Creating an OS X 7 DVD Disc

I know. OS X 7 (Lion) is old and making a DVD disc seems just as old. So why am I doing this? I have an Xserve (A1196) Intel Quad Core server that I’m toying around with and need to do a fresh install. The latest OS you can put on it is 10.7.5. So I’m going to install 10.7 and patch up to 10.7.5. Once this is installed, I can install 10.7.5 server and get up and running.

I do have MacBook Pro 17” with a SuperDrive to do the work but I ran into issues doing this in the GUI. So a lot of searching and I found someone did this with creating a Sierra disc and figured to try it with Lion. It worked perfectly.

To clarify, I’m doing these command line commands on a MacBook Pro 17”, with a SuperDrive, and it is running OS X High Sierra (10.13.6).

  1. Download the OS X Lion install from the AppStore
  2. Open up a Terminal Window

Commands:

hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ Mac\ OS\ X\ Lion.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_app

hdiutil create -o /tmp/Lion.cdr -size 7500m -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

hdiutil attach /tmp/Lion.cdr.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build

asr restore -source /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/install_build -noprompt -noverify -erase

rm /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages 

cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/Packages /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/

cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/BaseSystem.chunklist

cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/BaseSystem.dmg

hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_app

hdiutil detach /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Base\ System/

hdiutil convert /tmp/Lion.cdr.dmg -format UDTO -o /tmp/Lion.iso

mv /tmp/Lion.iso.cdr ~/Desktop/Lion.iso

sudo drutil burn /Users/<YOUR ID>/Desktop/Lion.iso

On that last command, you want to make sure you have a Burnable DVD drive inserted. It needs to be a Dual Layer as well. Also, replace the “<YOUR ID>” with your login ID. You can’t use the ‘~’ reference because of the SUDO command.

UPDATE: I had some troubles booting the DVD on the Xserve. I can’t run the installer on the MacBook Pro because the OS is newer. So I started the MacBook Pro up on the new OS X Lion DVD and connected it to the Xserve with a FireWire cable. You can boot up the Xserve in Target Disk Mode, so the hard drives appear as a FireWire HD on the MacBook Pro. So the DVD is fine, it’s just the Xserve having troubles. Might be because I used a DVD+R DL, might try a DVD-R DL. Also, the ComboDrive has been acting up, I’ve ordered a replacement drive for the Xserve.