Apple - How to allow install of non app store or identified developers on MacOS Sierra

From: How to Allow Apps from Anywhere in macOS Sierra Gatekeeper

  1. Quit out of System Preferences

  2. Open the Terminal app from the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and then enter the following command syntax:

    sudo spctl --master-disable
    
  3. Hit return and authenticate with an admin password

  4. Relaunch System Preferences and go to “Security & Privacy” and the “General” tab

  5. You will now see the “Anywhere” option under ‘Allow apps downloaded from:’ Gatekeeper options


Just right-click (or ^ ctrl click) the pkg file in question and choose Open. This will let you open the file no matter where it came from. Note that this is different from double-clicking.

You can do this with any application downloaded from the Internet, and macOS will remember that application next time you run it.

From a security standpoint, I prefer doing this over disabling the safeguard systemwide.


To do this without needing admin privileges and without disabling security features:

  • Open up terminal
  • Type xattr -c
  • Drag (from finder) the file you wish to open into the terminal window
  • Run the command by pressing Enter

xattr -c removes the metadata of a file or folder. This removes the developer, date of download and a few other things. It does not effect the contents of the app.