Software To Create A Netboot Image For Mac

Start your client Mac from the NetBoot image. Note: Before we begin this section, it’s very important to understand the difference between a NetBoot and a NetRestore image. Create your image; Note The image creation will take a bit (10-20 minutes on newer hardware), as it's essentially installing the OS into that DMG it's creating. Creating a Netboot Image To create a Netboot image, we'll use the DMG created in the previous section, with AutoCasperNBI 1. Launch AutoCasperNBI 2.

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The NetBoot service allows administrators of Apple computers to leverage images hosted on a server to boot computers to a central location and put a new image on them, upgrade them and perform automations based on upgrades and images. Since the very first versions of OS X, the service has been called NetBoot and so the name remains at the command line, but is listed as NetInstall in the Server app. In the Server app, Apple provides a number of options surrounding the NetInstall service, based on Automator-style which we’ll explore further in this article. The first step to configuring the NetInstall service is to decide what you want the service to do. There are three options available in System Image Utility (available under the Tools menu of the Server app in OS X Server): • Create a NetBoot Image: Allows Macs to boot over the network to a disk image hosted on a server. • Create a NetInstall Image: Leverage NetBoot as a boot disk so that an image hosted on a server can be used to run a macOS installer.

• Create a NetRestore Image: Leverage NetBoot as a boot disk so that you can restore a computer that has been configured over a network. Use this option to restore an image that has been prepared. For the purposes of this example, we’re going to use a macOS Sierra (10.12) installer running Server 5.2 to boot a Mac over the network. The first step in doing so is to create a Network Disk Image (in this case 10.12), or the 10.9 installation media (which is the Install macOS Sierra bundle for this example). Before setting it up, download the Install macOS Sierra installer app into the /Applications directory from the App Store. Create An Image To then set up the NetBoot disk image (you can’t start the NetInstall service until you give it an image to serve), often referred to as the NetBoot set, open the Server app and then click on System Image Utility from the Tools menu of OS X. When System Image Utility opens, click on the Install macOS Sierra entry in the list of available sources and click Next.

Then, in the list of options, click on NetBoot Image and then click on the Next button. At the License Agreement screen, click Agree. Then provide an account name, short name and password in the Image Settings screen. Also choose the language of the user and select if you want the account to log in automatically.

Once provided, click Next. Next, select any profiles, packages or post-install scripts to run on the NetBoot image once created. Here, you can use a profile to deploy a printer, bind to Active Directory, or use a package to install software.

Post-install scripts allow you to do pretty much anything you’d like to a system, provided it’s allowed by SIP. At the System Configuration screen, choose how you’d like systems to receive names. Here, you can provide a name as a base for computers to get a computer name or you can use a file to deploy names.

In most cases, you should also check the box for “Match to client after install.” Click Next once you’ve selected how this should occur. At the Directory Servers screen, click on the plus sign if you’d like to bind the system to a particular directory server. In this example, we’re binding to ad.krypted.com. Also provide an account with access to bind to where you’re binding. In this case, we’re using the built-in admin account for Active Directory. Click Add once you’ve provided the appropriate directory server and credentials. At the Image Settings screen, provide a name for the image, as well as how the index number for the image is created.

Note that each image should have a unique image index, so unless you’re storing your image on multiple servers, it’s best left at the defaults. At the Supported Computer Models screen, you can choose which models of computer you don’t wish to support for this image. We’re not doing that here, but it’s useful, for example, if you’d like to preclude desktops from an image. At the Filter Clients By MAC Address, you can choose to explicitly allow or deny given MAC addresses for computers.

We’re not going to do that as part of this workflow, so just click Next (unless of course you’d like to do that). Then, when prompted, select a location to store the Disk Image, provide any tags to be applied to the files that comprise the image and click on Save. The computer will then start creating the NetBoot set. Setup The NetInstall Service Once finished, it’s time to set up the NetInstall service in macOS Server. To get started, go back to the Server app. First, define which disk will host NetBoot Images.