How to Create macOS Monterey ISO Image File

In this article, I will show you how to create macOS Monterey ISO image file. macOS Monterey ISO is for Installing macOS Monterey on VMware or Virtualbox. We have already created a step-by-step guide for on How to create macOS Big Sur ISO Image and how to install macOS Big Sur on VirtualBox and VMware. You need to be on a real Mac (aka Macintosh) or have macOS installed as VM.

If you don’t have a Macintosh then I recommended use the following guide and install macOS Catalina on VMware. or Install macOS Big Sur on VMware on Windows.

Steps to Create macOS Monterey ISO File

1. Download macOS Monterey From Apple
2. Create & Mount an empty Disk Image using hdiutil
3. Use the Createinstallmedia command to make the disk image bootable with macOS
4. Unmount the Disk Image
5. Covert the Disk Image to ISO image

#1.1. There are 2-ways to download macOS Monterey from Apple. If you have a developer account then visit developer.apple.com. Click on Discover > macOS > Download. Sign in with your developer account then scroll down and click the Install Profile button for macOS Monterey Beta install. if you don’t a developer account then download macOS Beta profile from betaprofiles.com. 

#1.2. After downloading the macOS Beta Access Utility.dmg open it. When the access utility window opens, Right-click on macOS Beta Access Utility.pkg then click Open > Continue > Agree > Install > Enter your Password > Install software > Close. 

#1.3. Finally, the Software Update window will open then you can start to download the macOS Monterey directly from Apple’s server. So click Upgrade Now and wait for the download process to finish. It may take 10-20 minutes depending on your internet speed.

#1.4. When the download of macOS Monterey is finished, make sure to quit the installer by click on Install macOS Monterey > Quit Install macOS or pressing Command + Q.

#2.1. Once macOS is downloaded then Open Terminal and type the following command to create an empty disk image. Type your password when prompted.

sudo hdiutil create -o /tmp/Monterey -size 16384m -volname Monterey -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

#2.2. Next, Mount the disk image to /Volumes/BigSur.

sudo hdiutil attach /tmp/Monterey.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/Monterey

#3. Now will use the Createinstallmedia command to make the disk image bootable with macOS Monterey.

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ 12\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Monterey --nointeraction

#4. Unmount the Disk Image which is formatted from BigSur to Install macOS Monterey and bootable with macOS Monterey ISO image.

hdiutil eject -force /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ 12\ Beta

#5 Covert and rename the Disk Image to ISO

hdiutil convert /tmp/Monterey.dmg -format UDTO -o ~/Desktop/Monterey
mv -v ~/Desktop/Monterey.cdr ~/Desktop/Monterey.iso
sudo rm -fv /tmp/Monterey.dmg

Note: running the rm -rf commands will do the cleanup and remove all the unnecessary file (disk image) from the /tmp folder. Although if you don’t do it then it will be automatically be removed after a while.

After running all the commands properly you should end up with a macOS Monterey ISO image file on your Desktop.

Summary

That’s all about how to install create macOS Monterey ISO image file. We covered the following:

1. Download macOS Monterey From Apple
2. Create & Mount an empty Disk Image using hdiutil
3. Use the Createinstallmedia command to make the disk image bootable with macOS
4. Unmount the Disk Image
5. Covert the Disk Image to ISO image

If I left out something and didn’t mention please let me know by commenting down below this post. We have lots of new posts related to macOS Monterey so stay up to date with us.