, we'll come back to it in Part 3 of our Blueprint Series.
That's it, Part 1 done.
