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Upgrade macOS at Stanford

Complete these system checks prior to upgrading your macOS version

macOS Mojave (v10.14) at Stanford

macOS Catalina (v10.15) at Stanford

macOS Big Sur (v.11) at Stanford

System checks

Before getting started with upgrading your macOS version, we recommend that you complete a few system checks that will help ensure your operating system (OS) upgrade goes smoothly.  Once these checks are completed, you can use Apple's instructions to upgrade to macOS Catalina (10.15), macOS Mojave (10.14), or macOS Big Sur (v.11).

Step 1: Check the status of your backup to ensure you're protected from data loss.

You can check the status of your backup by logging into Code42 CrashPlan. To do this, follow these steps. 

  1. Login to https://www.crashplan.com/login using your [SUNetID]@stanford.edu e-mail address and SUNetID password.  ​
  2. Follow these instructions to view information about the status of your backup.
Step 2: Check to determine if an AFS client is installed on your computer.

To determine if you have a previous version of an AFS client installed on your computer, follow these steps:

  1. Open a Finder window.
  2. Navigate to Applications>Stanford>AFS>AFS Controller. 
  3. If that path exists on your device, you have an AFS client installed.

Warning: You MUST uninstall any previous version of OpenAFS on your computer prior upgrading to a new macOS version. Use the Stanford Software Removal Tool to uninstall OpenAFS. If you do not uninstall OpenAFS prior to upgrading your macOS version your computer could end up in a kernel panic loop. If this happens, see the macOS Kernel Panic Recovery instructions.​

Step 3: If you have an AFS client installed, you must uninstall it. If you don't have an AFS client installed, go to Step 4.

To uninstall Open AFS, follow these steps:

  1. Download and execute the Stanford Software Removal Tool.
  2. Select OpenAFS from the list of installed software and remove it.
Step 4: Check to find out if you're using any 32-bit applications, which are no longer supported under macOS Catalina (v10.15).

Before you update to Catalina, find out whether you're using any 32-bit apps. To find 32-bit apps on your Mac, follow these steps:

  1. Download and run Go64 tool to display your 32-bit applications.
  2. Most application developers have Catalina compatible versions so it’s just a matter of upgrading your 32-bit app to the new version after you’ve upgraded to Catalina. Check the software vendor’s website for a Catalina compatible version. 
  3. If there is no Catalina compatible version for your critical application, you must upgrade to Mojave (10.14) to be able to run 32-bit applications. If there are 32-bit applications that you do not use or no longer need, you may upgrade to Catalina.

Get help

If you are unsure which OS to upgrade to, or if you run into issues with the system checks or have questions, submit a Help request for assistance.

Learn more