You can host any of the NetRestore / NetInstall and NetBoot images from any of the Apple server OS's. I have a 10.5.8 PPC server hosting images ranging from 10.3 up to 10.9. Custom Images, Default restore images, and from media Install images.
Building these images involves having a HD (seperate from the one you are booted from) mounted, and for you to be running the same OS as the OS that is installed on the HD you are about to image.
There have been bugs that allow you to image the HD/OS you're booted from, but those are rare.
jamesfromsetauket wrote:
I have a 10.8 server that I'm trying to get to serve 10.6.8 NetRestore images. I understand that I need a 10.6.8 Server to make 10.6 images since Server 10.8 requires a Recovery Partition to create an image. I've make a 10.6.8 image on the 10.6 Server using the 10.6.8 combo updater on an external hard drive that then boots correctly. I have uploaded the 10.6.8 NetRestore folder to my ML server and placed it into the NetBoot folder. I have enabled the image using NFS in the Server app for all Macs, so it appears with the green jewel in the Server Images tab, but Macs booted with the N key down see only a 10.8.4 image I created directly from an external HD with a bootable 10.8.4 installation.
Any suggestions? I have rebooted the server after the last image was created but the image is still not visible.
Did you make the image from the combo updater, or you'd just installed the combo updater on the external drive (while booted from it)?
Are the macs you are trying to boot able to boot from 10.6.8? And (just double checking here:), the image itself is unrestricted, not set to only allow certain Models to boot from it?
Do you have Filtering on in Server Admin? I have only 10.5.8, 10.8.5 and 10.9 servers immediately available at this moment, but I believe that 10.6 was the same as 10.5, in which case the Filters are in Server Admin / Netboot / Settings / Filters. Are they on by any chance?
Can these macs see the 10.6.8 netboot image when they are booted into their OS's, in System Preferences (not just at boot time)?
You could try turning off the 10.8 image and just have the 10.6.8 image on, then run :
bless --netboot --server bsdp://your.server.ip.address
Then restart and see if it works.
I have had one issue once where a 10.8 image wouldn't show up as available from the 10.5.8 server (very first time I tried this). Starting and stopping the Netboot service fixed this however.
