[bw38]

Also, I should be more clear in what I’m trying to do. Aside from learning how to use installerchoices, I’m also trying to create a bare configuration for use in a NetInstall image that I will be creating with the Casper NetInstall utility. I’ve never actually created a NetInstall image so I’m trying to use what I know about InstaDMG and what I’m reading with the Casper Suite documentation to get this working.

Since I’m testing out Casper Suite, I realize I also have to create a NetInstall image now which is a pain because I was using DeployStudio which did it for me.

I know this is out of InstaDMG, but am I on the right track with what I’m trying to accomplish?

[bw38]

Here’s the debug log:http://pastie.org/1522617

[bw38]

Here’s the error message: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/7567/img2011020200006.jpg

[bw38]

I’ve haven’t used munki before. I ended up having to manually install the software on all Macs (Adobe CS5 and FCS3). Once this is over I will definitely review what went wrong. I will also look into munki. Although I’m also testing out the Casper Suite from JAMF so I don’t know if that will already do some of the stuff munki does.

[bw38]

I was under the wrong impression. It’s been such a stressful week I don’t even know what’s what anymore. It worked the first time for sure via FireWire (I remember this much because I had a big grin and yelled “yes” next to my co-worker when I saw it work), but when I tied to deploy via multicast it wouldn’t work. Then I figured to try it again via FireWire, and again it wouldn’t work. It looks like my packages are somehow messed up. I must be doing something different and I don’t know what it is. In any case, I resorted to using my base standard image which has a bunch of free apps and MS Office and other tweaks. I deployed successfully to 35 computers via multicast. The rough part is now having to install Adobe CS5 and FCS3 to all 35 computers. After I get through this nightmare I’m going to further inspect what I’ve been doing and take my time to make sure the same image can be redeployed multiple times without issue.

[bw38]

So I was able to test the image via FireWire and there is something up with the image for sure. It’s very weird because when I tested the image the first time it was created it worked fine, but when I tried to deploy it after that, it simply stopped working with these two packages. I’m going to have to investigate this further but in the mean time I’m going to have to improvise and get things done this week, even if it means a lot more manual work than I anticipated.

[bw38]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]My image is right around 60gb compressed. I’m on gig though, so I guess I can get away with it.

So does it work properly when you image just one via unicast?

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]
I wasn’t able to test it today. Snow day at work. But tomorrow I will.

[bw38]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]If it always works via firewire and never works via DeployStudio, then I’d say its not the image itself.

Multicast will resend packets that are dropped, so that shouldn’t have caused the issue, BUT, I would try imaging just one, non-multicast and see if it works or not. I don’t use multicast because I have not had the time to tune it properly for our network. I end up just pushing 26 unicast images out and waiting 4 hours 🙂

Image via FireWire and via Unicast using deploystudio and see what happens.

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]
How big is the image you’re sending out? And what kind of speed does your switch allow?

My image is about 58GB and I’m sending it out over a 10/100MB switch. Such an image would take quite some time. At what kind of speeds does it send the image out when you deploy it?

I have about 35 Macs to re-image. If I try to NetBoot more than 10 at a time, I see a significant decrease in speed.

[bw38]

I’m grasping at anything that may have changed recently:

The only thing I can think of that I changed in that time is that I started building images on my external HDD via Firewire rather than the internal HDD on the iMac. I found that it started building the images quicker (internal HDD would take 4 hrs, on the external it would take maybe 2.5 to 3hrs with FCS3 and Adobe CS5).

Here’s another thing that I started doing about early last month (but this was during the time the image was working): I would take the files/folders in the in the user folder and add them to the corresponding User Template folder. However I would change the Owner/Group to root/wheel (the other permissions stayed the same). But like I said this worked for me so I don’t know if this is bad or not.

Also another thing that may have changed: on my iMac I setup a partition with OS X Server. I didn’t run InstaDMG within OS X Server, but the partition was there. So when I was running InstaDMG there were about 3 partitions on the internal HDD plus the external HDD connected. But then again I always build my images with at least 2 partitions and the external HDD connected.

I also another thing that is strange: the last image I created I was able to deploy via FireWire to another Mac (same model) as mine. And it worked fine. All CS5 and FCS3 applications responded without issue. However when I tried to deploy it over the network it failed.

Other info:
I’m using Deploy Studio to deploy the image. I’m using multicast. Initially I noticed packets failing to send. But I did one unicast session which seemed to go through without any failures (I can only vouch up to where there was 20-30 minutes left in the deployment). I say that because I left for a bit and the computer had restarted so I was unable to see any logs for it. I understand any packet that fails to send could be from anywhere on the disk image, but on my last deployment I only saw 6 packets which weren’t sent, its nuts if it broke the entire Adobe CS5 suite because of that. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to work with since I’m on a 10/100Mb switch, but I set the max speed to 6MB/s on the server.

What I’m going to do is deploy the last image again on Thursday via FireWire to one computer to see if it deploys properly.

I don’t really have anyone else to brain storm or troubleshoot at work with on this project. Only people to vent with. Any other things you can give me to bounce off ideas and get me thinking is much appreciated.

[bw38]

Yup, I continued to test on the same machine, same packages, same installer disc. The only real difference was the updated InstaDMG. I’ve been using Composer 8 too. I tried building Adobe CS5 with the latest diffs and also did a package with before/after modified snapshots. Same with FCS3. It’s just rather strange how this worked for so long but suddenly stopped after the new year.

I’m resorting to a final solution of creating a package of the DMG for Adobe CS5 and just manually installing it when the computer is booted up so that I can get this up and running by this week.

Have you recently created an image with both products using the latest SVN for InstaDMG?

[bw38]

In Composer, what I generally do is I add the path /System/Library/User Template/….
I then delete the additional files and folders located under System, Library and User Template that I don’t need.
I’m then left with just the basic folders I need. I then drag and the files from the user profile that Composer found during the snapshot into the User Templates folder.
I realize this overwrites other folders and deletes everything else because folders don’t merge in OS X. But so far I haven’t had any issues.

Here’s an odd one though. Even though the original folders in the User Template will get deleted if you use my method, any packages that add files to User Templates thereafter will not get overwritten during the InstaDMG process.

Lets say the original OS has Folder A which contains Files 1, File 2, and File 3. I then decide I want to create a package which would add File 4 and File 5. However when I create the package, since I generally delete everything else in Folder A, I will find that File 1, File 2, and File 3 will be lost and only File 4 and File 5 will appear. To circumvent this, I can just create a package from the getgo that contains Folder A with the original File 1, File 2, and File 3. At this point any package I create afterward that adds files to Folder A will automatically contain the original files.

There’s a long thread about merging in OS X here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=274241

You would think merging would be a simple enough feature to have in the GUI.

I’m not sure Terminal would make a difference in what files I drag and drop.

[bw38]

Yes that’s the expected behavior. If you feel it’s not actually doing anything, you can compare checksums before and after dropping on the patcher. You should see a difference.

[bw38]

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know about the diff files until it was mentioned a week or so ago for the issue I was having with Adobe.

Perhaps the diff files do work, I would assume so anyways since it’s available. But I never used them since the Before/After modified snapshot worked for me. It’s been a month since I did it though, but it definitely works. If it doesn’t let me know and I can test it out when I return to work in the new year.

[bw38]

1. Mount all the disk images for Final Cut Studio. (It’s recommended you make disk images of FCS3, trying to install from disks will be very time consuming.)
2. Open Composer, Create a new and modified snapshot. Run the first snapshot.
3. After the first snapshot has been run, install Final Cut Studio 3 and under the custom options, select everything that is available. Install Final Cut Studio and any updates that are available via Software Update.
4. After the install is complete and updated, run the second snapshot on Composer.

5. Take a look at the files found in the User profile folder. Delete the unnecessary files that don’t have to do with FCS3.
6. Move the files in User profile to the User Templates folder (System/Library/User Templates/…).
7. Build your package.

I did it this way and it works. But this is to only be used if you can keep track of the licenses you have available.

The other thing you will most likely want to do is get rid of the registration screen that pops up when you start Final Cut Pro. I made this into a separate package and added it to the User Templates folder as well. Here is the guide to get rid of that screen: http://www.digitalrebellion.com/blog/posts/how_to_banish_the_final_cut_pro_registration_screen_forever.html

Hope this helps.

[bw38]

Just wanted to confirm that the Office 2011 patcher did the trick. I guess applying it manually doesn’t get everything necessary. In any case, Communicator and all other Office apps open just fine now.

[Author]

Posts