Do I necessarily have to make a bootable macOS Sierra drive?

[iMore Question]

Do I necessarily have to make a bootable macOS Sierra drive? Can't I just copy the installer and paste it on other Macs and run it from there?

I don't have a spare external drive to convert it into a bootable drive.
I only have 1 external drive and use it to store all my data.
Is it possible to do what I mentioned above??

 

[anon(9602380)]

Welcome to iMore!

No you can't. It does not work that way. It is not a piece of software that you just open. It must be made as a bootable drive or it will not work.