Hi WAMUG members, Daniel has given the link below for ‘How to get macOS Sierra’ which explains the Mac models and versions of OS X you can upgrade. So I will just reiterate my normal safety ‘Prepare' before upgrading any major version of OS X.
Prepare to upgrade: 1. Make sure your computer can run Sierra. 2. BACKUP! - BACKUP! 3. Make sure key software is up to date, and remove clutter that could interfere with the upgrade. 4. Decide which upgrade strategy is best for you Back Up Your Disk If your normal Backup strategy is Time Machine or CrashPlan, before upgrading to Sierra, you should create a Bootable Backup (a duplicate). That’s an exact copy of everything on your startup volume, stored on another disk so you could start up your Mac from that other disk and it would behave precisely as it does when you boot from your regular startup volume. Clean Up Your Mac Over time, most computers accumulate clutter, including outdated software, forgotten downloads, and obsolete files. Not only can this clutter make files harder to find, it can also cause problems when you upgrade to Sierra—incompatibilities may show up, or you may run out of disk space, for example. Sierra includes new features for helping you rid your Mac of this clutter, and that’s something you should consider setting up later on. For now, though, it’s important to deal with the clutter that could interfere with installing and running Sierra in the first place. Update Your Third-party Software Tip: RoaringApps <http://roaringapps.com/apps>maintains a wiki listing hundreds of Mac and iOS apps and the current status of their compatibility with various operating system versions, as reported by users. Although this list is neither exhaustive nor definitive, it provides a quick way to check on the apps most important to you. De-clutter Your Disk Over time, your disk accumulates obsolete, extraneous, or otherwise useless apps and files. Removing these increases the disk space available for Sierra and reduces the chance of software conflicts. Run Disk Utility - Check your Disk Use Disk Utility in El Capitan or Later: 1. Launch Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities). 2. In the list on the left, select your startup volume (if it isn’t already selected), which is indented underneath the name of the device (hard drive or SSD) that contains it. 3. Click First Aid on the toolbar, and then click Run. Disk Utility checks your disk and repairs it if necessary. 4. When the repair is finished, click Done and quit Disk Utility. Use Disk Utility in Yosemite or Earlier In Yosemite or earlier, Disk Utility can’t repair the volume you booted from, so you’ll have to use a different procedure that requires a secondary startup volume. Follow these steps: 1. Start up your Mac from media other than your regular startup volume that also contains Disk Utility. This could be, for example: *A bootable duplicate of your startup disk stored on an external hard drive or a second internal drive. *A USB Software Reinstall Drive. *The Hidden Recovery HD volume on a Mac running 10.7 Lion or later, which enables OS X Recovery (choose Apple > Restart and immediately press and hold Command-R to start in OS X Recovery) 2. Run Disk Utility: * If you’re running from a bootable duplicate, you can find Disk Utility in /Applications/Utilities. * If you’re running from a Mac OS X installation disc or USB Software Reinstall Drive, click through the language selection screen and then choose Utilities > Disk Utility. * If you’re using OS X Recovery, click through the language selection screen if it appears, and then select Disk Utility and click Continue. 3. At the left, select your regular startup volume (the one to repair, not the one from which you’re currently booted). 4. On the First Aid pane to the right, click Repair Disk. Disk Utility looks for common errors and repairs them if possible. Ordinarily, it displays a message saying that repairs were completed or that no repairs were necessary. 5. Quit Disk Utility. 6. Restart your Mac. Then: ‣ If you find yourself within the installer, quit the installer too; then, click Startup Disk, select your main disk, and click Restart. ‣ Otherwise, choose Apple > Restart. Update Your Duplicate Now that your disk is updated with the latest software, cleansed of space-hogging residue, and verified as functioning properly, you should update your duplicate so it reflects the latest and greatest state of your disk. With Carbon Copy Cloner (and most other backup software), updating a duplicate is much quicker than creating one from scratch, because only the files changed since the last duplicate are copied. Consider Disabling Encryption If your Mac is already running 10.7 Lion or later and has FileVault enabled, you need not disable it. Lion and later use FileVault 2, just like Sierra, and it shouldn’t cause you any upgrade problems. Or to be extra safe disable FileVault Decide on an Installation Method The Sierra installer doesn’t ask you to pick an installation method, as was the case for installers of years past. However, you still have some choices. You can approach the process in either of two ways: • Plan A: In-place Upgrade: This easy, default method is appropriate for most people (including anyone Upgrading to (or from) the Sierra Beta), with some qualifications. • Plan B: Clean Install: Although the installer no longer offers an option that lets you start fresh by erasing your disk, you can accomplish the same thing in a slightly roundabout way. Obtain the Installer Depending on your situation, obtaining the Sierra installer may be a trivial matter of a few clicks, or it may be an involved ordeal. Download Sierra on the Destination Mac If you have a broadband Internet connection that can handle a 5 GB download, obtaining Sierra is just like downloading any other app: After it downloads, the installer launches automatically - If you need to install on other Macs - My strong suggestion is ‘Copy the Installer BEFORE you install! Choose Install macOS Sierra > Quit Install macOS Sierra to quit the installer for the time being. The installer deletes itself after installing only when both of the following are true: • The installer is in /Applications on your startup volume. • You do an in-place upgrade of your startup volume. If you put the installer anywhere else—your Desktop, ~/Downloads, or wherever—it won’t be deleted after it runs. But keeping a copy or creating a Bootable Sierra Installer Volume. I prefer to create a Bootable Installer to update other Macs. If anyone needs instructions 'How to make a Bootable Sierra Installer Volume’ I can supply if required. Cheers, Ronni 13-inch MacBook Air (April 2014) 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost to 3.3GHz 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage El Capitan OS X 10.11.6 > On 22 Sep 2016, at 10:22 PM, Daniel Kerr <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Philippe > > Sierra isn’t too bad, but yes, I’m not running it on my main machine just > yet. I like to wait a few weeks or more, just to check it all on my “test > machine” and make sure everything works correctly. Then just waiting a bit to > make sure and read if anything needs updated or to iron out the “bug fixes”. > :) > > You can update directly from Yosemite to Sierra. (even fact you can upgrade > directly from Lion 10.7 straight to Sierra), so you don’t need to upgrade > first. Just go straight to Sierra via the Mac App Store. > But yes, definitely make sure everything is backed up well first :) > More info can be found here - https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201475 > <https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201475> > > Hope that info helps. > > Kind regards > Daniel > --- > Daniel Kerr > MacWizardry > > Phone: 0414 795 960 > Email: <daniel AT macwizardry.com.au <http://macwizardry.com.au/>> > Web: <http://www.macwizardry.com.au <http://www.macwizardry.com.au/>>
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