I've installed the macOS Developer Beta Access Utility (.pkg file) from Apple Developer's official website. Upon completing installation, it opens the Mac App Store to the macOS High Sierra installation page automatically.

Under the 'Information' section, it's stated that the size of the installation file is 4.90 GB.

However, when I downloaded it, it didn't download the full installation file. Instead, it's only 7.8 MB large.

The installation file looks the same as a usual one.

So,

• Why are some users getting the 4.90 GB file while others are getting the 7.8 MB file?

• Is there any way to get the full 4.90 GB installation file?

Fyi, my Mac is currently running on macOS Sierra 10.12.3 (16D32).

Update

I appreciate the two answers that I've received and both can be reproduced. However, I'm not sure on why are some users getting the 4.90 GB file while others are getting the 7.8 MB file.

This thread from MacRumours suggests that it's something to do with the amount of disk space available on the Mac.

Solution 1:

For what it's worth: I have encountered a similar issue: a very small download file (14,5 MB), that launched automatically after a few seconds... tried it twice (both times the installation failed giving me some error about corrupted information on the server - I'm not sure what it meant but it might have been related to the fact that I was logged onto the MAS with a different account than the one I signed up for the public beta with). Anyway I just retried again and just on a whim before clicking download I pressed alt on the keyboard... now it's downloading the full thing. This all happened in the space of 10 minutes.

Solution 2:

First you need to install High Sierra and then boot it. In High Sierra, open Safari and then open this URL to download the installer again:

macappstores://itunes.apple.com/app/id1209167288

Only when downloading from within High Sierra I get an installer that contains the installation files, when I download it in Sierra, my installer is also just about 8 MB, the installation files are downloaded only on install (no idea where the system is storing them during installation).

BTW, if you want an installer medium, create a writable DMG with Disk Utility (6 GB of space is sufficient, make sure File System is MacOS Extended, not AFP, leave all other values default), quit Disk Utility (otherwise it will prevent certain kind of write access to that new volume), open Terminal app to get a terminal window and then run:

sudo "/Applications/Install macOS 10.13 Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia"  --applicationpath "/Applications/Install macOS 10.13\ Beta.app" --volume "/Volumes/Untitled"

when prompted, enter your admin password. Here is the command again, just broken down for readability:

INSTALLER="/Applications/Install macOS 10.13 Beta.app"
sudo                                          \
    "$INSTALLER/Resources/createinstallmedia" \
    --applicationpath "$INSTALLER"            \
    --volume "/Volumes/Untitled"

Will take a while. Finally open Disk Utility again, select Images > Convert..., pick your disk image, choose a name and select Image Format to be CD/DVD Master. After the convert you have a disk image you can burn to get a real installer DVD that is also bootable.