Failsafe method to create NetInstall image of pre-configured MacOSX

Skip steps 4 & 5.

Use SIU to create the NBI directly from the source disk.

The first part of your step 4 is "boot into target mode" with your model. At that point use your second mac mini to just create a netrestore image with SIU. (Not sure why you would go through caspar). Then copy the NBI folder it creates to your server. The second mac mini needs to be running ML also. If it isn't you could create it using the server.

Netinstall being greyed out is typically because your SIU is up level from your source volume. It's Apple's user friendly way of telling you it can't see any valid input volumes. :-)

Most people mount the model in target mode or use an external USB disk. I have not heard of anyone using a dmg or DVD.

We have had good luck using NetRestore for Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion. Except we've never seen System Preferences work as advertised. We have not built an image with Mountain Lion. We build the image from source OS media plus packaged versions of our applications.

With NetRestore there is a new wrinkle - You have to download a fresh OS install App from the Apple Store. SIU accepts that App as input. If you use a base version of the OS plus combo updates SIU works but your install will fail.

First, let's define the various image types...

NetInstall:

A network based image which, when booted into, presents the user with a Mac OS installer. Functionality is effectively the same as running the Install Mac OS X application locally on a machine.

NetRestore:

A network based image which, when booted into, uses Apple Software Restore to replace the contents of a volume with a previously imaged volume.

NetBoot:

A network based image which, when booted into, acts just like a locally booted hard drive, except no changes are written to the disk. Each time the client boots into the NetBoot volume, the system is "reset" to the original state.

As defined by your workflow, you are trying to create NetRestore images.

As piperspace has noted, you need to start with the latest OS Install application. Starting with an older OS which has been updated to the latest will not work.

Creating NetRestore images from other disk images doesn't work because you need to have the Recovery Partition available. As both chicster and piperspace have noted, the way to do this is to image the volume directly.

Many preferences are "ByHost", which means that they are keyed to the UUID of the machine they are set on. To make those settings transfer to the new machines, you may need to use the "Apply System Configuration Settings" action and check the "Change ByHost preferences to match..." option.

just to cover all the bases, when enabling the image on the server, I noticed with ML netrestore images there is the option of http or i-can't-remember-the-other-one and for some reason the ML ones default to http even though the other one is what you probably want. I seem to remember I discovered this when it behaved pretty much as you describe.

You are correct that you can't do a NetInstall without a Mac OS X install application. The OS Installer (what you are booting into) has no idea how to do an installation without installing the OS.

Although NFS is still supported, Server no longer has a panel to configure it. As such, the default protocol for image creation was changed to HTTP. Both still work. It's up to you to choose whichever one works for you.

Hi Rob,

I meant that many folks in the past (incuding me) have gotten the latest copy of SIU and then been mystified when it refused to see an input volume that had worked in the past.

It sounds like that is not your problem.

However, Brian and this reference http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5599 seem to be telling us that NetInstall now ONLY works using a OS installer downloaded from the Apple Store.

Same general point - if an option in SIU is greyed out - don't go there. :-)

We use NetRestore for student lab computers. We have the luxury of wiping the disk and installing a clean copy of the OS from media and packaged Apps. We are not doing OS upgrades where data must be preserved. Our user data all lives on a networked file server. We manage preferences with WorkGroup Manager on a Mac Server. We only have one local administrative account on our client Macs. We do not use System Configuration settings at all. We use a custom script to assign unique names and bind each Mac. It runs unattended.

At present we do not use NetInstall. We might use it in future for staff accounts where we need to do an OS upgrade in place.

Hope this helps,

-piper

Here is a reference that may help you debug your client boot problems: http://www.afp548.com/mactips/

In particular, note that there is a Boot Service Discovery Protocol (BSDP) handshake that must occur before you even get to the NFS/HTTP part.

At our site we have chronic issues with BSDP being blocked by our Cisco switches.