5 Solutions ‘path /System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg’

If you are a Mac user and you are trying update your MacOS to a newer version then you might see this error.

The path /System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg appears to be missing or damaged. Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again

Once you see this error, you will only have the option to restart the system and try again. If you are seeing this error then it, most probably, will not be solved after a reboot. This means that this error message will prevent you from updating to a newer version.

We aren’t sure of the exact error that causes this but it most likely is an issue with the update via the App Store. That is why the most common solution for this is to use a Bootable USB to install the new update. One thing that can cause this issue is what the error message is saying i.e. the path might be missing or damaged. So, fixing or creating the path resolves the issue. Another thing that might cause this is the low disk space. Although it’s not common but a lot of users experienced the issue because of this problem. The thing is, this new update is bigger than usual updates. So, a lot of users miscalculated the space actually needed for this update and got this error.

Backup Data

If you haven’t backedup your data then back it up before following the instructions given below. You can use the Time Machine from the Mac to backup your data.

Time Machine, if you don’t know already, is a built-in feature in Mac. This feature helps you backup your data on an external storage device. This means that you will need to have an external storage device like a USB, External HDD, Time Capsule or macOS Server on your network and any other form of external storage. Once you have an external storage device, follow the steps given below

1. Simply connect your external storage to your Mac
2. A new popup dialog will appear asking you whether you want to use this drive to back up with Time Machine.
3. Check the option Encrypt Backup Disk
4. Click Use as Backup Disk

Note: If you don’t see a dialog asking you to backup the disk using Time Machine, follow the instructions below

1. Select Apple menu from the menu bar at the top
2. Select System Preferences

3. Click Time Machine

4. Click Select Backup Disk

5. A new list will appear with the name of the disk available for backup. Select a backup disk from the list, then click Use Disk

Once done, your files should be backedup.

Method 1: Reboot in Recovery Mode

Rebooting your system in recovery mode. The recovery mode offers a lot of useful tools that can be used to resolve software and various other issues. So, running the recovery mode and running some commands from the terminal has resolved the issue for plenty of users. Here are the steps that you need to follow

1. Hold Command key and press R when you press the turn on button. If you are restarting Mac, hold Command key and press R right when your Mac begin to restart. You should keep pressing the keys until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe. Note: If you see the regular desktop then that means you didn’t press the keys on time. You should reboot and try again.
2. You will see the macOS Utilities windows once the Mac goes into the Recovery mode.
3. Click Utilities from the menu bar and click Terminal. Note: There is a bug in the Sierra version where you might not see the menu bar at the top. Here are a few things that you can try to make that menu bar reappear
   1. Click Disk Utility option from the macOS Utilities window. Close the Disk Utility and come back to this screen. Check if this brings back the menu bar.
   2. Reboot and try to enter the Recovery mode again (by following the instructions in step 1)
   3. Reboot and enter the Recovery mode again (by following the instructions in step 1) but hold the Command and R keys during the whole boot process e.g. release the keys only when you see the macOS Utilities window
   4. Reboot and enter the Recovery mode by pressing Command + R + S keys (instead of just Command + R). This will open an undocumented combined recovery mode and single user mode. This will directly open the command prompt and it will be in the recovery mode. You will be able to type and run commands from here

4. Once you are in the terminal, type the find / -name OSInstall.mpkg and press Enter. This command searches for the file name given. So, it will give you the path where OSInstall.mpkg is.
5. Type mkdir -p “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Installation/Packages” and press Enter.
6. Type cp “<OSInstall.mpkg path>” “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Installation/Packages/” and press Enter. Replace <OSInstall.mpkg path> with the actual path of the OSInstall.mpkg that you found with the find command in step 4.
7. Type sudo shutdown -r now and press Enter to reboot the machine.

Once the system is rebooted, try to update again.

Method 2: Startup Manager

If the method 1 didn’t work then use the option key to boot and selecting your Mac HD drive will resolve the issue. Rebooting with Option key will open up the Startup Manager for your machine. This is a built-in application that can be used to select the volume to boot your Mac from. Follow the steps given below to enter the Startup Manager

1. Reboot your Mac. Press and hold the Option key right when your Mac starts to reboot. Keep holding the key until you see the Startup Manager
2. Once you are in the Startup Manager, you will see a list of volumes. Select Mac HD from the list. Use your mouse or trackpad or left and right arrow keys to navigate through the list. Note: You shouldn’t select a volume that doesn’t contain the Mac OS. The selected volume will be used to reboot and if there isn’t any OS on the volume then it will create problems.
3. Once you have selected the Mac HD, double click or press Enter.

Now try to update the Mac again and it should work just fine.

Method 3: Create a Bootable USB

Note: You will need a USB of at least 12 GB size for this to work. So, make sure you have a USB. It will also be beneficial for you if it is an empty USB. It will make things easier for you.

If you are still having troubles with the typical way of updating your Mac then you have the option of using a bootable USB as well. This requires a bit more time and effort but it will certainly work.

Here are the steps for creating a Bootable USB and updating to the latest version of Mac OS

1. Click the Apple logo from the top menu bar and select Software update

2. Download the High Sierra
3. Once the update is downloaded, do not update the system using these files. You should see a screen with a button continue. Do not click continue button. Quitting this installer won’t delete the downloaded files. So, we will quit the installer and use the downloaded files to create a Bootable USB
4. Plug in the USB that you want to use as a Bootable USB. This drive should be empty or at least shouldn’t contain important files. This is because the USB will be erased in the process. So, if you have any important files then copy them elsewhere
5. This step is optional but it will make it easier for you to follow the upcoming instructions if you do this step. You should change the name of the USB drive to MyInstaller. It can have any name but if it has the name MyInstaller then you can simply copy paste the command we will give you in the upcoming steps. So, right click your USB drive and select Get Info. Click the triangle besides Name & Extension. Type the name MyInstaller in the newly appeared textbox under Name & Extension. Once done, press Enter or Tab

6. You should now have an empty USB drive named MyInstaller and downloaded installer files for the Mac update.
7. Press and hold Command + Space and type Terminal in the Spotlight Press Enter and terminal should open for you

8. You should simply copy the whole command and paste it in the Terminal if you have a drive name MyInstaller (if you followed the instructions in step 5). If your drive name is different than the MyInstaller then you will have to replace the MyInstaller name with your USB drive name.
9. Copy any one of the commands given below. The command that you have to select depends upon which OS X or macOS installer you’re working with.

macOS High Sierra Installer Command Line

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyInstaller –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app –nointeraction

macOS Sierra Installer Command Line

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyInstaller –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app –nointeraction

OS X El Capitan Installer Command Line

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyInstaller –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app –nointeraction

OS X Yosemite Installer Command Line

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyInstaller –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app –nointeraction

OS X Mavericks Installer Command Line

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyInstaller –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app –nointeraction

10. Press Enter after pasting the command in the Terminal
11. The system will ask you to enter the password. Type the password and press Note: The password won’t show on the screen (not even asterisk). So, don’t worry if you don’t see anything while typing. Simply type the password and press Enter.
12. Terminal will ask for confirmation to erase the contents of your drive. To confirm, type Y and press Enter
13. This will initiate the copying process. The system will erase the contents of your USB and start copying files to the targeted USB drive. This process takes a lot of time so we will advise you to engage in other activities.
14. You will see Done written on the terminal once the process is finished. You will have a Bootable USB drive at that point. We will use this drive to install the Mac OS
15. Make sure your USB drive is connected to the system
16. Reboot your Mac. Press and hold the Option key right when your Mac starts to reboot. Keep holding the key until you see the Startup Manager
17. Once you are in the Startup Manager, you will see a list of volumes. Select your USB drive from the list. Use your mouse or trackpad or left and right arrow keys to navigate through the list.
18. Once you have selected the USB drive, double click or press Enter
19. You will see a list of options from the installer. Select Install OS X and install the latest Mac OS version from there

Method 4: Have Enough Disk Space

The latest version of Mac OS requires a bit more space than the previous ones. So, make sure you have enough disk space available when trying to install or update to this version.

Method 5: Run First Aid

Running First Aid on your internal drive has seemed to work for a lot of users as well. This can be done via the Disk Utility available in Recovery mode. Disk Utility can be used to diagnose and fix problems with a disk or damaged volumes. Follow the steps given below to run a first aid on your internal drive

1. Hold Command key and press R when you press the turn on button. If you are restarting Mac, hold Command key and press R right when your Mac begin to restart. You should keep pressing the keys until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe. Note: If you see the regular desktop then that means you didn’t press the keys on time. You should reboot and try again.
2. You will see the macOS Utilities windows once the Mac goes into the Recovery mode.
3. Select Disk Utility

4. Select the volume you wish to run First Aid on.
5. Click First Aid.

6. Click Run. This will start the verification and repair process. Disk Utility will automatically fix any issues that it might find
7. Once done, quit Disk Utility and reboot. Now try to update again.