[UniMacTech] 10.4.11 Netinstall issue with 10.5 Server

[Nigel Kersten]

On Apr 8, 2008, at 11:12 PM, David Kudrev wrote:

> G'day folks, I'm in the process at the moment in setting up a  
> Leopard server and configuring Netinstall on 10.5. The two images  
> made for Mac OS 10.5.2 are working fine. Whereas the 10.4.11 images  
> created on 10.4 server, and copied onto 10.5. Under Server Admin,  
> the images are coming up fine, and also comes up on the client  
> machines too. However, the problem is, with the 10.4.11 image, as  
> soon as I continue the restore/installation of the image, the  
> progress bar goes for half a second, then stating that the  
> Installation is complete. The process that I used to create the  
> image is as follows:
>
> - Firstly created an image on the Mac
> - Then booted it into target disk mode
> - Plugged it in via firewire into the 10.4 server
> - Opened up Disk Utility, and then created the DMG of the Macintosh HD
> - After creating the DMG, I make an nbi file in System Image  
> Utility, and then copy the nbi onto the 10.5 server (usb drive).
>
> Now the 10.5 images were created the same way, and come up with no  
> problem. I'd be more than happy to give more information about the  
> steps used.
> Muchly appreciated folks



Is there a reason you're using NetInstall to push out monolithic  
images rather than NetRestore?

I've seen exactly the same problem with 10.4.11 and certain MacBook  
Pro models, but we moved the deployment method to NetRestore at about  
the same time for other reasons, so I never actually hunted down what  
was causing it.

I've never understood using NetInstall for pushing out a single image  
without package customization. You end up with a read-only image  
inside a read-only image inside an .nbi, and it's really hard to  
maintain.

NetRestore on the other hand truly separates your .nbi you boot from  
and the dmgs that you restore onto clients, which is a lot easier to  
maintain.


-- 
Nigel Kersten
http://explanatorygap.net