osxapp_vers

What the project is for

The script called osxapp_vers finds the product name, the complete product version, and build version in an Install*OS X*.app package, in an Install macOS*.app package or in a mounted CD/DVD image called Mac OS X Install * and prints the info out like the macOS' /usr/bin/sw_vers does for an installed macOS product.

The idea for this has been described at my blog.

What are the system requirements

• At least Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) in order to run the bash script, older releases haven't been tested.

What are the input requirements

• Install macOS Tahoe.app or
• Install macOS Sequoia.app or
• Install macOS Sonoma.app or
• Install macOS Ventura.app or
• Install macOS Monterey.app or
• Install macOS Big Sur.app or
• Install macOS Catalina.app or
• Install macOS Mojave.app or
• Install macOS High Sierra.app or
• Install macOS Sierra.app or
• Install OS X El Capitan.app or
• Install OS X Yosemite.app or
• Install OS X Mavericks.app or
• Install OS X Mountain Lion.app or
• Install Mac OS X Lion.app from the Apple App Store (1st public version or any update release) or
• a bootable macOS install media that has been created by Apple's createinstallmedia
  • See also How to create a bootable installer for macOS? or
• a mounted Mac OS X Install CD/DVD image such as
  • Mac OS X Install DVD or
  • Mac OS X Install CD or
  • Mac OS X Install Disk

Tip

The script also works with bootable macOS install media that has been created and patched by the OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

Tip

Starting with macOS Tahoe, you will no longer be able to download the installer from the App Store directly. Use the softwareupdate instead. softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 26.0

How to configure and install it

Download the osxapp_vers file from GitHub to a folder of your choice.

% curl -Ls https://bit.ly/osxapp_vers > osxapp_vers

Set execute permissions.

% chmod +x ./osxapp_vers

In order to bypass a check that prevents the script from investigating an unknown macOS release, you can set the NOCHECK environment variable.

% export NOCHECK=1

In order to see details from the mount actions and additional messages, you can enable debug output by exporting the DEBUG environment variable. Usually there is no need to do that.

% export DEBUG=/dev/stdout

If you want to disable debug mode again, enter

% export DEBUG=

How to run it

% ./osxapp_vers

How to run it without installing it

% curl -Ls https://bit.ly/osxapp_vers | bash

Examples of how to use it or get it running

By default, if you don't specify any program parameters, the script reads all Install*OS X*.app, and Install macOS X*.app known to Spotlight and all /Volumes/Mac OS X Install * and prints out product name, product version and build version for each macOS that those installers are loaded with.

Example output from runs without any program parameters:

/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.5
BuildVersion:   9A581

/Applications/Install Mac OS X Lion.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.7.5
BuildVersion:   11G63

/Applications/Install OS X Mountain Lion.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.8.5
BuildVersion:   12F45

/Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.9.4
BuildVersion:   13E28

/Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.10.2
BuildVersion:   14C109

/Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.11.5
BuildVersion:   15F34

/Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.12
BuildVersion:   16A323

/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app:
ProductName:	Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.13
BuildVersion:	17A365

/Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app:
ProductName:	Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.14
BuildVersion:	18A391

/Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app:
ProductName:	Mac OS X
ProductVersion:	10.15
BuildVersion:	19A583

/Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	11.1
BuildVersion:	20C69

/Applications/Install macOS Monterey.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	12.0.1
BuildVersion:	21A559

/Applications/Install macOS Ventura.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	13.0
BuildVersion:	22A380

/Applications/Install macOS Sonoma.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	14.0
BuildVersion:	23A344

/Applications/Install macOS Sequoia.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	15.0
BuildVersion:	24A335

/Applications/Install macOS Tahoe.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	26.0
BuildVersion:	25A354

If you specify program parameters, the script prints out product name, product version and build version for each Install OS X .app folder that you have specified.

% ./osxapp_vers '/Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app'

/Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.9.4
BuildVersion:   13E28

If you have created a bootable macOS install media with createinstallmedia (that command line tool is provided by Apple as part of the OS X installer starting with Mavericks), you could also find out the version of macOS version that is on the install media by specifying the path to the .app folder.

% ./osxapp_vers '/Volumes/Install OS X Mavericks/Install OS X Mavericks.app/'
/Volumes/Install OS X Mavericks/Install OS X Mavericks.app/:
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.9.2
BuildVersion:   13C64

That approach also works for macOS Beta releases.

% ./osxapp_vers /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Tahoe\ Beta/Install\ macOS\ Tahoe\ Beta.app
/Volumes/Install macOS Tahoe Beta/Install macOS Tahoe Beta.app:
ProductName:	macOS
ProductVersion:	26.0
BuildVersion:	25A5316i

To get the version of the script simply enter

% grep osxapp_vers ./osxapp_vers
# osxapp_vers 1.16

The license

The license that the project is offered under is the Apache 2.0 license.

References

• https://loefflmann.blogspot.de/2015/03/finding-os-x-version-and-build-in-install-os-x-app.html