Clone one Mac and restore it on multiple Macs

bootable-diskdisk-utilityexternal-diskrestore

I am going to setup a bunch of MacBooks Pros with the same settings. I could go through every Mac and install all the programs but here is what I would like to do.

I would like to setup one Mac with the appropriate settings and programs. Then clone the drive to an external hard drive and then just restore that drive to each and every MacBook.

I am completely new to this and have messed about in Disk Utility for hours without getting this to work. I have also read a lot of articles online that are way too simplified.

I actually managed to make an image file of the drive and restore it, but this makes the Mac un-bootable. Basically the Mac gets stuck in an eternal boot loop.

Could someone with experience please give me a mini tutorial on how to clone one Mac to multiple Macs with an external hard drive?

Best Answer

On the Mac that you wanted to clone

  1. Connect an external Hard Drive to your Mac.

  2. Open Time Machine in System Preferences and setup the backup of your system.

    This may take some hours depending on your type of external drive.

On the other Mac where you want to transfer that clone

  1. Shut down the system
  2. Connect the Time Machine backup disk created earlier
  3. Power on Mac whilst holding the Command + R buttons. This will take you to recovery.
  4. Choose Restore from Time Machine backup and press Continue.

This will make an exact clone of the first Mac. For other systems also follow the same steps.

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