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Hello Everyone,



First off, I know many of us use different processes; DEP, thin imaging and many more. We had an issue with the new iMacs coming in requiring a different build and I wanted to share what we did.



We used the standard tools to get this working utilizing AutoDMG and AutoCasperNBI.



Using the tools mentioned above, we found there was an update at Apple for these new iMacs:
https://support.apple.com/en_US/downloads/macos



We then proceeded to run AutoDMG and adding the typical Sierra download as we always have done, the required build for these 2017 Macs, we couldn't find a way to download the needed Sierra build. We added this new update package mentioned above, to AutoDMG so it would add the package to the final AutoDMG build. This created a new OS.dmg that was the correct build for the new iMacs, build 16f2073.



We then used AutoCasperNBI to build the new NetBoot image, this worked just fine to build the correct OS and it NetBoots our new iMacs.



I thought I would share this process for those that need to NetBoot, image the new iMacs.

So we just got one new 2017 iMac. What are the best steps to take to grab a working image so I can deploy to the rest of my iMacs when they arrive?



Thanks,
R.

@rqomsiya I had to deal with my first 2017 iMac yesterday...




  1. Boot the iMac to Internet Recovery.

  2. Connect an external drive (HFS+ formatted).

  3. Choose the Reinstall macOS option.

  4. After the license agreement, select the external drive as the install destination.

  5. When the first stage of installation completes (before the Mac restarts), switch the Mac off and disconnect your external drive.

  6. On the external drive, there's a folder - macOS Install Data - and inside that is a file, InstallESD.dmg - drag InstallESD.dmg onto AutoDMG like you would with the macOS installer application.

  7. Profit with your pristine never-booted image - feed it to AutoCasperNBI to get your NetBoot set and use it as a base to image new Macs.



N.B. 16F2073 boots on older Macs too, not just the 2017 iMacs - BUT Apple do tell you not to use forked builds with Macs other than those they're created for. 10.12.6 will be with us soon and this mess will hopefully be over. :-)

@sepiemoini Nice work! Your method worked for me.



We dont use Casper imaging here. We use DEP. But instead of using internet recovery to get a laptop back to the stock image, we use deploy studio. Casper imaging enrolls the device which we dont want. DEP will handle enrollment.
Deploy studio images it back to the out of the box condition.



Adding the 16F73 sierra + macosupd10.12.5 to autoDMG worked perfectly. --- Note: AutoDMG does not rename it... if you add it back to autodmg, you will see the correct build after its created.



I used DeployStudio assistant on the 2017 macbook to create the updated Netboot image.

@ant89 Woo-hoo! Glad that it worked for you. Now for a 10.12.6 update :)

10.12.6 came out today.
Also, @ant89 , your build's recovery partition will not boot 2017 MBP's. Don't use it.

I am now using an AutoDMG build of 10.12.6 for my NetBoot and OS Image. NetBoots the 2017 MacBook Pros' just fine. However after imaging and booting into the adobeinstall user for post-imaging tasks, it is not recognizing the ethernet interface. Hence, no enrollment and it skips all my triggers, dummy receipts, etc. I have tried it with the Belkin USB-C adapter as well as the Thunderbolt 2 to 3 plugged into an ethernet adapter.



I am on 9.98 FYI. Anyone else having this issue?

Believe we are seeing the same issue here . ASR image of 10.12.6 gets applied, quickadd should install at reboot.
Instead the system comes up to the login window and the quickadd doesn't seem to apply as there is no SSH access and the cooresponding policy doesn't kick off.

Believe we are seeing the same issue here . ASR image of 10.12.6 gets applied, quickadd should install at reboot.
Instead the system comes up to the login window and the quickadd doesn't seem to apply as there is no SSH access and the corresponding policy doesn't kick off.

Im also seeing this using the 10.12.6 OS on my new Macbook Pro's and iMac.

Got this to work in our environment by specifying paths more fully in our imaging script.
Noticed that the quickadd installation needed the full path to internal HDD.

No luck here. NetSUS 4.1.0, macOS 10.12.6 in both the AutoCasperNBI and the AutoDMG-created OS package. All created fresh, recreated, and recreated again, multiple times.
Pick the NetBoot image from the Startup Manager (Option key), it thinks for a while, then gives up and boots back to the internal drive. No crossed-out circle, no spinny globe, no (visible) kernel panic.
Works on other Macs -- except the Touch Bar MBPs.
However, it does work if I attach a "USB-C to USB-A"+"USB-A to Ethernet" piggybacked adapter. Not only can it be NetBooted, but fully imaged and 100% setup successfully. But obviously, that's completely infeasible across 350 lab Macs that we want to zero-touch refresh.

Just circling back to this.. should have a 10.13 AutoCasperNBI release our in the next couple of days... but with some outstanding issues:




  1. NetBooting take 8-9 mins to complete

  2. Auto-login fails the majority of the time.



1) is an Apple thing & not much I can change.



2) seems worse in GM than B9.. to see if I can fix, but again a bug open with Apple.

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