Create a bootable image for server deployment on mac

#Create a bootable image for server deployment on mac how to
#Create a bootable image for server deployment on mac drivers

Instead of requiring a dedicated Mac to build an initial image from, AutoDMG builds the image itself (based upon a suitable OS X Installer from the Mac App Store) and creates a restore-ready disk image that can be deployed in any number of ways.ДЄpps and packages can be included with the build which are then installed into the image and any available software updates are applied, ensuring a complete installation with no additional interaction once restored.ДЄs the disk image has never been booted, there are no UUID mismatches and the Setup Assistant will even still run, providing the end-user with that вЂњnew MacвЂќ experience. AutoDMGД¬reated by Per Olofsson, AutoDMG is a free utility designed to create never-booted OS X disk images.

Ideally, we donвЂ™t want this otherwise we could be potentially introducing issues and problems to a userвЂ™s system. More importantly, certain preferences and settings will have been created using the original MacвЂ™s Hardware UUID, which is unique to each Mac. While this process is far better than setting each Mac up individually, the image that had been created has been booted, so any tasks like Setup Assistant will not run again. Once this disk image has been obtained, it can be restored to the remaining 19 through services like NetRestore or even just copying the image to a triage drive, which the Mac is then booted from before restoring it via Disk Utility. Although that would work, an incredible amount of time will have been wasted since the process for one is no different than the process for the other 19.ДЄ popular method of performing the above task more efficiently is by setting up Mac Pro to completion, then creating a disk image of it through the use of a Triage Drive. Many Mac technicians, even today, would simply set each one up, one at a time, until they were all finished.

#Create a bootable image for server deployment on mac drivers

LetвЂ™s say weвЂ™ve just had a delivery of 20 new Mac Pros, all needing certain software and printer drivers installed, along with any OS X software updates applied.

#Create a bootable image for server deployment on mac how to

While we have covered disk imaging previously in the multi-part guide Disk Management From the Command-Line, weвЂ™ll now explore how to quickly and easily build a complete OS X image that includes everything we might need, including a pre-configured administrator account, providing us with a standardised image that can be restored to any Mac.

The process of setting up a user account, installing any required software and applying all of the available updates on each and every Mac before handing them to users can be both laborious and horribly inefficient. If youвЂ™re responsible for the configuration of tens, if not hundreds, of brand-new Macs then youвЂ™ll probably know how time consuming it can be to get them all set up exactly the same.