output directory argument doesn't work as expected

[paulbeard]

🪲 I am trying to download the latest MacOS update and my installed disk doesn't have enough space. So I found this handy tool that I hoped would allow me to download it to a thumb drive so I could install from that. But no love.

📋 Steps to Reproduce

1. Run mist download installer "15.2" application --output-directory "/Volumes/PAUL\ BEARD/MIST"
2. └─ Not enough free space on volume '/': 16.36 GB free, 45.86 GB required
3. swear

✅ Expected Behaviour

I had hoped it would save the installer to the specified output directory where there is 60Gb of space.

💻 Environment

• mist version (mist --version): 2.1.1 (latest: 2.1.1)
• macOS Version (sw_vers): ProductName: macOS
  ProductVersion: 15.1.1
  BuildVersion: 24B91
• Hardware (system_profiler SPHardwareDataType):

  • Model Identifier: Hardware:

    Hardware Overview:

    Model Name: MacBook Air
    Model Identifier: MacBookAir10,1
    Model Number: FGN63LL/A
    Chip: Apple M1
    Total Number of Cores: 8 (4 performance and 4 efficiency)
    Memory: 8 GB
    System Firmware Version: 11881.41.5
    OS Loader Version: 11881.41.5

  • Chip : M1

📷 Screenshots

If applicable, add screenshots to help explain the bug.

ℹ️ Additional context

• Is this also a bug in Mist.app? ✅ / ❌
  • Provide links to GitHub Issues
• Links to 3rd-party tools / references / documentation

[paulbeard]

mist.app does what I expect, just realized it existed.

Actually, no. It uses the root disk/filesystem which is short of space as a cache…I would rather it used the external volume.

[wakco]

Check out mist download installer --help, you'll see there is another one for the temporary directory (-t or --temporary-directory), that needs to be somewhere else as well.

[paulbeard]

I am slowly understanding what this does. Looks like I need to use two USB drives…one to hold the downloaded bits and another as the target for the installer. My first attempt almost worked but failed on this… └─ Error: “CFNetworkDownload_QI0ptb.tmp” couldn’t be moved to “072-44286”. This was run under sudo…I tried again as root and the process defaults to using the system disk ("/") instead of the defined targets. └─ Not enough free space on volume '/': 09.79 GB free, 15.29 GB required Now it fails as sudo as well. This all seems fine: ├─ User is 'root'... ├─ Download search string will be '15.2'... ├─ Include betas in search results will be 'false'... ├─ Only include compatible installers will be 'false'... ├─ Cache downloads will be 'false'... ├─ Output directory will be '/Volumes/Install macOS Sequoia/'... ├─ Temporary directory will be '/Volumes/PAUL BEARD/'... ├─ Force flag has not been set, existing files will not be overwritten... ├─ Application name will be 'Install %NAME% %VERSION%-%BUILD%.app'... Still seeing the "Not enough free space on volume '/': " error. Not sure what to try next.

…

On Sun, Dec 15, 2024 at 1:44 PM Richard ***@***.***> wrote: Check out mist download installer --help, you'll see there is another one for the temporary directory (-t) You'll need to change that setting as well. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#177 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA7N6PHSUVUSYEZR47AWQE32FXZ5RAVCNFSM6AAAAABTRI3LESVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKNBUGEYTCMRRGU> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- Paul Beard / www.paulbeard.org/

[wakco]

Now it's a bug, in that --temporary-directory isn't being used correctly.

[paulbeard]

OK, good to know it's not me. I have tried mucking around with other options and only gotten more confused. I'll wait on a fix. Not sure how else to download the installer to a non-root device.

…

On Sun, Dec 15, 2024 at 4:50 PM Richard ***@***.***> wrote: Now it's a bug, in that --temporary-directory isn't being used correctly. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#177 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA7N6PCGPK4FXGVDWDBZ7LD2FYPTVAVCNFSM6AAAAABTRI3LESVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKNBUGI2TGMZYG4> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- Paul Beard / www.paulbeard.org/

[ninxsoft]

@paulbeard + @wakco thanks for raising this issue, allow me to provide some context:

1. My original intention to report on free disk space was noble: the target and temporary directory volumes should have enough free space to succeed, and do not have to be the same volume
2. Unfortunately, either by design or by bug, the macOS installer packages will write partial data to /Applications, regardless of where you specify your target volume. mist under the hood will attempt to stitch the contents of /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications and /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app together with the contents of your target volume.

For example, when you run mist download installer "macOS Catalina" application --output-directory "/Volumes/test/mist":

1. A temporary disk image is created at /path/to/temporary/directory/{{installer-id}}.dmg
2. The temporary disk image is mounted at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}
3. The macOS installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app
   1. Due to the Apple feature / bug, some of the installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯
      1. Depending on how old the installer is, some of the installer is also created at /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯🤯
4. mist stitches all known fragments of the installer into /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app and cleans up any residual directories
5. The final installer is copied across to /Volumes/test/mist/Install macOS XYZ.app

So technically speaking, the free space check is working correctly, however I agree that it is a little misleading, as what I described above isn't obvious to all users of mist

Possible options to move forward:

• When the free space check fails, have mist output some text explaining why free space on / is required
• Enforce --temporary-directory to be on /, to help remove ambiguity around why free space on / is required
• Remove the free space check altogether, and leave it up to the user to ensure enough free space is required on all volumes

[paulbeard]

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I have an opportunity to use this again, as I have a new update and limited disk space. Has anything changed in mist?

…

On Sat, Feb 15, 2025 at 1:18 AM Nindi Gill ***@***.***> wrote: @paulbeard <https://github.com/paulbeard> + @wakco <https://github.com/wakco> thanks for raising this issue, allow me to provide some context: 1. My original intention to report on free disk space was noble: the target and temporary directory volumes should have enough free space to succeed, and do not have to be the same volume 2. Unfortunately, either by design or by bug, the macOS installer packages will write partial data to /Applications, regardless of where you specify your target volume. mist under the hood will attempt to stitch the contents of /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications and /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app together with the contents of your target volume. For example, when you run mist download installer "macOS Catalina" application --output-directory "/Volumes/test/mist": 1. A temporary disk image is created at /path/to/temporary/directory/{{installer-id}}.dmg 2. The temporary disk image is mounted at /Volumes/{{installer-id}} 3. The macOS installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 1. Due to the Apple feature / bug, some of the installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯 1. Depending on how old the installer is, some of the installer is *also* created at /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯🤯 4. mist stitches all known fragments of the installer into /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app and cleans up any residual directories 5. The final installer is copied across to /Volumes/test/mist/Install macOS XYZ.app So technically speaking, the free space check is working correctly, however I agree that it is a little misleading, as what I described above isn't obvious to all users of mist Possible options to move forward: - When the free space check fails, have mist output some text explaining why free space on / is required - Enforce --temporary-directory to be on /, to help remove ambiguity around why free space on / is required - Remove the free space check altogether, and leave it up to the user to ensure enough free space is required on all volumes — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#177 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA7N6PDG3YBWTHYT4SJOEHT2P4A6BAVCNFSM6AAAAABTRI3LESVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMNRQHAZTIOJWG4> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***> [image: ninxsoft]*ninxsoft* left a comment (ninxsoft/mist-cli#177) <#177 (comment)> @paulbeard <https://github.com/paulbeard> + @wakco <https://github.com/wakco> thanks for raising this issue, allow me to provide some context: 1. My original intention to report on free disk space was noble: the target and temporary directory volumes should have enough free space to succeed, and do not have to be the same volume 2. Unfortunately, either by design or by bug, the macOS installer packages will write partial data to /Applications, regardless of where you specify your target volume. mist under the hood will attempt to stitch the contents of /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications and /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app together with the contents of your target volume. For example, when you run mist download installer "macOS Catalina" application --output-directory "/Volumes/test/mist": 1. A temporary disk image is created at /path/to/temporary/directory/{{installer-id}}.dmg 2. The temporary disk image is mounted at /Volumes/{{installer-id}} 3. The macOS installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 1. Due to the Apple feature / bug, some of the installer is created at /Volumes/{{installer-id}}Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯 1. Depending on how old the installer is, some of the installer is *also* created at /Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app 🤯🤯 4. mist stitches all known fragments of the installer into /Volumes/{{installer-id}}/Applications/Install macOS XYZ.app and cleans up any residual directories 5. The final installer is copied across to /Volumes/test/mist/Install macOS XYZ.app So technically speaking, the free space check is working correctly, however I agree that it is a little misleading, as what I described above isn't obvious to all users of mist Possible options to move forward: - When the free space check fails, have mist output some text explaining why free space on / is required - Enforce --temporary-directory to be on /, to help remove ambiguity around why free space on / is required - Remove the free space check altogether, and leave it up to the user to ensure enough free space is required on all volumes — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#177 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA7N6PDG3YBWTHYT4SJOEHT2P4A6BAVCNFSM6AAAAABTRI3LESVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMNRQHAZTIOJWG4> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- Paul Beard / www.paulbeard.org/