How to install High Sierra on a second partition on a MacBook which already runs Mojave

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I am running macOS 10.14 Mojave on a MacBook Pro with a single APFS volume. For testing I would like to intall macOS 10.13 High Sierra on a second volume / partition to be able to switch between the two versions.

I found a lot of tutorials how how to add Mojave when using High Sierra. However, the other way round (adding the older High Sierra to the newer Mojave) seems to be not that easy.

Luckily I still have a the old High Sierra installer file, so this problem is already solved. However, when trying to run the installer I only get a waring, that this file is too old to run on the current os (Mojave). So I cannot even start the installation.

Any idea how to solve this?

Best Answer

There is a simple solution.

  1. Using Disk Utility create a second Partition for the High Sierra:

Probably your disk is in APFS, so simply use "+ Volume" button at the top left of Disk Utility app, give new Volume a name (for example "Test HD").

If there is a need to install OS that can't be installed on APFS (for example Sierra and earlier) use "Partition" button to create separate HFS+ Volume.

  1. Then, create a USB flash installation disk of High Sierra using terminal:

USB disk needs to be formatted with a GUID partition table (GPT). Use Disk Utility to erase the USB disk and choose GPT for the partition scheme.

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Where

  • /Applications/ - path to the Installation of High Sierra

  • Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app - Name of the distributive

  • Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia - Command for installation

  • --volume /Volumes/MyVolume - USB flash drive path

Information from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

  1. Now install High Sierra:

Turn off your Mac. Hold down option and turn on Mac. Choose your USB Installation Media (it will have High Sierra Icon). Follow the instructions. Choose High Sierra Volume ("Test HD"), that you previously created in the 1st step and finish installation of High Sierra.

Switch between systems using option on startup.

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