Mac Install Catalina

Easy way to Clean Install mac OS Catalina

The correct way to reinstall macOS Catalina is to use your Mac’s Recovery Mode: Restart your Mac and then hold down ⌘ + R to activate Recovery Mode. In the first window, select Reinstall macOS Continue. Agree to the Terms & Conditions. Select the hard drive you’d like to reinstall mac OS Catalina to and click Install. Download macOS using Safari on your Mac. Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. After downloading from the App Store, the installer opens automatically. MacOS Catalina 10.15 can upgrade Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks. How to Perform a Clean Install of macOS Catalina Download macOS Catalina from the Mac App Store Direct Link. Once the download is complete, close the installer window by selecting the Quit Install macOS option in the menu bar. Launch the Terminal app (found in. Install macOS Catalina After setting up BIOS, the next step is to install macOS Catalina. Follow the steps below for the installation. Turn on your PC 2. Press F12 to enter boot menu. The boot menu key may not be same for all. If you're having a ASUS Motherboard, use F8, use F11 for MSI and AsRock Motherboards).

macOS Catalina is Apple’s shiny new operating system for the Mac and it’s got a ton of great features and improvements. You’re probably keen to get started and install it straight away. Before you do, consider whether you want to install it over the top of your current OS, or as a completely clean install of macOS Catalina. The benefits of the latter are that it will be like a completely new Mac, with all your settings wiped out, and junk files gone. It should make your Mac run faster. The rest of this article will explain how to clean install macOS Catalina.

Before the clean installation of macOS 10.15 Catalina it’s recommended that you first delete junk and dusty files from the current macOS. There are many free and paid tools to clean junk but the quickest option is to run CleanMyMac X. You can expect to free up tens of gigabytes of space, including old apps, and their leftovers.

Here’s how it works.

1. Download and install CleanMyMac — try a free edition of the app here
2. Choose the System Junk tool.
3. Press Scan.
4. When it’s finished either press Remove to get rid of all the files it recommends, or choose Review to look through what it’s found and decide for yourself what to delete and what to keep.

Backup your Mac

I can’t stress how important this is. You must backup your Mac before you do anything else. You’re going to be erasing your startup drive completely, so you need a complete backup of everything. You can use Time Machine, another backup app, or a cloning tool. Just make sure you have a complete, preferably bootable, copy of your current installation.

You should also make notes of settings for apps you use regularly – screen grabbing them is a good way to do that. And you should make sure you have a copy of any licence codes that you’ll need when you reinstall applications. You can use Apple’s Notes app to make notes, as long as you sync them with iCloud.

Create a bootable installer of macOS Catalina

If you’re reading this after Catalina ships, you can download it from the Mac App Store and then choose Quit when the installation starts. If you’re clean installing the beta (and, by the way, that’s not something I would recommend. It’s much better to create a dual boot system when you run the beta.

1. Grab a USB stick with a capacity of at least 16GB, or an external hard drive or USB.
2. Go to Applications>Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3. Launch Disk Utilities and Erase the Drive or USB stick, formatting it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS and selecting GUID partition map if a selection is available.
4. The easiest method for creating a bootable installer is to use DiskMaker X. However, if you’re comfortable using Terminal, you can do it like this:
   1. Launch Terminal from Applications>Utilities
   2. Type: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Catalina Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Catalina Beta.app where ‘Untitled’ is the name of your USB stick or external hard drive
   3. Press Return and wait for the word Done to appear in Terminal.

Once you see ‘Done’ in Terminal you can quit it. Your USB stick or external hard drive is now a bootable Catalina installer, so keep it safe. Now, it’s time to clean install macOS Catalina.

How to Clean install macOS Catalina

Now you've made a backup and created a bootable installer, it's time to actually install the new macOS. Follow these easy steps to clean install macOS Catalina on your Mac.

1. Plug your USB stick or external hard drive into your Mac, if it’s not plugged in already.
2. Restart your Mac while holding down the Option key.
3. When you see the options for booting appear on screen, choose the installer disk you just created.
4. When you see the macOS Utilities screen appear, choose Disk Utility
5. When Disk Utility launches, choose the Eras tab then select your startup volume (probably called Macintosh HD).
6. Give your startup disk a name, then choose a format. If you have a recent Mac with an SSD startup disk, select APFS. If you have an older Mac with a mechanical hard drive or Fusion Drive, choose whichever one you want to use.
7. Choose Erase.
8. When Disk Utility has finished erasing the disk, quit it to return to the macOS Utilities screen.
9. Choose Install macOS.
10. Press Continue and choose the drive you just erased and re-formatted as the destination.
11. MacOS Catalina will start to install.
12. When it’s finished, your Mac will restart and it will look like a brand new Mac. Go through the set-up process to set up a user account, add your wifi network, choose a language, and log in to iCloud.

Once you’ve set up your Mac, you can eject the installer disk and remove it. Remember to keep it safe. You can now restore files you backed up earlier from Time Machine or whichever backup tool you used. Remember to restore files and folders individually, don’t, for example, restore your entire user directory otherwise you’ll copy back all the junk files you just got rid of. Reinstall applications and go through them adding license details where necessary. Check that everything works as you expect it to and use the screen shots you made earlier to configure settings.

There are lots of good reasons why you might want to clean install macOS Catalina, but the most important one is that it should make your Mac feel like new and keep it running smoothly. For ultimate Mac refresh you can also download CleanMyMac X and play with its cleanup tools. Getting rid of old junk feels great.

NOTE:

Between mid October 2019 and mid February 2020 everyone in the Army was migrated to use their PIV Authentication certificate for Email access. You no longer use the Email certificate for Enterprise Email or any CAC enabled websites

Mac users who choose to upgrade (or already have upgraded) to Mac OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) will need to uninstall all 3rd Party CAC enablers per https://militarycac.com/macuninstall.htm AND reenable the native smart card ability (very bottom of macuninstall link above)

If you purchased your Mac with OS Catalina (10.15.x) or Big Sur (11.xx.x) already installed, you can skip the uninstall part above and follow the instructions below.

6 'high level' steps needed, follow down the page to make this a painless systematic process

Step 1: Is your CAC reader Mac friendly?

Visit the USB Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.

Visit the USB-C Readers page to verify the CAC reader you have is Mac friendly.

'Some, not all' CAC readers may need to have a driver installed to make it work.

NOTE: Readers such as: SCR-331 & SCR-3500A may need a firmware update (NO OTHER Readers need firmware updates).

Information about these specific readers are in Step 2

Step 2: Can your Mac 'see' the reader?

Plug the CAC reader into an open USB port before proceeding, give it a few moments to install

Step 2a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of the desktop, select 'About This Mac'

Step 2b: Click 'System Report...' (button)

Step 2c: Verify the CAC reader shows in Hardware, USB, under USB Device Tree. Different readers will show differently, most readers have no problem in this step. See Step 2c1 for specific reader issues.

Step 2c1: Verify firmware version on your SCR-331, SCR-3310 v2.0, GSR-202, 202V, 203, or SCR-3500a reader. If you have a reader other than these 6, Proceed directly to step 3

Step 2c1a-SCR-331 reader

If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.

In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for “SCRx31 USB Smart Card Reader.” If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 5.25, you need to update your firmware to 5.25. If you are already at 5.25, your reader is installed on your system, and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.

Step 2c1b-SCR-3310 v2.0 reader

If your reader does not look like this, go to the next step.

In the 'Hardware' drop down, click 'USB.' On the right side of the screen under 'USB Device Tree' the window will display all hardware plugged into the USB ports on your Mac. Look for “SCR3310 v2.0 USB Smart Card Reader.” If the Smart Card reader is present, look at 'Version' in the lower right corner of this box: If you have a number below 6.02, it will not read the 'G+D FIPS 201 SCE 7.0' CAC on Mac OS 11.xx.x or 10.15.7. I contacted HID (the company that makes these readers) on 14 DEC 2020 to find a way to update the firmware to 6.02. They said there is not firmware update for the reader. If your reader is older, you may need a new one. Please look at: https://militarycac.com/usbreaders.htm to find a compatible one. If you are already at version 6.02, your reader should work fine on your Mac and no further hardware changes are required. You can now Quit System Profiler and continue to Step 3.

Step 2c1c-SCR-3500A reader

If you have the SCR3500A P/N:905430-1 CAC reader,you may need to install this driver, as the one that installs automatically will not work on most Macs. Hold the control key [on your keyboard] when clicking the .pkg file [with your mouse], select [the word] Open

Step 3: Verify which version of MacOS you have?

(You need to know this information for step 6)

Step 3a: Click the Apple Icon in the upper left corner of your desktop and select 'About This Mac'

Step 3b: Look below Mac OS X for: Example: Version 10.X.X, or 11.X

Step 4: Figure out which CAC (ID Card) you have

(You need to know this information for step 6)

Look at the top back of your ID card for these card types. If you have any version other than the seven shown below, you need to visit an ID card office and have it replaced. All CACs [other than these six] were supposed to be replaced prior to 1 October 2012.

Find out how to flip card over video

Step 5: Install the DoD certificates (for Safari and Chrome Users)

Go to Keychain Access

Click: Go (top of screen), Utilities, double click Keychain Access.app

(You can also type: keychain access using Spotlight (this is my preferred method))

Select login (under Keychains),and All Items (under Category).

Download the 5 files via links below (you may need to <ctrl> click, select Download Linked File As... on each link) Save to your downloads folder

Please know... IF You have any DoD certificates already located in your keychain access, you will need to delete them prior to running the AllCerts.p7b file below.

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/AllCerts.p7b,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert2.cer,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert3.cer,

https://militarycac.com/maccerts/RootCert4.cer, and

Double click each of the files to install certificates into the login section of keychain

Select the Kind column, verify the arrow is pointing up, scroll down to certificate, look for all of the following certificates:

DOD DERILITY CA-1

DOD EMAIL CA-33 through DOD EMAIL CA-34,

DOD EMAIL CA-39 through DOD EMAIL CA-44,

DOD EMAIL CA-49 through DOD EMAIL CA-52,

DOD EMAIL CA-59,

DOD EMAIL CA-62 through DOD EMAIL CA-65

DOD ID CA-33 through DOD ID CA-34,

DOD ID CA-39 through DOD ID CA-44,

DOD ID CA-49 through DOD ID CA-52,

DOD ID CA-59,

DOD ID CA-62 through DOD ID CA-65

DOD ID SW CA-35 through DOD ID SW CA-38,

DOD ID SW CA-45 through DOD ID SW CA-48,

DoD Root CA 2 through DoD Root CA 5,

DOD SW CA-53 through DOD SW CA-58,

DOD SW CA-60 through DOD SW CA-61, and

Why Won't My Mac Install Catalina

DOD SW CA-66 through DOD SW 67

NOTE: If you are missing any of the above certificates, you have 2 choices,

1. Delete all of them, and re-run the 5 files above, or

2. Download the allcerts.zip file and install each of the certificates you are missing individually.

Errors:

Error 100001 Solution

Error 100013 Solution

You may notice some of the certificates will have a red circle with a white X . This means your computer does not trust those certificates

You need to manually trust the DoD Root CA 2, 3, 4, & 5 certificates

Double click each of the DoD Root CA certificates, select the triangle next to Trust, in the When using this certificate: select Always Trust, repeat until all 4 do not have the red circle with a white X.

You may be prompted to enter computer password when you close the window

Once you select Always Trust, your icon will have a light blue circle with a white + on it.

The 'bad certs' that have caused problems for Windows users may show up in the keychain access section on some Macs. These need to be deleted / moved to trash.

The DoD Root CA 2 & 3 you are removing has a light blue frame, leave the yellow frame version. The icons may or may not have a red circle with the white x

If you have tried accessing CAC enabled sites prior to following these instructions, please go through this page before proceeding

Clearing the keychain (opens a new page)

Please come back to this page to continue installation instructions.

Step 5a: DoD certificate installation instructions for Firefox users

NOTE: Firefox will not work on Catalina (10.15.x), or last 4 versions of Mac OS if using the native Apple smartcard ability

Download AllCerts.zip, [remember where you save it].

double click the allcerts.zip file (it'll automatically extract into a new folder)

Option 1 to install the certificates (semi automated):

From inside the AllCerts extracted folder, select all of the certificates

<control> click (or Right click) the selected certificates, select Open With, Other...

In the Enable (selection box), change to All Applications

Select Firefox, then Open

You will see several dozen browser tabs open up, let it open as many as it wants..

You will eventually start seeing either of the 2 messages shown next

If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'

Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers

Mac Os Install Catalina

or

'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority.' Click OK

Once you've added all of the certificates...
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it

Option 2 to install the certificates (very tedious manual):

Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)

Preferences

Advanced (tab on left side of screen)

Certificates (tab)

View Certificates (button)

Authorities (tab)

Import (button)

Browse to the DoD certificates (AllCerts) extracted folder you downloaded and extracted above.

Note: You have to do this step for every single certificate

Note2: If the certificate is already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating: 'Alert This certificate is already installed as a certificate authority (CA).' Click OK

Note3: If the certificate is not already in Firefox, a window will pop up stating 'You have been asked to trust a new Certificate Authority (CA).'

Check all three boxes to allow the certificate to: identify websites, identify email users, and identify software developers

Once you've added all of the certificates...
• Click Firefox (word) (upper left of your screen)
• Preferences
• Advanced (tab)
• Press Network under the Advanced Tab
• In the Cached Web Content section, click Clear Now (button).
• Quit Firefox and restart it

Step 6: Decide which CAC enabler you can / want to use

Only for Mac El Capitan (10.11.x or older)

After installing the CAC enabler, restart the computer and go to a CAC enabled website

NOTE: Mac OS Sierra (10.12.x), High Sierra (10.13.x), Mojave (10.14.x), Catalina (10.15.x), and Big Sur (11.x) computers no longer need a CAC Enabler.

Mac Catalina Install Homebrew

Try to access the CAC enabled site you need to access now

Mac Install Catalina

Mac support provided by: Michael Danberry