Most of the time, you can re-download the current version of macOS via the Mac App Store, and older ones via these links:
Terminal is especially helpful if you’re trying to install older versions of macOS or OS X, many of which are technically accessible from the Mac App Store but will be listed as “unavailable. Continuing my series of alternative applications for popular apps on different platforms, here is the list of the 10 best alternatives to the default terminal app on MacOS. ITerm2 iTerm2 is a free and open source terminal emulator that offers users a robust search tool coupled with auto-complete commands, multiple panes in independent.
However, I’ve run into a situation several times where the Software Update mechanism simply refuses to initiate a download:
Thankfully, macOS installers can be downloaded via Terminal in macOS Catalina. This command will download the most recent version of macOS, depositing it in your Applications folder:
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer
The
softwareupdate
command has some neat tricks up its sleeve, as pointed out by Armin Briegel: The
--fetch-full-installer
flag has a sub-flag: --full-installer-version
which allows you to download a specific version. During my testing in the Catalina beta version I was able to download 10.15, 10.14.6, 10.14.5, and 10.13.6. I was not able to test if 10.13.6 would download the hardware specific build of 10.13.6 for the 2018 MacBook Pro, since I do not have that hardware.
So, to pull 10.13.6 down, you’d use:
softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 10.13.6
I wish Apple would just have a support document up with direct downloads for all of this stuff, but this tool is not a bad alternative.
![Terminal app mac download app Terminal app mac download app](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134281899/127555928.jpg)
Terminal App Mac Download
Update: Don’t miss this documentation from JAMF for more on the subject.
Terminal User Guide
Each window in Terminal represents an instance of a shell process. The window contains a prompt that indicates you can enter a command. The prompt you see depends on your Terminal and shell preferences, but it often includes the name of the host you’re logged in to, your current working folder, your user name, and a prompt symbol. For example, if a user named michael is using the default zsh shell, the prompt appears as:
This indicates that the user named michael is logged in to a computer named MacBook-Pro, and the current folder is his home folder, indicated by the tilde (~).
Open Terminal
On your Mac, do one of the following:
![App App](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134281899/239379563.jpg)
- Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, type Terminal in the search field, then click Terminal.
- In the Finder , open the /Applications/Utilities folder, then double-click Terminal.
Quit Terminal
Mac Os Terminal
- In the Terminal app on your Mac, choose Terminal > Quit Terminal.
Quit a shell session
- In the Terminal app on your Mac, in the window running the shell process you want to quit, type
exit
, then press Return.
This ensures that commands actively running in the shell are closed. If anything’s still in progress, a dialog appears.
If you want to change the shell exit behavior, see Change Profiles Shell preferences.
Apple Terminal App
See alsoApple Support article: Use zsh as the default shell on your MacExecute commands and run tools in Terminal on MacChange the default shell in Terminal on MacOpen new Terminal windows and tabs on MacUse profiles to change the look of Terminal windows on MacApple Developer website: Command Line Primer