Xythos Drive For Mac
- Setting Up Xythos Drive for Mac After installing the Xythos Drive for Mac software, go to Applications/Xythos Software and launch Xythos Drive. Under the Volumes tab, click the plus (+) button on the lower left side of the window to set up a new Xythos volume. Fill in the following fields: Volume Name: MyXythosFiles or JoesXythosFiles.
- An Introduction to Xythos Drive for the Mac. Downloading and Installing Xythos Drive. Xythos Drive is available for faculty, staff, and students at the University of Illinois Springfield at no charge through the WebStore. Xythos Drive 1.5.13605 for Mac is available as a free download on our software library. The most popular version of the tool.
These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install it on multiple computers without having to download the installer each time.
Support for the Blackboard Xythos Drive web application ends on December 31, 2019. Users will no longer be able to access Blackboard Xythos Drive. To learn more, see the Blackboard Xythos End of Life support bulletin on Behind the Blackboard (available in English only). Support for Blackboard Drive will also end on December 31, 2019.
What you need to create a bootable installer
- A USB flash drive or other secondary volume, formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 12 GB of available storage
- A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or El Capitan
Download macOS
- Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave or macOS High Sierra
These will download to your Applications folder as an app called Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after being downloaded, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server. - Download: OS X El Capitan
This will be downloaded as a disk image called InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, which has the name InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
- Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace
MyVolumein these commands with the name of your volume.
Big Sur:*
Catalina:*
Mojave:*
High Sierra:*
El Capitan:
* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this was done in the command for El Capitan.
After typing the command:
- Press Return to enter the command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
- When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal displaying the progress as the bootable installer is created.
- When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Catalina. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
Use the bootable installer
After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it:
- Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
- Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
- Release the Option key when you see a dark screen displaying your bootable volumes.
If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility has been set to allow booting from external media. - Choose your language, if prompted.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Learn more
For more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:
- Big Sur: /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
- Catalina: /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
- Mojave: /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
- High Sierra: /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
- El Capitan: /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
The following table summarizes the results of ITS testing of High Sierra (10.13) Operating System against university services and supported software. This table will continue be updated as information continues to be gathered.
Apple File System
- When installing macOS High Sierra, the new, much more modern file system is implemented as the new default, replacing the old HFS+ file system.
- APFS is a 64-bit file system that is optimized for modern storage like solid state drives
- it is easily adaptable to future storage technologies.
- APFS is safe and secure, offering crash protection, safe document saves, stable snapshots, simplified backups, and native encryption.
- It is more responsive than HFS+, with instant file and directory cloning, fast directory sizing, high performance parallelized metadata operations, and sparse file writes.
- it is a significant improvement over HFS+ that's going to introduce better performance in the form of simple encryption, faster file transfers, and more.
Please Note: Updating the file system of an operating system can be a complicated and time consuming procedure. Often it is best to wait until the Operating System is live for a few weeks to determine if significant bugs exist within the software. Please contact the ITSC if you have any questions about upgrading.
Compatibility
- Mac OS High Sierra is compatible with all Macs that can run macOS Sierra
- 2009 AND LATER
- iMac (Late 2009)
- MacBook (Late 2009)
- 2010 AND LATER
- MacBook Air (Late 2010)
- MacBook Pro (Mid 2010)
- Mac mini (Mid 2010)
- Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
Windows Services | Pass/Fail | Comments |
Active Directory | ||
Windows File Service | Passed. | mapped drive to smb://ad.queensu.ca with Cisco Any Conect VPN. |
Adobe Software | ||
Adobe Reader | Installed and open PDF file. | Basic testing only. Adobe System Requirements list it supports: Mac OS X v10.10, 10.11, 10.12 or 10.13 |
Adobe Acrobat Pro | Acrobat DC compatibility High Sierra v10.13 support statement from Adobe. | |
Adobe Flash Player | ||
Antivirus Software | ||
System Center Endpoint Protection (SCEP) | Not supported by vendor, but works in testing.
| Current version of SCEP v4.5.32.0 officially supports OS X 10.6 to 10.13. For OS X 10.13 or later, the following message is presented after installation: |
Internet Browsers | ||
Safari | Passed. | Using Safari V11.0 (13604.1.38.1.6) |
Google Chrome | Passed. | Download from www.google.com/chrome/index.html |
Firefox | Passed. | Download from getfirefox.com |
| Microsoft Office | ||
| Office 2011 | Not supported. | Please upgrade to Office 2016 prior to updating and remove Office 2011. |
Word 2011 | Not supported. | |
Excel 2011 | Not supported. | |
Outlook 2011 | Not supported. | |
PowerPoint 2011 | Not supported. | |
Skype for Business (Lync) | Installed with Office 2016. | |
| Office 365 ProPlus | Passed. | This is is the subscription version of Office 2016 as downloaded in Office 365. This is meant for personally owned computers only. |
Office 2016 | Passed. | |
OneDrive for Business | ||
| Connectivity Software | ||
Campus VPN Client | Passed. Tested with vpn.queensu.ca/campus | downloaded V3. from my.queensu.ca (accept the certificate to install). |
Remote Gateway via Remote Desktop Protocol ( RDP/RDG ) | Passed. | Installed from Apple Store, and configured for RDG tested connection to terminal server. |
Wireless connectivity | Passed. | |
| Administrative Software | ||
PeopleSoft | Tested access to myHR from off campus Admin PS not tested yet. Using Safari V11.0 (13604.1.38.1.6) | |
| Applications / Services | ||
QShare | As of October 31, 2019, the QShare service has been decommissioned. | Test Web UI using Safari V11.0 (13604.1.38.1.6) Xythos Drive V1.7.17758 required. Upgrade Xythos drive client before updating OS. |
Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) | Not tested. | Users need to migrate to WFS or use OneDrive for backups. |
Queen's Wiki | Passed. | Using Safari V11.0 (13604.1.38.1.6) |
Fetch | ||
Outlook Web App | Passed. | Using Safari V11.0 (13604.1.38.1.6) |
Java 8 | ||
SPSS | ||
Xythos Drive For Mac Catalina
Last Updated: December 18, 2018