InstaDMG + Casper?

I rarely need to deploy en-mass. Instead I need a consistent build that binds to AD & has many options.

So no InstaDMG for me, BUT maybe will need to create a vanilla is when the next forking episode happens.

Regards,

Ben.

What are the older CS versions you are using? Trying to run CS3 or earlier on Intel hardware under newer OS versions is asking for trouble...
On May 10, 2011, at 7:54 AM, Wojda, John wrote:

CS3 and 4...

Some departments have upgraded to 5, but have not actually rolled it
out.

And it's new hardware, 2010 and early 2011 equipment.

Since we started using the modular image created by InstaDMG we’ve been getting more and more complaints about system instability (Crash Screen O’ Death). Has anybody else ran into similar problems? I don’t know if it’s just aging software (old CS versions) running on latest and greatest hardware/OS or if it’s the OS that’s crashing.
On May 10, 2011, at 7:54 AM, Wojda, John wrote:

What are the older CS versions you are using? Trying to run CS3 or earlier on Intel hardware under newer OS versions is asking for trouble...

We have been running

Cs
CS2
CS3 Suite
Cs4 Suite
Cs5 Suite

We are running it on PPC 10.5.8 (minus CS5)
And also on intel 10.5.8 and 10.6.6

Dan

I surely haven't seen that type of instability. By CSoD I'm assuming you're
On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 8:32 AM, Wojda, John <John.Wojda at searshc.com> wrote:
referring to the grey overlay screen with multi-language type. Yeah, I've
seen that on a very small percentage, probably less than 1%, of the machines
I deploy. I would assume that you've made sure all drivers are updated,
etc, and that all apps are fully patched.

Is there anything in the crash logs or console that would indicate a
hardware issue?

Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

Been using instaDMG for years and with version 7 of Casper I have been
dropping my InstaDMG image and compiling it, not a single problem with
it (besides the apple installer bug).

On 5/10/11 7:54 AM, "Wojda, John" <John.Wojda at searshc.com> wrote: Is there another way to do a modular image like that w/o instaDMG?

At first I was using InstaDMG to create my base OS but now I'm using
Casper Admin's ability to drop a .dmg of a Mac OS X installer disk into a
configuration (similar to Adobe CS products) and it's working very well
for me.

--

William Smith
Technical Analyst
Merrill Communications LLC
(651) 632-1492

But with that method you're not applying updates, so you spend a lot of
network bandwidth re-pushing down updates to every system...

And you're unable to compile the image, so you are pushing down each
On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 10:56 AM, Wojda, John <John.Wojda at searshc.com>wrote:
individual package in a configuration. Unless something changed in 8.1.

Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

I use instaDMG and just custom edit the catalog file to add in my desired updates and the python script does the rest. Then in Casper Admin I drop my pristine image with all the apps and let it compile it for me, which I have to assume uses hdutil under the hood.

I apply updates after installing the OS. They're already in the JSS to
On 5/10/11 10:56 AM, "Wojda, John" <John.Wojda at searshc.com> wrote:
update existing machines.

--

William Smith
Technical Analyst
Merrill Communications LLC
(651) 632-1492

I have no need to compile my images unless I'm pushing the same image to
On 5/10/11 10:59 AM, "Steve Wood" <swood at integer.com> wrote:
many machines. I don't do that on a regular basis. :-)

--

William Smith
Technical Analyst
Merrill Communications LLC
(651) 632-1492

What does "compiling" give you that you can't achieve with the initial instadmg run?

I use instadmg for base images, then layer on apps that are already in the repository via policy. I don't think you need to do anything else via any Casper tools to the base image.

why would you use instaDMG when you own Casper? the Casper imaging is much more stable. I had all kinds of problems (machines that never needed OS X updates) some instability etc, with instaDMG which is why we bought casper imaging and eventually the full suite.
Just curious.

--
Todd Ness
Technology Consultant/Non-Windows Services
Americas Regional Delivery Engineering
HP Enterprise Services

On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 11:19 AM, Nate St. Germain <nate at techsuperpowers.com > wrote: What does "compiling" give you that you can't achieve with the initial instadmg run? I use instadmg for base images, then layer on apps that are already in the repository via policy. I don't think you need to do anything else via any Casper tools to the base image.

If you deploy only the OS during imaging, compiling does nothing. But, if
you deploy base applications that everyone gets, like browsers, etc, then
compiling the configuration allows Casper to block copy to your machine,
which is wicked fast.

Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

Using Casper 8.1, I dumped the TB img into Casper admin and it errors
out with "this installer could not be run on this computer: Installer:
Error -
Apparently casper took a page from the Micro$oft handbook with their
vague error codes.

I use it for two reasons:
On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Ness, Todd <todd.ness at hp.com> wrote:

1) The aforementioned ability to compile my configurations. If I use
Casper and drop a dmg of the install disk, I cannot compile the
configuration.

2) InstaDMG allows me to slipstream the latest combo updater into the OS,
which allows me to not have to send down the combo via policy, or in the
configuration.

I've been using InstaDMG for at least 4 yrs, maybe even 5, and I've never
had major issues with it like others have mentioned.

Steve Wood
Director of IT
swood at integer.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
T 214.758.6813 | F 214.758.6901 | C 940.312.2475

When you run Casper Imaging regularly, it takes multiple steps to deploy your Config. The Config consists of the base image (block copy), packages (file copy) and scripts. Each step for the items in your config has an error checking portion, and can take extra time. If you have a large number of machines all to be identical, this might be one area to potentially shave time off by compiling the image.

Compiling allows you to take your whole config and make one flat composite image containing all of the packages and scripts, etc. This takes one block copy of the entire thing, much faster for large deployments.

Compiling the image takes time, CPU cycles on the main JSS, and disk space in the repository. It's not normally necessary for smaller shops, only really necessary when doing LOTS of machines at once.

So if the image is already asr-scanned and ready for block copying, Casper Imaging won't attempt a block copy?

The base image(s) I've been using with Casper restore in a couple of minutes, so I would hope it's performing a block copy already.

Unless the docs (or someone from JAMF) indicate otherwise, compiling an already scanned and prepped image seems like a waste of time.

Since I never use Casper's file-copy install methods, instead using packages, it doesn't much matter how the stuff is deployed. Compiling a configuration with the Casper tools isn't usually worth it when it's already trivial to bake the same image with instadmg. I guess it all depends on your relative comfort level with the tools at your disposal. Tomato, to-mah-to…

I use InstaDMG for the following reasons:

1) Instaup2date script allows me to just edit the catalog file and slipstream any and all udpates I want and it is easy 2) the image file can then be dropped into anything and used 3) I can maintain multiple catalog files if need be

I can also do this on a separate machine independent of the JSS, so it doesn't take JSS resources. Also, the scripts mean you just punch in one command and bam, the rest is done for you.