[bw38]

I can’t seem to figure this out. I’m not looking to use ARD at the moment if that makes a difference. Is there something I may be missing. I’ve gone through the instructions multiple times at this point. I can tell that the firstboot.sh is being placed in /Library/Scripts/CompanyName/ and that the edu.name.firstboot.plist is being placed in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ but changes simply aren’t occurring except I notice that when I restart the computer that the Log In screen changes from username being displayed to username needing to be typed.

Also, I have the firstboot.pkg as the last package in my workflow (I have updates -> applications -> clearReg -> createUser -> firstboot). I assume that this doesn’t matter, but I’m out of ideas here.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[bw38]

This is what the first part of the firstboot.sh file looks like (can’t post the entire thing otherwise forum reads it as spam):

[code]###
# First Boot script that is used along with a launchd item. Delets both itself and the launchd item after completion.
###

# Define ‘kickstart’ and ‘systemsetup’ variables, built in OS X script that activates and sets options for ARD.

kickstart=”/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart”
systemsetup=”/usr/sbin/systemsetup”
genericppd=”/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/PrintCore.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Generic.ppd”

Delete iMovie (Previous Version) Directory if it exists, because we don’t need it.
#Use when installing iLife using the original installers with InstaDMG.
rm -R /Applications/iMovie\ \(previous\ version\).localized/

# ARD Configuration
#Enable ARD for localadmin
$kickstart -configure -allowAccessFor -specifiedUsers
$kickstart -activate -configure -access -on -users “localadmin” -privs -all -restart -agent

Set time zone and time server.
$systemsetup -setusingnetworktime on
$systemsetup -settimezone America/New_York -setnetworktimeserver time.apple.com
[/code]
Come to think of it it’s also not deleting the iMovie folder called “iMovie (previous version)”.

[bw38]

I have the following time settings on my firstboot package. Yet it does not seem to stick. Anyone have any idea why that is?

[code]Set time zone and time server.
$systemsetup -setusingnetworktime on
$systemsetup -settimezone America/New_York -setnetworktimeserver time.apple.com[/code]

When I log into computer it has the time set to PST and the location set to Los Angeles, California.

Ideally I’d like to have the time set automatically based on the location which should be New York. What am I missing here?

[bw38]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]Thats the right software.

I have internal documentation for Final Cut Studio 3 if you are interested, but it really should only be used if you have a system for managing your licenses in place and you use a site license.

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]
Just purchased Composer 7.2. That would be real helpful if you don’t mind e-mailing me the documentation. I believe we do have a site license although I will try to confirm that. As far as a system for managing our licenses, what exactly do you mean?

Keeping with the thread, I noticed today that when I create my image that it enables Remote Login (possiblly Remote Management; I turned the feature off and I forget now) on the Mac by default. Outside of the createUser.pkg and clearReg.pkg, I haven’t really made any other packages that would cause this. Any ideas why this is turned on? Is it a byproduct of how InstaDMG creates the image?

By the way, you’ve been a great help in all this.

[bw38]

So I’m going to look into purchasing JAMF Composer 7.2. But I want to make sure before I purchase it that I am buying the right software.

Is this all I need? https://store2.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout.aspx?s=STR8998979796&pc=&page=MultiMoreInfo.htm&SkuRefNum=SKU70525873445

I’d be getting the Educational/Non-Profit version since I’m at a university.

This is the list of the other software that JAMF sells. https://store2.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout.aspx?s=STR8998979796&pc=&page=MultiCatalog.htm

Also, is there a guide for packaging Final Cut? I’ve been able to some threads on Adobe CS4/5 on this forum, but not much on Final Cut.

[bw38]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]As far as two createuser packages are concerned, make sure in your config file that you are not manually specifying the user GUID. They must be different, otherwise the second one will definitely fail.

As far as the other settings, if you poke around there is a lot of good info one some of those settings. I’ve never repacked iDVD myself, I generally just install all of iLife 09 or 08 as well as the updates. Final Cut Pro is easy to package if you have composer, but I’ve never tried it with PackageMaker, so I can’t promise it’ll package right up using it. Packaging up CS4 is tricky as well, I’ve never successfully done it with PackageMaker (I’ve tried!), but I know it can be done with Composer and perhaps one of the free ones as well.

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]
I’ll keep that in mind about the GUID. I believe I left it alone so that it auto generates one. Will check again tomorrow.

I was going to try to install all of iLife but for some reason PackageMaker crashes when I tried to add iDVD and GarageBand into the package I was creating. It’s very odd.

Which other free packaging software do you know of that can do Adobe CS4?

I looked into Composer a few weeks ago but figured I’d try all the free alternatives first before I make a case for actually needing to purchase software.

On a related note, the other program I need to include in this image is SPSS. I tried doing a before and after capture to create a package which did not seem to work very well at all. I looked around the forum for SPSS but not many mentions of it. I currently have the latest version IBM SPSS 19. Any ideas on how I could package this? The installer itself is an .app but you can see inside the “app” when clicking Show Package contents. Anyone have any history with trying to include SPSS in an image?

[bw38]

I made a silly mistake it would seem. I had initially used the format of ./shadowhash p\@\$\$w0rd\! > password_hash but only did it on the “!” ignoring the other special characters in the password. After realizing that mistake, I was able to log into the Admin account I created successfully.

The only thing I’m struggling with right now is trying to create a second account using the CreateUser.pkg. So I actually created two packages: createAdminUser.pkg and createGenericUser.pkg, but the second package did not work apparently. Not sure why. Perhaps I’m doing that wrong.

The other problem I’m running into is that PackageMaker is crashing on me whenever I try to make a package for iDVD. I think I may have to wipe this volume at this point though. But I’ve reached a point where I have most of the items I want in my image. I’m now missing the big items like Adobe CS4 and Final Cut Pro.

Other minor things include setting the sleep settings and screen savers requesting password immediately.

[bw38]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p][QUOTE][u]Quote by: bw38[/u][p]So I’m still looking for help with the iLife 09.

But I decided to continue testing to make sure I’m doing everything right. So far, I managed to get an image that uses:
CreateUser
clearReg

and has software:
Office 2011
FireFox 3.6.10
Flip4mac 2.3.5.4

along with the typical updates in the vanilla script.

I think I may have screwed up the CreateUser password though. The password we use here includes an “!” without quotations. And I wasn’t very sure how to include that. I wasn’t able to do so when I used the password hash instructions. Any ideas on how to do this? I was able to reset the password with the OS X Disk just to make sure everything else works fine. But I need to get this fixed if possible.

Also, how I can created a second account for the user who is getting the machine? So for example, now I have the Administrator account, but can I get a second account called Joe Schmoe that has no password?

And lastly, how would I go about adding apps to the dock for all accounts that have been created?

More questions to come, but baby steps for now. I feel I accomplished a great deal today thanks to your instructions![/p][/QUOTE]

for creatuser, you want to either put the whole password in quotes, or escape the symbols like this:

“p@$$w0rd!”
or
p\@\$\$w0rd\!

For a second account, if it is generic, you can use create user. If it needs to be a specific person’s name, then I suggest just taking cleareg out of your build and let the setup assistant run on first boot (then you can customize the user account there).

Adding apps to docks is not too horrible. Basically, build the image and put it on a machine. Then, customize the dock icons however you’d like them. After that is complete, go to ~/Library/Preferences and grab com.apple.dock.plist. Take this plist and create a package that installs it to the following location:

[code]/System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/Library/Preferences/[/code]

This makes it so that each new user gets the customized dock.

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]
For the password, I did do just that. In fact I followed the instructions in the readme in that CreateUser.pkg and also in the wiki page. Whenever I use the quotations, it will not go through in Terminal if I use the “!”. It went through when I did it with the “\” but apparently that didn’t work because I couldn’t log on.

[bw38]

So I’m still looking for help with the iLife 09.

But I decided to continue testing to make sure I’m doing everything right. So far, I managed to get an image that uses:
CreateUser
clearReg

and has software:
Office 2011
FireFox 3.6.10
Flip4mac 2.3.5.4

along with the typical updates in the vanilla script.

I think I may have screwed up the CreateUser password though. The password we use here includes an “!” without quotations. And I wasn’t very sure how to include that. I wasn’t able to do so when I used the password hash instructions. Any ideas on how to do this? I was able to reset the password with the OS X Disk just to make sure everything else works fine. But I need to get this fixed if possible.

Also, how I can created a second account for the user who is getting the machine? So for example, now I have the Administrator account, but can I get a second account called Joe Schmoe that has no password?

And lastly, how would I go about adding apps to the dock for all accounts that have been created?

More questions to come, but baby steps for now. I feel I accomplished a great deal today thanks to your instructions!

[bw38]

So I’ve been doing a bit of work on InstaDMG today by following that guide (which is really helpful btw!). I want to include iLife 09 since it always comes with Macs. However I don’t have a copy of the DVD for the iLife 09 suite. I do have a copy of the second Apple restore disk which contains applications (iLife 09). However I’m not sure how to go about getting iLife from this disk. I tried using Pacifist to extract the packages but that only creates folders of each package I extract. The next step will be to include Office 2011 but I need to read through the instructions that dead2sin created. Anyways, thanks again for all the help thus far.

[bw38]

I’ve been following the guide to the letter, but haven’t actually been able to test it as of yet. It’s been a ridiculous week. But when I finish testing, I’ll post a status update.

[bw38]

Apologies for making a second post, but the board software seems to think my posts are spam.

[code]
Third Party Software:
FireFox 3.6.10 /Users/myaccount/instadmg/InstallerFiles/InstaUp2DatePackages/Firefox 3.6.10.dmg sha1:6ffdca438b785f18bbb818727747dae7fece0fed
[/code]
I left the rest of the 10.6_vanilla catalog the same, but just added this piece.

I have a feeling that this was not how I was supposed to do it though, but I wasn’t sure how else to go about it. I wasn’t too clear if I should have a catalog file for every application I want to add to the image. So I created a FireFox catalog (called FireFox.catalog) which wasn’t quite working properly. I was able to do the checksum. So I figured maybe if I run the command in the InstaDMG guide like this:
“sudo ./instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py 10.6_vanilla FireFox –process”

But that gave me all sorts of weird messages in Terminal. So I decided to just add the FireFox line in Third Party Software in the 10.6_vanilla Catalog file. That seems to have worked.

But the next piece didn’t work. I wanted to bypass the Registration screens on first boot. I searched and found this package called “clearReg.pkg”. But when I tried adding it in the 10.6_vanilla catalog file (same as I did with FireFox), it doesn’t work. I don’t know why. Terminal gives me a bunch of error messages:

[code]Parsing the catalog files for clearReg
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “./instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py”, line 665, in
main()
File “./instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py”, line 611, in main
thisController.parseCatalogFile()
File “./instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py”, line 274, in parseCatalogFile
raise Exception(‘Error in config file: %s line number: %i\n%s’ % (fileLocation, lineNumber, line)) # TODO: improve error handling
Exception: Error in config file: /Users/myaccount/instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/CatalogFiles/clearReg.catalog line number: 18
clearReg /Users/myaccount/instadmg/InstallerFiles/InstaUp2DatePackages/clearReg.dmg sha1:0cf3080cc0179fe63883e40a180f6a92b573fd70
[/code]

Why is it that I’m getting these error messages? I feel like I’m doing something wrong here. I’ve tried reading over and over through the documentation that’s available, but I’m not really getting anywhere.

How should I be using the clearReg.pkg? I know it’s not a program, it’s supposed to be two files to bypass the registration screen on first boot.
And once I get that applied correctly, would I follow the same procedure to run the CreateUser.pkg that was downloaded with InstaDMG?

I’ll keep using this thread to post any questions and to track my journey as I hopefully create the first InstaDMG image at my organization.

[bw38]

Although I’m new here, you’ve always had some great input and have been real helpful based on the reading I’ve done on InstaDMG the past few months. It’s a shame you can’t continue with its development, but you’ve laid a great foundation for the community to keep on going strong. Congrats on the new job. It’s always exciting when you get to take on a new challenge in your career. Good luck!

[bw38]

Here is a screen shot link of what I’m talking about: http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8681/screenshot20101002at111.png

[bw38]

Those were quick and very informative posts. I’ll continue to use numbers in my posts just for the sake of making it easier to answer my questions.

1. I didn’t know Mac Minis had a special version of 10.6.4. This brings up another question. Let’s say I can’t get my hands on the latest reference disk. I only have a retail copy of 10.6.0. Would the Combo Update of 10.6.4 include the special support for the latest Mac Minis (or whatever Mac model it is that may get special support from 10.6.X)?

I did test run the InstaDMG on my home computer a few weeks ago just to see how the process of creating the image is and it looks like it downloaded the latest update from Apple’s website. Does InstaDMG automatically download the latest Combo Update? Or do I have to point it to the download link from Apple’s website by editing some file?

2. It looks like I have to pay for PackageMaker from Apple ( [url]http://developer.apple.com/programs/which-program/[/url] ). We’ll see how far I can get with the other alternatives for now.

Continuing on the same subject: As I said earlier, I want some basic software on my InstaDMG image that the entire university can use:
Office 2008, FireFox, PASW 18 and whatever else is free or we have a site license for. That seems simple enough to include in an InstaDMG image.

But then there are special circumstances where some departments will purchase licenses for Final Cut Pro and/or Adobe CS5 for an entire lab. Not only are these installs rather huge but they can be rather sensitive to build from the threads I’m reading. Could I deploy individual software packages using DeployStudio to specific computers? Or is there another tool I could use? How have you folks handled this situation in your organization? Is it just easier to create that second image that you use for specific departments/labs?

3. I’ve already asked my supervisor to get me in touch with our Apple rep. We’ll see how this goes. I’m glad to hear that they do at least offer some pre-imaging solution.

4. Good things to keep in mind about DeployStudio. Thanks for that info.

5. I’m mostly familiar with Windows and can do some batch scripting and know how to use the Command Prompt. But on OS X, it’s a different animal altogether. It’s good to know that no scripting background is necessary for InstaDMG, but it never hurts to learn the basics. Is there any particular scripting language that may help improve my use of InstaDMG? Any books or online guides you could recommend?

6. On a different note: I may need an immediate solution for imaging soon and may not get a chance to test InstaDMG right away. I know how to image the old fashion way using programs like Disk Utility and Carbon Copy Cloner. If I were to create a gold image from a current iMac (mid 2010) and put it on an earlier iMac (intel-based), would there be any issues? Unfortunately, this particular department side stepped IT on this large purchase of Macs, but I am looking to help them out for the sake of efficiency (currently some of our techs were taking hours and days just to install Final Cut Pro on a handful of computers one by one; that is not very efficient or logical to me) and so that they can start to trust IT in supporting their Macs.

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