Comparison of startosinstall's available options depending on boot OS environment

startosinstall_10.12.6_normalboot.txt

bash-3.2$ /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --usage
Usage: startosinstall --applicationpath <install macOS.app path>

Arguments
--applicationpath, a path to copy of the OS installer application to start the install with.
--license, prints the user license agreement only.
--agreetolicense, agree to license the license you printed with --license.
--rebootdelay, how long to delay the reboot at the end of preparing. This delay is in seconds and has a maximum of 300 (5 minutes).
--pidtosignal, Specify a PID to which to send SIGUSR1 upon completion of the prepare phase. To bypass "rebootdelay" send SIGUSR1 back to startosinstall.
--usage, prints this message.

Example: startosinstall --applicationpath "/Applications/Install macOS.app"

startosinstall_10.12.6_recoveryboot.txt

bash-3.2# /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --usage
Usage: startosinstall --applicationpath <install macOS.app path> --volume <target volume path>

Arguments
--applicationpath, a path to copy of the OS installer application to start the install with.
--license, prints the user license agreement only.
--agreetolicense, agree to license the license you printed with --license.
--rebootdelay, how long to delay the reboot at the end of preparing. This delay is in seconds and has a maximum of 300 (5 minutes).
--pidtosignal, Specify a PID to which to send SIGUSR1 upon completion of the prepare phase. To bypass "rebootdelay" send SIGUSR1 back to startosinstall.
--usage, prints this message.
--volume, path to the target volume.

Example: startosinstall --applicationpath "/Applications/Install macOS.app" --volume /Volumes/Target

startosinstall_10.13_normalboot.txt

bash-3.2$ /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --usage
Usage: startosinstall

Arguments
--applicationpath, a path to copy of the OS installer application to start the install with.
--license, prints the user license agreement only.
--agreetolicense, agree to license the license you printed with --license.
--rebootdelay, how long to delay the reboot at the end of preparing. This delay is in seconds and has a maximum of 300 (5 minutes).
--pidtosignal, Specify a PID to which to send SIGUSR1 upon completion of the prepare phase. To bypass "rebootdelay" send SIGUSR1 back to startosinstall.
--converttoapfs, specify either YES or NO on if you wish to convert to APFS.
--installpackage, the path of a package to install after the OS installation is complete; this option can be specified multiple times.
--usage, prints this message.

Example: startosinstall --converttoapfs YES 

startosinstall_10.13_recoveryboot.txt

-bash-3.2# ./startosinstall --usage
Usage: startosinstall --volume <target volume path>

Arguments
--applicationpath, a path to copy of the OS installer application to start the install with.
--license, prints the user license agreement only.
--agreetolicense, agree to license the license you printed with --license.
--rebootdelay, how long to delay the reboot at the end of preparing. This delay is in seconds and has a maximum of 300 (5 minutes).
--pidtosignal, Specify a PID to which to send SIGUSR1 upon completion of the prepare phase. To bypass "rebootdelay" send SIGUSR1 back to startosinstall.
--converttoapfs, specify either YES or NO on if you wish to convert to APFS.
--installpackage, the path of a package to install after the OS installation is complete; this option can be specified multiple times.
--usage, prints this message.
--volume, path to the target volume.

Example: startosinstall --volume /Volumes/Target --converttoapfs YES