Advice

[zesh1]

Hi Guys

I want to create an image with just the OS and admin account on.

Then use deploystudio to deploy it. I also was to install other applications in packages but do not want these to be part of the main build as different users require different software and its much easyer updating a package rather than a whole image.

Can i somehow delpoy these packages through deploystudio in the imaging process?

I have used casper before. Whats the best way to do this with instadmg and deploystudio?

Do i need to use instaup2date?

All i have managed to do is create a vanila image from a base image which pulled some updates from somewere? The Base image was 10.6.3 and i ended up with a 10.6.7 image?

I have read the google pages for this but am getting confused between instaDMG and the uptdatebit?

Some help would be appricated

Thanks

[Allister Banks]

Hey zesh1,

Most commonly people specify workflows with the DeployStudio Admin application for tasks they’ll perform regularly so the process can be more automated. InstaUp2Date uses catalog files(you used one in the AddOns/InstaUp2Date/CatalogFiles folder called 10.6_vanilla), and that’s kindof the same as specifying a workflow, but its limited to the packages you want added and the order, since the entire tool is just making the image for you. It also doesn’t have the nice gui, it’s just text in a specific format that some people find cumbersome. You do not need to use it, it’s essentially a setup tool for instaDMG.
Have you tried createUser, found in the AddOns/createUser folder?
If you can make your other packages work with instaDMG proper(=at all, since commercial packages may require re-packaging to work with a tool like this), you can alter that instaUp2date catalog file to add your createUser package, and furthermore duplicate that one catalog with the packages you want in the others, if you think that’s worth the storage space/computer time. Good luck, Allister

[sseaton]

I am new to InstaDMG (still doing the old monolithic imaging), but want to give this a shot. I have a DMG created in InstaDMG with only the 10.6.7 update applied. I watched the output of the script, and it appeared that the image was scanned for ASR. When I dump the file into the DeployStudio repository, however, it is not available for me to use. Do I need to mount the disk image and create a multicast master? I know this is not a DeployStudio forum, but I thought someone here would know the answer. Thanks!

[Allister Banks]

Hey sseaton,

You need to rename the image to add ‘i386.hfs’ before .dmg at the end. Otherwise DS won’t display it. Please let us know if you needed any other assistance, in the sticky on this forum are other places to get info/ask questions. Thanks,

Allister

[sseaton]

Thanks very much for the tip. I did not see that in the DeployStudio documentation. What I did (before reading your reply) was to copy over the InstaDMG .dmg file on my DeployStudio server and use the workflow I created to make a multicast master. That worked fine… and I guess that is because it simply named it according to the convention you explained to me.

I will check out the sticky to find out where to ask questions in a more appropriate area. Perhaps I can ask you this here, though… I successfully used DeployStudio to multicast my 10.6.7 image (created in InstaDMG from the 10.6.0 install disk and the 10.6.7 combo update only) with no other files or options… just a bare bones 10.6.7 image. When my target machine rebooted, everything looked great, but the target computer froze up on the “Do You Already Own a Mac” screen. I chose not to transfer any data/account and it simply froze up. I was expecting to be asked to create an account. Do you have any advice about this?

Thanks again for your help. I am excited to learn more about modular imaging with InstaDMG.

[Allister Banks]

Hey Sean,

Not sure why you were experiencing that, could you join us in IRC to discuss things further? What hardware were you restoring the image to? There’s a lot of advice I would give, a lot of which I went over in my presentation last month at the PSU Mac Admins conf(plug!), videos of which are available in iTunesU…

Allister

[sseaton]

Thanks again… I did head over to the IRC channel and got some good feedback from a couple of people. Not sure if you were there or not, but I appreciate your help and the help of those in IRC.

[Rusty Myers]

Modular deployment like what you want to do is very possible. I had been doing this for a while at my previous position. As Allister has pointed out, the IRC channel has a good group of people that can answer questions. Here are some other resources that could help:

PSU MacAdmins Conference Videos:
ow.ly/57AhI

Macworld 2011 DeployStudio preso (check the Thin Imaging section):
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5442688/IT852_B_Penglase_R_Myers.pdf

I’m sure you’ve been here, but DS forums:
http://www.deploystudio.com/Forums/index.php

Nightly release notes are where the DMG name change was documented:
http://www.deploystudio.com/Nightly/Entries/2011/6/21_DeployStudio_Server_NB110621.html

DeployStudio unofficial documentation:
http://web.me.com/driley/web/deploystudio.html

Hope that helps! Keep posting questions if you have any.

Rusty

[wadewei]

zesh1 wrote:

Hi Guys

I want to create an image with just the OS and admin account on.

Then use deploystudio to deploy it. I also was to install other applications in packages but do not want these to be part of the main build as different users require different software and its much easyer updating a package rather than a whole image.

Can i somehow delpoy these packages through deploystudio in the imaging process?

I have used casper before. Whats the best way to do this with instadmg and deploystudio?

Do i need to use instaup2date?

All i have managed to do is create a vanila image from a base image which pulled some updates from somewere? The Base image was 10.6.3 and i ended up with a 10.6.7 image?

I have read the google pages for this but am getting confused between instaDMG and the uptdatebit?

Some help would be appricated

Thanks

Mr Karl Kuehn has provided clean train of thought is: InstaDMG—->DeployStudio—->Munki

Good luck.

[sseaton]

I just wanted to follow up with what happened… Everything did work fine. I was still plugged into my closed DeployStudio network for imaging, and it seems it just took a long time to get past the transfer info screen and the networking screen. So, my InstaDMG vanilla image with the admin account worked just fine. Thanks again for everyone’s help here in the forums and the IRC channel!

Allister wrote:

Hey Sean,

Not sure why you were experiencing that, could you join us in IRC to discuss things further? What hardware were you restoring the image to? There’s a lot of advice I would give, a lot of which I went over in my presentation last month at the PSU Mac Admins conf(plug!), videos of which are available in iTunesU…

Allister

[sseaton]

Zesh1… I am playing around with using InstaDMG for future imaging, and I will be using DeployStudio as well. DeployStudio does allow you to install packages, so I would assume you could install an application package and its update package(s) with no problem. You could also use an app like Composer (sold as a standalone app by the Casper people) to create custom packages. I am very new to this modular imaging method, but I have been experimenting a lot lately. For now I am just using the clone imaging process. Cloned images work fine for almost all the deployments… I work for a school district, and most of my machines have identical software… about 700 or 750 computers… but I do want to master the modular imaging approach, as I understand it will pay dividends in the long run and be even more compatible. Good luck with your testing and eventual deployment using the modular approach! Hit the IRC channel indicated in the InstaDMG page here in afp548 for great help… I have been there often, and the people there have been great!!!

zesh1 wrote:

Hi Guys

I want to create an image with just the OS and admin account on.

Then use deploystudio to deploy it. I also was to install other applications in packages but do not want these to be part of the main build as different users require different software and its much easyer updating a package rather than a whole image.

Can i somehow delpoy these packages through deploystudio in the imaging process?

I have used casper before. Whats the best way to do this with instadmg and deploystudio?

Do i need to use instaup2date?

All i have managed to do is create a vanila image from a base image which pulled some updates from somewere? The Base image was 10.6.3 and i ended up with a 10.6.7 image?

I have read the google pages for this but am getting confused between instaDMG and the uptdatebit?

Some help would be appricated

Thanks

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