As you know, I've been participating in Apple's Public Beta programs for years. Early on (I think it was pre-Mavericks, actually) I learned the hard way that you do NOT install a beta on your main daily driver. Since that unfortunate mishap, I haven't stopped installing betas; I've just learned how to do it safely. Namely, by either installing on an external drive, or on a wholly separate partition on the main drive. The latter has been my preferred method for the last several iterations. And even then, I don't usually jump into the fray until Beta 3 or 4.
Well imagine my surprise when I saw the new MacOS Sonoma showing up as an available update in my System Preferences today. I guess you don't even need to be a member of the cordoned-off Public Beta program any more and—if you're foolhardy enough—to delve right into the Developer Beta Universe.
Okay, I thought. Why not? I'll create a separate partition and direct the installer to go there. Beta 1 is going to be fraught with danger, but it's safely tucked away from my critical data so what's the harm?
Well, it turns out this beta (and perhaps all developer releases?) doesn't follow the normal install routine. I clicked "upgrade" and it did not offer the customary screen prompting me where I'd like to install it. It simply rebooted and started installing.
Oh shit, I thought. Thankfully, I had last night's full-disk backup so I knew if I had to go back to Ventura I could. It wouldn't be pretty, and it would take several hours to reinstall the OS over the air and then restore all my data, but at least I had that safety net.
After about 20 minutes, the Sonoma install completed and brought me to the log in screen. "So far, so good," I thought. I logged in and everything came up normally.
Except…I had no internet connectivity. It showed I was connected via WiFi to my home network, but whenever I tried to go anywhere online I got notice that "You are not connected to the internet." I tried connecting via my phone's hotspot. I tried via the Cox shared network point. Nothing.
I turned off my VPN. I turned off the firewall. I turned off my ad blockers. Still nothing. Of course, there was not much info on the web about this yet, so after screwing around with it for about a half hour, I said fuck it, rebooted, wiped the drive, and two hours later Ventura was back up and running.