AutoCasperNBI - open beta

hmm - just tested again, same base image & Casper Imaging as yesterday, but it's not launching at all now & I'm getting the spinning beach ball...

OK, it launched this time - but still no JSS address. :(

Also, how does it get the login credentials in place, or account for an untrusted cert?

OK - - 3rd time's the charm, it may be my fault here...

I didn't notice, but it's possible that I had not set the JSS URL correctly in the window. After reading the log, not seeing anything about the URL, and then checking out the .scpt I saw the logic about setting the icon, and I noticed that there was a red !. I put the full, correct URL & saw the checkmark - rebuilt a new .nbi, and this one worked as expected. :)

So if that was my bad...you have my apologies.

@chris.kemp.. No worries. I did see something & I think I've fixed it. So thanks.

Still looking at the ARD issue.

Oh & it won't cache your login details.. If you wanted that.. You could use autorun data on the JSS.

Finally coming up for air, got a chance to look at this and, well...WOW!!!! Kudos to you sir, this is friggin' awesome!!! Thanks for making a tool that makes it easier to get work done and hides the complexity, um, like the iPhone. :)

Running this in a lab. Having an issue with the system not rebooting at the end of the imagine process. Either hangs on "Can't Quit Casper Imaging" or quits and hangs on grey screen.

Building a new version without ARD enabled to see if that helps (read it somewhere!)

@Zvordauk, what version of Casper Imaging?

9.32 had some issues quitting.

Also, is this NetBoot being hosted on OSX server? If so, maybe try stopping the service & emptying the /NetBootClients/ folder then restarting.

Lastly, did you try with or without the modified rc.netboot?

I did see this issue with Imaging 9.32, but no longer do.. It's an odd one to track down tbh.

I also saw the issue that @Zvordauk with it hanging at the gray screen after imaging (JSS and Casper Imaging 9.4). I waited a while and restarted manually and the rest of the imaging process seemed to go fine after that.

I also imaged a couple other machines with it, and all three got a message along the lines of connection timed out or was lost to the JSS. Weird part was that they all seemed to have gotten through downloading the packages for first boot and setting up the firstboot script. I OK'd the error and rebooted them, and they all seemed to reboot and finish imaging fine.

Really nice to have a tool that doesn't give me that nilobjectexception! Many thanks!

Kyle

@smith.kyle & @Zvordauk, can you send me the logs & plists as mentioned in the 1st post?

I'm trying to see an commonality for this issue.

@smith.kyle.. Is this an OSX Server hosing NetBoot?

@bentoms Sent you the logs. And yes, it's an OSX server hosting the netboot images.

Hi Ben,

I have a request ... and don't worry, it's not an extra feature or anything. Any chance in the future we can get an autopkg recipe for this? (Haven't checked if there's one already. Not in my current repo list).

Outstanding!

Updated to 0.12.. notes below.. same link for DMG as top post.

0.12
— Added OS & Input Language selection (@mintzd01)
— Added simple Finder selection (@jescala & @franton)
— Added pre-checks to correctly write to plist when needed. (@chris.kemp)
— Corrected behaviour when progress window showing so it doesn’t disappear. (@nick.anderson)
— Added 10.10 NBI creation support (Full 10.10 support to come)
— Changed root users dock, adding Casper Imaging to it.
— Changed AutoCasperNBI LaunchDaemon to launch once, to try & resolve issues with hanging on restart (@smith.kyle & @Zvordauk).

Thanks. Will test when I get back to base next week. Keep up the great work!!!

Great! Thanks! I'll test it in the lab the next chance I get.

Great Work The old version worked great. I'll test this one asap. Thanks for all your hard work on this.

I tested your simple finder functionality. While it does hide any drive icons, it also stops launch pad showing any apps as well. I would suggest using some managed preferences to hide on screen drive icons instead of simple finder mode.

@franton yep. It seems to be a odd quirk of enabling simple finder.

I suppose I could remove LaunchPad from the dock?

Or swap the dock.plist if simple finder enabled.

@bentoms We use Simple Finder and launch Casper Imaging at login. I then have a folder in a hidden dock with the apps you include in LaunchPad. So you can do that, or if you prefer, hide items from the desktop as @franton suggests. My real concern is that I don't want to have a NetBoot image that makes it to easy to goof around. I especially don't want people to run Safari. So it would be nice if you can somehow hide, block, or remove unnecessary apps like that. It is your tool, so I leave it up to you. I hate to be picky when you've been so generous! Thanks!!

Firstly - Awesome app idea - Love it.

Question - How big of an image does this spit out? Does this delete all the rubbish (apps etc) not required for netboot to get the size down as far as possible?

The images i've been getting are about the 5Gb size. Perfectly acceptable for my own use case.

@bentoms Sorry Ben. Some want their images locked down, some (like me) need access to a few utilities in case of emergencies.

@franton I agree, I also use the netboot image for other troubleshooting on occasion.

@bentoms looking forward to testing the new version - thanks again for this great tool!

Next commit will have a dock with just the Finder, Casper Imaging & Trash.

Once I get the additional installable pkg's option working (as shown under the advanced tab in the options window).. You can customise the dock as you wish.

@sovereign, as @franton mentioned.. I've added some reduction.. But haven't gone too mad. When NetBooting the client only pulls what it needs, so size is only really a factor when replicating NBI's or using USB sticks.

@bentoms I've been trying to setup a netboot image for 10.7 for my machines that only support that os, but no matter what image I pull, whether it's from an image I took with disk utility (tried both compressed and uncompressed), or AutoDMG, it always gives me "Cannot read OS Version." Any ideas? (10.7 is reported, right?)

Actually, just re-read some of this thread - do I need to run AutoCasperNBI on 10.7 in order to create the 10.7 NBI? I've been running AutoCasperNBI on 10.9 and trying to use a create one with a 10.7 image. Same as needing to run SIU on 10.7 to make a 10.7 image?

Thanks!