Update/Create Lion RecoveryHD partition quickly Without Reinstalling

Mar 19, '12 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: joelbruner

Apple released the Lion Recovery Update in October, 2011, and, after they updated the Lion recovery partition to 10.7.2, there was a great hint from Clay Caviness who dug into the update and highlighted the the relevant files and commands that it used to accomplish this update.

Recently, 10.7.3 came out, however, and the RecoveryHD partition is not updated if you use Software Update; it will stay at 10.7.2. This is probably not a big deal, as Apple didn't deem it necessary to update, but for some users, this may not be good enough.

Note: Running the full 10.7.3 installer from the App Store will update the partition; this is fine for your home computer but not practical for large deployments.

Script Workflow:

  • Asks for locations of Recovery Update, Install OS X Lion.app, and destination
  • Expands and collects the dmtest tool from the Lion Recovery Update
  • Collects the hidden Basesystem chunklist and dmg found in the InstallESD.dmg inside "Install Mac OS X Lion.app"
  • Puts it all neatly into a self-contained disk image along with the script RecoveryHD Updater.command which can be used to easily create or update the RecoveryHD partition, even on the disk you are currently booted from; don't worry dmtest takes care of all the logic to create or update.

  • Requirements:
  • Download the latest version of Install OS X Lion.app. Option-click the Purchases tab in the App Store and you will be able to "Install" (download) the latest version available
  • Download Lion Recovery Update from Apple

    Script Tip:
    Copy and paste the script into TextWrangler, save with a .command extension and it will automatically set the executable bit.

    createRecoveryHDUpdater.command:

    #!/bin/bash
    
    #this script will make a disk image with the tools needed to update your Recovery HD with the newest OS X Lion release
    
    #Required components:
    #Lion Recovery Update v1.0 - http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL1464/en_US/RecoveryHDUpdate.dmg
    #"Install Mac OS X Lion.app" - App Store
    
    ###########################
    # RecoveryHD Updater.command
    ###########################
    
    #this script that will be saved to the disk image that is created
    RecoveryHDUpdaterScript='#!/bin/bash
    clear;
    MYPATH="$(dirname "$0")"
    
    #get destination drive
    if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
    echo -n "Please drag in DESTINATION disk for Recovery HD partition and press Enter: "
    while [ -z "$DEST" ]; do
    read DEST
    done
    if [ ! -d "$DEST" ]; then echo "$DEST not found"; exit; fi 
    else
    DEST="$1"
    fi
    
    #create Recovery partition
    sudo "$MYPATH"/bin/dmtest ensureRecoveryPartition "$DEST" "$MYPATH"/etc/BaseSystem.dmg 0 0 "$MYPATH"/etc/BaseSystem.chunklist
    '
    ######
    # END
    ######
    
    ###########################
    # VARIABLES
    ###########################
    
    #IMAGETEMP is the pathname for the disk image being built, will the OS and Build appended to the name later
    IMAGETEMP="/tmp/Recovery HD Updater"
    
    #temp folder for package expansion
    RECOVERY_EXPANDED="/tmp/RecoveryHDUpdate"
    
    #Mounted disk image paths 
    ESDPATH="/Volumes/Mac OS X Install ESD"
    RECOVERYPATH="/Volumes/Mac OS X Lion Recovery HD Update"
    
    #############
    # MAIN SCRIPT
    #############
    clear;
    #get Recovery Update dmg path
    if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
    echo -n "Please drag in RecoveryHDUpdate.dmg and press enter: "
    while [ -z "$RECOVERYHDUPDATE" ]; do
    read RECOVERYHDUPDATE
    done
    if [ ! -f "$RECOVERYHDUPDATE" ]; then echo "$RECOVERYHDUPDATE not found"; exit; fi 
    else
    RECOVERYHDUPDATE="$1"
    fi
    
    #get Lion Installer path
    if [ "$2" == "" ]; then
    echo -n "Please drag in \"Install Mac OS X Lion.app\" and press enter: "
    while [ -z "$LION" ]; do
    read LION
    done
    if [ ! -d "$LION" ]; then echo "$LION not found"; exit; fi 
    else
    LION="$2"
    fi
    
    #get destination path for disk image to be created at
    if [ "$3" == "" ]; then
    echo -n "Please drag in Destination folder for disk image: "
    while [ -z "$DEST" ]; do
    read DEST
    done
    if [ ! -d "$DEST" ]; then echo "$DEST is not a valid path"; exit; fi 
    else
    DEST="$3"
    fi
    
    #mount Recovery Update image
    hdiutil attach "$RECOVERYHDUPDATE"
    
    #expand packge inside to temp folder (contains dmtest)
    pkgutil --expand "$RECOVERYPATH"/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED"
    
    #if we were using what's inside the chunklist and recovery inside the update we would mount this
    #RecoveryHDMeta="/Volumes/Recovery HD Update"
    #hdiutil attach "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED"/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg/RecoveryHDMeta.dmg
    
    #open Lion install ESD image for the newest files
    hdiutil attach "$LION"/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
    
    #get OS version from Lion Installer ESD
    OSVER=$(defaults read "$ESDPATH"/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductUserVisibleVersion)
    OSBUILD=$(defaults read "$ESDPATH"/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion ProductBuildVersion)
    
    #append info to path so disk image volume name is informative and useful
    IMAGETEMP="$IMAGETEMP $OSVER $OSBUILD"
    
    #make work the folder
    mkdir -p "$IMAGETEMP"/etc/
    mkdir "$IMAGETEMP"/bin/
    
    #copy dmtest to IMAGETEMP
    if [ -f "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED"/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg/Scripts/Tools/dmtest ]; then
    cp "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED"/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg/Scripts/Tools/dmtest "$IMAGETEMP"/bin/
    else
    echo "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED/RecoveryHDUpdate.pkg/Scripts/Tools/dmtest not found, exiting"
    exit 1
    fi
    
    #copy the BaseSystem dmg and chunklist to destination/etc
    if [ -f "$ESDPATH"/BaseSystem.chunklist -o -f "$ESDPATH"/BaseSystem.dmg  ]; then
    cp "$ESDPATH"/BaseSystem.chunklist "$ESDPATH"/BaseSystem.dmg "$IMAGETEMP"/etc/
    #unhide BaseSystem
    chflags -R nohidden "$IMAGETEMP"
    else
    echo "$ESDPATH/BaseSystem* not found, exiting"
    fi
    
    #put script in folder root
    echo "$RecoveryHDUpdaterScript" > "$IMAGETEMP"/"RecoveryHD Updater.command"
    #set permissions
    chmod ugo+x "$IMAGETEMP"/"RecoveryHD Updater.command"
    
    #create disk image from folder
    hdiutil create -srcfolder "$IMAGETEMP" "$DEST"/RecoveryHDUpdater_$OSVER_$OSBUILD.dmg
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Success! Created: $DEST/RecoveryHDUpdater_$OSVER_$OSBUILD.dmg"
    echo "Now opening "$DEST"/RecoveryHDUpdater_$OSVER_$OSBUILD.dmg"
    hdiutil attach "$DEST"/RecoveryHDUpdater_$OSVER_$OSBUILD.dmg
    else
    echo "Disk Image failed"
    fi
    
    echo "Cleaning Up"
    #delete temp folders
    rm -rf "$IMAGETEMP" "$RECOVERY_EXPANDED"
    
    #eject the volumes
    hdiutil eject "$RECOVERYPATH"
    hdiutil eject "$ESDPATH"
    
    echo "Done."
    
    exit
    

    The script can also be run with command line arguments:
    $ ./createRecoveryHDUpdater.command [Recovery Update DMG] [Install Lion App] [Destination for DMG]

    As well as the script that is put in the created disk image:
    $ ./RecoveryHD\ Updater.command [Destination]

    Otherwise just double-click it in the Finder and it will ask you for the files and paths which you can just drag into the Terminal window and press Enter (don't worry about the trailing spaces it adds)

    [kirkmc adds: Great script, thanks for this. I haven't tested it.]

    Comments (12)


    Mac OS X Hints
    http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20120316132618149