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How to deploy a patch to upgrade Mac devices to macOS Big Sur?

Last Updated On: 04 Aug 2026|
4 minutes read |

Deploy macOS Big Sur to cloud-managed Mac devices by confirming system requirements, preparing the installer archive, and adding it to the Distribution Server patch store.

Description

Apple released macOS 11 Big Sur, named after the Big Sur coastal region in central California. To upgrade managed Mac devices in your organization to Big Sur, follow the steps below.

Note
This feature is not applicable to roaming users.

System requirements

You can upgrade a Mac to macOS Big Sur 11 only if it meets the following requirements:

  1. The computer must be running OS X Yosemite 10.10 or a later version.
  2. The hard disk must have at least 18.5 GB of free space.
  3. The computer must have at least 4 GB of RAM.
  4. Refer to macOS 11 Big Sur system requirements for more information.

Steps to deploy macOS Big Sur

  1. Open the App Store on one of the managed Mac devices.
  2. Select macOS Big Sur and download it. The Install macOS Big Sur.app file is downloaded to the /Applications folder.
  3. Navigate to the /Applications folder and locate Install macOS Big Sur.app.
  4. Compress the installation file by running the following command:
    tar -zcvf 602771-installBigSur.tar.gz Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/
Note
Run the compression command from the /Applications folder. Do not run it from a different folder.
  1. Copy the tar.gz installation file to the patch store directory. The patch store is the distribution store on the Distribution Server.
  2. To locate the patch store on the Distribution Server, navigate to <DS_INSTALL_DIR> → Replication → Store.

If the patch store location has been changed, use the path specified by the following registry value:

DesktopCentral → DCDistributionServer → PatchStore_Directory

Windows Registry Editor showing the custom Distribution Server patch store directory
Distribution Server patch store registry value

Use the Install Patch configuration to deploy the macOS Big Sur update to the required Mac devices in your network.

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