Insomniatical

Q: NetInstall images not appearing.

Hey all!  This is my first time configuring a NetInstall server and, as far as I can tell, everything is configured correctly--but none of my images are appearing.  That being said, I do have my server configured using a static IP that is on a different subnet than the rest of my client IPs (172.16.200.x for servers, 192.168.142.x for clients).  Honestly, I'm not sure how to proceed and hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

 

Any tips?

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Aug 3, 2016 6:19 AM

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Q: NetInstall images not appearing.

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  • by Brian Nesse,

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Aug 3, 2016 7:46 AM in response to Insomniatical
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Aug 3, 2016 7:46 AM in response to Insomniatical

    NetBoot will not cross subnet boundaries without configuring NetBoot helpers (relays). The simple answer is to put the NetBoot server on the client subnet.

  • by Insomniatical,

    Insomniatical Insomniatical Aug 3, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Brian Nesse
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 3, 2016 8:26 AM in response to Brian Nesse

    That may be the simple answer, but it's not one that will work here.  The main network admin wants all the servers configured on a completely separate subnet to mitigate data flow.  Any info on a relay?

  • by Brian Nesse,Solvedanswer

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Aug 3, 2016 9:09 AM in response to Insomniatical
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Aug 3, 2016 9:09 AM in response to Insomniatical

    'man bootpd'

     

    The short version is that you need to set up a machine on the client subnet that relays bootp requests to the server.

     

    The setup would look something like:

    1. Edit /etc/bootpd.plist:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

    <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

    <plist version="1.0">

    <dict>

        <key>relay_enabled</key>

        <array>

            <string>en0</string>

        </array>

        <key>relay_ip_list</key>

        <array>

            <string>172.16.200.xxx</string>

        </array>

    </dict>

    </plist>

     

    2. Bring up bootpd:

         $ sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/bootps.plist

  • by Insomniatical,

    Insomniatical Insomniatical Aug 3, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Brian Nesse
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 3, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Brian Nesse

    Awesome.  That looks like it'll work for me.  Thank you so much!

  • by Antonio Rocco,

    Antonio Rocco Antonio Rocco Aug 3, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Insomniatical
    Level 6 (10,582 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 3, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Insomniatical

    I'm not sure I fully understand why the network admin wants to mitigate data flow? Surely some data (probably lots of it) needs to flow to and from your server otherwise what would be the point? An IP_underscore helper address on at least one of your core switches will act exactly the same as a workstation configured as a relay. Makes far better use of your switching hardware as that's what they're meant to do.

     

    Just speculating but if this is a predominantly windows environment (I'm guessing AD?) then at the very least WDS and more than likely SCCM is the deployment method used by the network admin. If that's the case adding an IP helper address can't hurt.

     

    My 2p

  • by Brian Nesse,

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Aug 3, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Antonio Rocco
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Aug 3, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

    I totally agree, and it doesn't suffer from the potential "oops, somebody shut down the relay client" issue.

  • by Insomniatical,

    Insomniatical Insomniatical Aug 3, 2016 10:13 AM in response to Antonio Rocco
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 3, 2016 10:13 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

    All your assumptions are correct. I'll have to look more in to an ip helper. Honestly, my biggest hurdle was not understanding why the images weren't showing up. Now that I understand the issue, the ip helper will definitely be a better solution. we only have the one mac server (we only have about 20 macs in the building) and wanted to set up a net installer for those users.