Trying to d/l the Cat installer...

[RAMd®d]

...but I only got the 19MB stub.

How do I get the full installer, around >5G?

I'm not planning to install Cat any time soon if at all, but I like to d/l it at least once so I can get it later if needed.

[Sarcany]

Apple determines which installer you get. Not sure what the metric is that determines it. I've found that switching my laptop to another network has worked to get me the full installer in the past.

It has been my experience that using 3rd party utilities to download and assemble installers from the App Store creates versions that don't work reliably.

[WHiiP]

Full Installer shows me 8.09 G.

FYI

[NewtonMP2100]

....so Cat.....got your tongue....??

[rich in distress]

Search for Catalina @app store. It will the download the installer to the application folder.
Quit the installer and copy the file.

[GGD]

rich in distress wrote:
Search for Catalina @app store. It will the download the installer to the application folder.
Quit the installer and copy the file.

I'm sure that's exactly what he tried doing, but the App store gave him the 19MB stub instead (there is no way to explicitly request the stub).

I had that happen with High Sierra, no matter what I tried the App store would hand me the stub. It was like it was now in my purchase list after the first time it did it, and every time after that it would give me that "version".

I have had luck downloading the full installers using the patch utilities from dosdude1 http://dosdude1.com/software.html

The installers that the utilities download have had the exact same file sizes as what I've downloaded from the app store. Those utilities have the added benefit that you can download the installers even when running on a Mac that cannot run that new OS. The App store won't let you do that.