Open DMG File on Linux. DMG files use Hierarchical File System (HFS) as a disk file system format. In order for your Linux machine to open DMG files it needs to support HFS and HFS+. To enable HFS and HFS+ support on your Linux machine you will need to install HFS tools and kernel modules. DMG is Apple’s proprietary disk image format, native to Mac OS X. There are actually a whole bunch of different types, format and options within this format. There are options for encryption, compression, and different kinds of partition schemes, among others. Unfortunately, this can make things pretty confusing.
Apple delivers the macOS installer and applications through the app store since the launch of OS X Lion. The macOS installer has a .app extension when you get it through the official channel. Unlike the macOS DMG installer, which Apple doesn’t provide nowadays, the app version of the macOS install package is not bootable. Hence it is not mountable nor compatible with operating systems like Windows. For some reason, if you want macOS in .DMG or .ISO format, there is a method to convert the .app file. Unfortunately you need a macOS system to convert .app to .dmg to .iso image.
Reasons for converting macOS Mojave or High Sierra .app to .DMG or .ISO
- The macOS in DMG format let to quickly create Install DVDs and bootable USB installers in a few minutes.
- When you convert macOS Install .app to ISO format, you may use it for running macOS on Windows PCs (Hackintosh).
- You can use the DMG file made from the macOS Install app for creating a boot-friendly macOS USB on Windows PC.
Above all, DMG and ISO files are highly portable; it is easy for anyone to upload and transfer them through the Internet.
Install Dmg File
Convert macOS Installer .APP to .DMG bootable image
The requirement for running macOS, and a USB Pen Drive for converting the Installer application to bootable ISO or DMG image. The step by step process for converting macOS Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, EI Capitan to the bootable .DMG or .ISO is explained below.
- First of all, download the full Mac OS installer, and save it in the Applications folder.
- Next step is to create a bootable USB installer from macOSÂ Install app. I prefer using the macOS Terminal app to create the bootable USB Installer using commands in the screenshots.
- Now, copy the contents of the macOS USB to a new folder and give it a single word name. We are going to make DMG file on Mac from the newly created folder.
- Then open the Disk Utility app and then take the “File” menu from the top left corner. Then New Image and Image from folder, and direct the Finder to the macOS file folder.
- Choose the image format as Hybrid (HFS+/ISO/UDF).
- The system now starts converting the macOS installer .app bootable .DMG file.
Just in case you find any difficulty, check our video on converting macOS .app to bootable .dmg.
Install Dmg File On Ubuntu
How to convert macOS installer to iso format
There are several ways to convert macOS .app to .ISO bootable image. Usually one need to do APP to DMG or CDR conversion before making it an ISO file on Mac. The Disk Utility app in macOS previously had an option that allows you to convert DMG to ISO/CDR. You can use Terminal and third-party apps to convert Mac OS installer to ISO if it is in CDR format.
AnyToISO app capable of converting macOS DMG to iso format. The free version of AnyToISO doesn’t support converting dmg files above 850 MB. Hence, you need to either purchase or download (Search AnyToISO Pro 3.9.0 in Google) the PRO version of this app.
In my experience, converting DMG to ISO with AnytoISO takes a lot of space and resources if you’re on macOS machine. The system shows out of space notification even though you have enough space left in the disk. Therefore, it is better to transfer the DMG files to a Windows machine and use freeware like DMGtoISO or AnyBurn for converting. Check our page on burning DMG on windows for freeware tools supporting DMG to ISO conversion.
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An intrepid reader asked the following question: How do you install a .dmg package from the command line?
Many applications are distributed as disk images, a compressed binary format. If you double click a disk image in the Finder, it is mounted automatically. Once mounted, installation of the application is typically done by dragging an icon to the Applications folder. The same can be accomplished from the command line using two commands, hdiutil and cp.
The following steps show the installation of a popular VNC client for OS X called 'Chicken of the VNC'. It can be used as a remote desktop client for Linux, Mac, or Windows hosts.
The download file is named 'cotvnc-20b4.dmg'. Here are the steps needed to install it remotely from the command line.
note: this technique can be used from a local Terminal window or a remote SSH connection.
Mount the disk image
The first step is to mount (or attach) the disk image. From the command line, use: hdiutil mount cotvnc-20b4.dmg
I received the following output:
A mounted disk image appears on the Desktop, in the Finder, and more importantly shows up as a directory in /Volumes. In this case, the last line of output from hdiutil showed exactly where the disk image was mounted.
Sometimes when a disk image is mounted, it will prompt you to agree to a license first. In that case, the text that would normally appear in a GUI dialog box instead appears in the Terminal window. Once you scroll to the bottom of the agreement, you can type in Y to continue or N to stop. The Firefox disk image is one example of a package that displays a license before mounting.
Install the application
Use the cp command to copy the application to /Applications:sudo cp -R '/Volumes/Chicken of the VNC/Chicken of the VNC.app' /Applications
The -R switch means to copy recursively, in other words, copy everything from that location including all subdirectories and files below. It is important to leave off the trailing '/' from the 'Chicken of the VNC.app' directory, or the command will not copy the directory itself, just the contents. After entering your password, the application will be installed and ready to use.
Most applications can simply be copied to the /Applications directory. However, some are distributed in a .pkg format and must be installed using the installer command instead of cp. To install a .pkg, use this command:sudo installer -package /path/to/package -target '/Volumes/Macintosh HD'
Unmount the disk image
To tidy up, return to your home directory and unmount the disk image: cd ~
hdiutil unmount '/Volumes/Chicken of the VNC/'
You should see this message after the unmount: '/Volumes/Chicken of the VNC/' unmounted successfully.
Installing applications from a .dmg package at the command line is not something you need to do every day. But it is a nice tool to have if you want to install an application on a remote server or script the installation of a package to a group of desktop Macs.