10.14.5 OS update best practices

[mavots]

10.14.5 OS update best practices.

Can someone please summarize the best way to update macOS these days? I have a MacPro5,1 with a RX580.

It used to be a no brainer to do an OS minor update. Now its seems like a gamble and, frankly, I've become gun shy after the High Sierra point updates.
My MO in the past has been to download the Combo Update and use that. Is this still best with Mojave and a cMP?
I can do it either from a flash drive, internal bay drive or my NVME boot drive. Which is best?

I also have the full install in order to update the BootROM from 140-144. After the flash, I will use the Combo update to get to 10.14.5 proper unless someone says there is a better way.

Have a great weekend.

 

[crjackson2134]

Don’t over think this...

Just backup your drive to a working clone and update normally. If it goes bad, restore from the clone, or install clean and bring your data over from the backup.

If you need a firmware update, use the full installer.

 

[mavots]

Don’t over think this...

Just backup your drive to a working clone and update normally. If it goes bad, restore from the clone, or install clean and bring your data over from the backup.

If you need a firmware update, use the full installer.

Success! Looks like the 10.14 updates are much more stable than some of the earlier 10.13 updates. I was losing confidence in Apple's ability to drop stable updates.

Used full install from internal SSD boot drive (disabled all other attached drives) to update BootROM from 140.0.0.0 to 144.0.0.0.
Used 10.14.5 Combo Update to then install the OS update.

I had some issues with external enclosures not mounting from a restart and that has gone away. I'll mention that in the appropriate threads.