dmgbuild

1.6.7 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

dmgbuild is a macOS command line utility and Python library for creating disk images (.dmg files). It provides a programmatic way to build DMGs with custom backgrounds, icons, and layout. The current version is 1.6.7, with a stable maintenance release cadence. Only works on macOS.

pip install dmgbuild

Common errors

error OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted ↓

cause macOS sandboxing or missing permissions to create disk images.

fix

Run the script with appropriate entitlements or grant full disk access to Terminal.

error ImportError: cannot import name 'DMGObject' from 'dmgbuild' ↓

cause Old version of dmgbuild (< 1.6.0) where DMGObject was not exposed at the top level.

fix

Upgrade to version 1.6.0+: pip install --upgrade dmgbuild

error TypeError: DMGObject.__init__() takes 2 positional arguments but 3 were given ↓

cause Passing arguments incorrectly; the constructor expects (volume_name, paths) where paths is a list.

fix

Use DMGObject('Name', ['/path/to/item']) instead of DMGObject('Name', '/path/to/item')

Warnings

gotcha dmgbuild only works on macOS. Importing or running on Linux/Windows will raise an OSError about missing Apple APIs. ↓

fix Use only on macOS; for CI, use macOS runners.

breaking Version 1.6.0 dropped support for Python < 3.10. Users on Python 3.7-3.9 must stay on older versions (e.g., 1.5.2). ↓

fix Use Python >= 3.10 or pin dmgbuild to <1.6.0.

gotcha The DMGObject constructor has changed signature between versions. In newer versions, the second argument is a list of paths; in older versions it was a single path or different parameters. ↓

fix Always pass a list (even for one file): DMGObject('Volume', ['/path/to/app'])

Imports

DMGObject
```
from dmgbuild import DMGObject
```
DMGObject is the main class for building DMGs programmatically.
build_dmg
wrong
```
dmgbuild.build_dmg
```
correct
```
from dmgbuild import build_dmg
```
build_dmg is a top-level function, but using the module as a command line tool is more common. The function is available in the package.
settings
wrong
```
import dmgbuild; dmgbuild.settings
```
correct
```
from dmgbuild import settings
```
settings is a dict of default settings, but accessing via the module name works too (just longer).

Quickstart

Creates a simple disk image containing a single app.

from dmgbuild import DMGObject

# Create a DMG with a volume name and files
dmg = DMGObject('MyVolume', '/tmp/myapp.app')
dmg.build('/tmp/myapp.dmg')
print('DMG created at /tmp/myapp.dmg')