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I am downloading a macOS Monterey Beta using the Software Update "application" in System preferences, a feature since macOS 10.14. Out of curiosity, and for users whose downloads are interrupted by a power outage, internet loss, kernel panic, etc.; when the download is in progress, where are these installer file(s) stored?

I have found other questions and answers point to /Library/Updates, however this directory is 10MB> when I download an update. Others point to /private/var/zz. One thing that I am sure of is that the file(s) is/are stored client-side, as I slowly watch my hard drive space go down with the download.

This is in contrast to the previous update system (pre-Mojave) where you download the installer from the App Store, and it would stay in /Applications/ all the time.

In short: for macOS 10.14+ users, where is the location of in-progress downloads started by Software Update?

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  • 1. apple.stackexchange.com/questions/5353/… 2. Check file system activity 3. check the files open by the software update process
    – anki
    Commented Oct 30, 2021 at 9:54
  • How do you want me to check file system activity? Option 1 points me to paid software and (from my understanding) shows the biggest files on the drive
    – SomePerson
    Commented Oct 30, 2021 at 18:55
  • fs_usage apple.stackexchange.com/questions/205249/… // you just looked at the first answer.. there are free apps there which show breakdown of the entire disk.
    – anki
    Commented Oct 31, 2021 at 7:04
  • ok, so I tried some apps and they all had to index my drive. The update finishes downloading before the app finishes indexing. fs_usage returns /dev/disk1s1, but I don't know how to access it. diskutil list says the Volume name for disk1s1 is Macintosh HD.
    – SomePerson
    Commented Nov 7, 2021 at 6:10
  • you can pause the software download process by issuing a STOP signal. And then do the indexing.
    – anki
    Commented Nov 7, 2021 at 7:58

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