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OS X Installers Downloaded Prior to February 14 No Longer Work After Certificate Update

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Back in February, Apple's Worldwide Developer Certificate, designed to verify third-party apps and services, expired, requiring Apple to issue a new certificate for developers to use.

As pointed out by TidBITS (via Ars Technica) a side effect of the replacement of the certificate causes older OS X installers to fail to launch. OS X installation files downloaded from the Mac App Store before February 14, 2016 and stored on a computer or USB drive are no longer functional. This includes installation files for OS X El Capitan and older versions of OS X like Mavericks and Mountain Lion.

oldosxinstaller-800x622.jpg
Image via TidBITS​
​

Users who keep OS X installers on hand or have created USB install disks in case of emergencies should replace their files with new versions by re-downloading them through the Mac App Store using purchased history. TidBITS points out that some older versions of OS X, like Lion, will not be downloadable on newer machines. Users who can't replace an expired certificate can still use older installers by changing the dates on their machines.
If you are in the middle of an OS X install and get tripped up by the expired certificate, Randy Singer offers a suggestion on how you can work around the problem quickly, without having to download a new installer:

1. In the OS X Installer, choose Utilities > Terminal.
2. Enter date 0201010116 and press Return.
3. Quit Terminal and continue the install.

That Terminal command sets your system date to 1 February 2016 -- before the certificate's expiration -- so the installer can continue. Once you have completed the installation, visit System Preferences > Date & Time to reset the system date.
Click to expand...
Apple's certificate renewal process resulted in some problems for developers and Mac users back in November, as it caused multiple Mac App Store apps to display a "damaged" error and fail to open. Apple quickly addressed the issue and has helped developers transition to the new certificate.

Article Link: OS X Installers Downloaded Prior to February 14 No Longer Work After Certificate Update
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/03/older-os-x-installers-broken-by-certificate/
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garirry

garirry

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Apple needs to make it so that anyone can download any version of OS X at any time, even if it's not compatible with their system. It's annoying how I can't download any version of OS X on my MacBook because it isn't compatible, so I have to go search for another Mac and download from there.
 
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emm386

emm386

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Feb 5, 2016
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Apple screwed up big time here, I'm sure we all remember. Essentially though, the certification system is what's broken here.
really annoying though I find is, that the plain simple user is no more the authority over his own system.

A user should always be able to override what a system thinks is its best intent. Even if it's the wrong decision, even if I have to deal with catastrophic consequences: I (and no one else) should be able to decide, what's happening on my system. I can live with my computer misbehaving and me having to carry the consequences. but I can not live with the fact, that I no longer am in control. Admittedly, not even Microsoft gets this nowadays. at least not to the level I used to.
 
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L

Luke MacWalker

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Jun 10, 2014
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emm386 said:
Apple screwed up big time here, I'm sure we all remember. Essentially though, the certification system is what's broken here.
really annoying though I find is, that the plain simple user is no more the authority over his own system.

A user should always be able to override what a system thinks is its best intent. Even if it's the wrong decision, even if I have to deal with catastrophic consequences: I (and no one else) should be able to decide, what's happening on my system. I can live with my computer misbehaving and me having to carry the consequences. but I can not live with the fact, that I no longer am in control. Admittedly, not even Microsoft gets this nowadays. at least not to the level I used to.
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
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jonblatho

jonblatho

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emm386 said:
Apple screwed up big time here, I'm sure we all remember. Essentially though, the certification system is what's broken here.
really annoying though I find is, that the plain simple user is no more the authority over his own system.

A user should always be able to override what a system thinks is its best intent. Even if it's the wrong decision, even if I have to deal with catastrophic consequences: I (and no one else) should be able to decide, what's happening on my system. I can live with my computer misbehaving and me having to carry the consequences. but I can not live with the fact, that I no longer am in control. Admittedly, not even Microsoft gets this nowadays. at least not to the level I used to.
Click to expand...

You do realize the implications of a user being too lazy to download a new copy of OS X and instead jumping through whatever hoops necessary to install a copy of OS X that may have been maliciously modified, right?
 
emm386

emm386

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jonblatho said:
You do realize the implications of a user being too lazy to download a new copy of OS X and instead jumping through whatever hoops necessary to install a copy of OS X that may have been maliciously modified, right?
Click to expand...
Yes, I do. I can do hash checks myself. And a good setup routine could even do that for me.

But that wasn't my point.
 
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macs4nw

macs4nw

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emm386 said:
......A user should always be able to override what a system thinks is its best intent. Even if it's the wrong decision, even if I have to deal with catastrophic consequences: I (and no one else) should be able to decide, what's happening on my system. I can live with my computer misbehaving and me having to carry the consequences. but I can not live with the fact, that I no longer am in control. Admittedly, not even Microsoft gets this nowadays. at least not to the level I used to.
Click to expand...
I share your frustration :(:mad::(, believe me, but I can also appreciate where Apple is coming from.

It's probably a carefully calculated decision on their part that there's massively more potential PR harm from untold compatibility conflicts in the Mac user community, than from a small but vocal group of users who want to chart their own software usage future.
 
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Brian33

Brian33

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Can anyone tell me how I can verify that my saved installers have this problem, as I can't seem to reproduce the error message!

I created a flash USB installer stick for Mountain Lion long ago, and I can still boot (an appropriate machine) with it. In the "OS X Utilities" window I select "Reininstall OS X" and click Continue, which brings me to "Install OS X Mountain Lion" window. From there I can click Continue --> Agree--> and select a disk, and never see an error message (but I stopped short of clicking on the apparently final "Install" button).

Would I actually have to have the installer try to copy (replace) files for the issue to appear? From the original description of the issue that doesn't seem to make sense. It appears I'm already running the "Install OS X Mountain Lion" application, without getting any expired certificate error.

How can I verify this issue could really occur with my installers without actually doing a re-install?
 
T

tywebb13

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Apr 21, 2012
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The new one will expire on February 7, 2023.

Trouble is how many new OS X systems will there be before then? Including the old ones starting from Lion, probably about 11. This will be much harder to redownload than the 5 we need to redownload now. They need to make an exception for OS X installers and remove the certificate altogether.
 
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Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

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@Glassed Silver:
The installer application certificate is nonsense because the Mac App Store does download the OS X installers via an encrypted connection, which ensures that the user obtains a valid installer application from a verified IP address. See also:
https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=swscan.apple.com&latest

If someone downloads OS X from other sources, it is his/her security problem, not a security problem for Apple.
 
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M2M

M2M

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Jan 12, 2009
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Don't you just have to lower security settings to be able to just install any software ? After done you can max security back ...

As an alternative can't you just create a USB installer with Terminal commands ?
 
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JosephAW

JosephAW

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May 14, 2012
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It's the new designed obsolescence. I had to set my date back when installing iLife 4 so this is nothing new. Also my Adobe cs3 installers had a similar issue with the updates. Fortunately you can set the date back on computers... For now.
[doublepost=1457052500][/doublepost]I wonder if iOS 8 will suffer from this? I should set my computer to 2023 and my phone and see if it will sync. Something tells me I might run into a problem and all my apps I purchased might be dead?
 
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