AutoCasperNBI - open beta

[bentoms]

Update: AutoCaspeNBI has been released, for more information see: https://macmule.com/autocaspernbi/

Hi All,

Over the past couple of months I've been working on an app that with streamline NetBoot creation for use with Casper Imaging (as well as creation of Read-Only DMGs to restore to USB sticks.. if that's your thing).

The basic idea is that you start with an clean never booted OS.dmg either from AutoDMG https://github.com/MagerValp/AutoDMG, Casper Admin http://macmule.com/2014/03/06/how-to-create-an-never-booted-os-dmg-using-casper-admin/ or a Composer captured OS.dmg from a never booted Mac (as in with forked builds).

Then add a copy of Casper Imaging, from there you can click build or amend the options on the first window or click the options button for more.

All the options should have popovers that explain their functions in a bit more detail. Most of the options set will be written to a plist (~/Library/Preferences/com.macmule.AutoCasperNBI.plist) will allows for AutoCasperNBI to be re-run when needed with the settings you haves used before.

external image link

You should see some blanks in the GUI & parts i've not added yet (due to the fact that I'm not sure how yet). These should be added at some point.

Then there will be a full 1.0 release & include:

• Calculate space needed & alert if we do not have enough
• Enable the "Additionals" tab. This will allow you to install pkgs to customise the .nbi further as well as additional JSS certs
• Add some sort of sparkle updater
• Add .jamfTarget creation

[bentoms]

0.21
-- Corrected logic when cancelling folder creation
-- Added deletion of /usr/standalone/bootcaches.plist to resolve hang on reboot (@neil.martin83)
-- Corrected NBImageInfo.plist, so it's not restricted by default (@mfcfadmin)

[evanmellichampe]

@bentoms - My sincere apologies for not posting sooner. Model filtering is now working. Thank you. I ran into some of the issues that others had outlined above, but I am starting out fresh this morning with 0.21 and hope to provide some useful feedback for you in a few hours.

Thanks again.

[bentoms]

@evanmellichampe, please let me know.

I'm guessing from the lack of feedback on 0.21 that it's working.

I hope you find that to be true.

[evanmellichampe]

Hi @bentoms,

I'm sorry. It appears we've reached an impasse with creating any type of 10.9.5 .nbi that will effectively netboot a Macbook7,1 (2.4GHz Core 2 Duo).

As it stands, I was able to reimage one of these laptops with our 10.9.5 AutoDMG (netbooted from a 10.9.4 .nbi created using SIU). Afterward, I used the Macbook7,1 to build a new .nbi with AutoCasperNBI v0.21 and still doesn't netboot from it. Rather, it will attempt to netboot and then power off.

I honestly think it's the model of machine itself that presents the issue. Sadly, we have an enormous amount if them.

If I have time this week, I will use 0.21 to build a 10.9.4 .nbi and see if it yields better results for the Macbook7,1. Thanks again, Ben.

[bentoms]

@evanmellichampe

We have a lot of those too.

I'll check tomorrow & will report back.

[fritz_schlapbac]

I'm guessing from the lack of feedback on 0.21 that it's working.

@bentoms I'm using two NetBoot images I created with 0.21 and everything works great so far. :)

[mfcfadmin]

@bentoms

I'm still seeing the "Authentication failed to "NetBoot..."." message when trying to connect remotely with ARD. The netbooted Mac presents itself and a blue dot appears by the computer name however the monitor icon in ARD is the pale blue colour instead of the darker blue that it should be to be able to take control.

DMG creation was done with AutoDMG using the latest download from Apple and CreateUserPkg. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Settings in AutoCasperNBI point to the DMG created above and to my instance of Casper Imaging. The url of my jss has been provided. NetSUS option has been unchecked, served from more than one server is checked and http selected.

The only options I have selected from the standard tab are Set NetBoot Description is checked. Reduce Image Size, and Expand by, are all unchecked. Enable ARD is checked and the username and password of the user created via CreateUserPkg is supplied in their respective fields.

A custom Desktop image is selected, and a timeserver is specified in the advanced tab, but that is it. No other configuration is done. Everything seems to work except for not being able to connect remotely to a netbooted mac via ARD.

With CreateUserPkg I have tried with a 499 and a 502 userid. I am about to try creating another DMG with 501. The curious thing is that the username appears correctly in the "Allow access for" pane of the Sharing preference window and the radio button shows as being "all users" selected, however if I go into the "Options" nothing whatsoever is selected.

Any thoughts as to what I might try next?

[bentoms]

@mfcfadmin, hmm. Can you try without createuser.pkg involved?

There is no need for that with AutoCasperNBI FWIW.

Might be that, that is confusing the process.

[mfcfadmin]

@bentoms

Cleaned the slate went back to AutoDMG used ONLY the 10.9.5 installer and nothing else.
Same settings as above in AutoCasperNBI, however now I do not get a user populated at all in the "Allow access for" Sharing pane. The "All users" radio button is selected as it was previously. When I click the "Options" button there again are no checked boxes whatsoever.

The ARD result is the same blue dot beside computer name, light blue monitor icon instead of dark blue and trying to control the computer results in "Authentication failed to "NetBoot..."."

From what I've observed none of the Remote Management Sharing options are being invoked. Also without CreateUserPkg, in the DMG I do not see any user accounts at all.

Is there something I could possibly be missing?

[bentoms]

@mfcfadmin, can you please send me the plist file ~/Library/Preferences/com.macmule.AutoCasperNBI.plist & the log file ~/Library/Logs/AutoCasperNBI/<todays date>,log via http://macmule.com/contact/?

I'll try with your details tomorrow.

[mfcfadmin]

@bentoms

Thanks for taking a look. log and plist sent.

[Araneta]

HI @bentoms do you already have the updated version to support 10.10? :)

[bentoms]

@Araneta, soon

[lammersst]

Can't wait for the 10.10 version! I can't get Casper NetInstall Creator to create a NBI file that will work with Yosemite.

[mfcfadmin]

@bentoms
So you may have been onto something with your password theory. I re-did the entire thing createuserpkg, AutoDMG, and then AutoCasperNBI, using a very simple password. This time it worked. In my previous password there was an ampersand character and maybe it was not properly shielded when passed.

Enjoy JNUC and thanks again for all of your work and assistance with this.

[jasonfoley76]

Thanks @bentoms for this awesome tool!

On a side note, NetBoot'ing has never worked for me (even before this tool) with Casper Imaging. Casper Imaging will wipe the drive then skip all of the next steps and essentially crap out. Anyone else had this experience? Maybe it's a write issue?

[franton]

That can be down to a bunch of things usually:
1) can the distribution point be mounted from inside the netboot environment?
2) is your netboot server set to use diskless mode?
3) did you select the replace rc.netboot file option in autocaspernbi ?

It's usually one of those.

[MarkPetersonURM]

@franton

I recently started having this issue as well. I can tell you:

1)Yes, all of our DPs are mountable.
2)We're using the Netboot Appliance, and it is diskless as I can unmount the drive, and wipe it manually.
3)I haven't selected that option. Are you saying selecting can cause or Help with the issue?

If I wipe the drive before imaging and do NOT select the wipe drive, it works just fine.

[bentoms · Accepted solution]

Hi All,

Thanks for the testing & thanks again to those whom attended my talk @ JNUC.

Slides & Links can be found at the following: https://macmule.com/2014/10/25/jnuc-2014-autocaspernbi-and-the-casper-netinstall-creator-session-sli...

[dgreening]

Question for you on customizing the dock for the root user (we need disk util and a few other things in there). I tried simply packaging up the com.apple.dock.plist from a prior netboot and added it to AutoCasperNBI as an additional install (the permissions are root:wheel). It didn't do anything to the dock when I fired the netboot up for the first time.

I see that in your documentation images, you have a custom dock plist installing. Any magic you know of to make this work?

Additionally, I'd love to see checkboxes to enable items such as Disk Utility, Safari, etc in the root dock in the GUI of AutoCasperNBI.

[bentoms]

Hi @dgreening,

Was that dock.plist from a root user account? We customise ours & it's installed via pkg fine. Here is is below:

external image link

TBH, i'm not going add dock options as we all do it differently & one of the main use cases for adding additional PKG's is to allow you to do just that.

[bmarks]

Using a pkg for a dock icon was the direction I was going too. We have an AppleScript in our dock that helps erase FileVault enabled disk. With that said, is there a way to suppress Casper Imaging from opening at boot since it's greyed out in the GUI? We'd want our users to click the AppleScript in the dock first. I mucked around in some plists and found settings that I thought might disable this during image creation, but they had no effect.

[bentoms]

Hi @bmarks,

From: https://macmule.com/autocaspernbi/#options-advanced (which is the help guide in the app).

Launch Casper Imaging At Login: A Launch Agent is installed which launches Casper Imaging once logged into the NBI. This Launch Agent can be found at: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.AutoCasperNBI.CasperImaging.plist

[bmarks]

Ah, I see. So it's just a matter of removing that from the NBI one it's been created. I was thinking about this from the wrong angle. Thanks, that works for me.

[bentoms]

@bmarks, you should be able to create a payload-free pkg that deletes the launch agent as part of the NBI creation.

Also, can you share your script: https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=12305

It's something i'd like to bake in at some point.

[makander]

@bentoms

Thank you for this tool Ben, it works really well. I've imaged about 10 machines with it so far.

[paulnz]

@bentoms

Hi Ben,

Great application, one little quirk I've come across is that I get the iCloud and Diagnostics setup windows pop up before the Casper Imaging starts installing software after the first restart. Is there a way to avoid this from popping up?

Thanks,
Paul

[calumhunter]

@paulnz are you using 10.10.1 as a base OS.dmg?

[elliotjordan]

@paulnz Here's how to do it the long way, but not sure if that will help you when building in AutoCasperNBI:
https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/disabling-the-icloud-and-diagnostics-pop-up-windows-in-...

[paulnz]

@calumhunter yes, 10.10.1 is the base for the image.

[calumhunter]

Looks like you'll need to add the LastSeenBuddyBuild key to the setup assistant plist
i've just send a PR to @bentoms on github which should fix it. In the mean time have a look at that link and you can manually add that key to the plist after autocaspernbi does its thing

[paulnz]

@calumhunter Ok awesome, thanks for that :)

[bentoms]

@paulnz & @calumhunter, thanks for pointing that out.

Fix is in 1.1.2, which has just been posted.

I also opened an issue for this in the github repo, that I will close.

But if/when any more issues are found, please can people log them: https://github.com/macmule/AutoCasperNBI/issues

[dmueller]

Hi @bentoms,

I have been meaning to report an issue with the Netboot Image Index field. Any attempt to change the number will cause dialog "Maximum Exceeded - Please provide a valid value" This happens with any number supplied (all within the defined range) and with and without the checkbox for "Will be served on more than one server. ! would have let you know about this on github, but I have not yet created an account.

Building on 10.10.1 using AutoCasperNBI 1.1.3

Best regards

-Dennis

[bentoms]

@dmueller, thanks.. logged as https://github.com/macmule/AutoCasperNBI/issues/12

[bentoms]

@dmueller

Resolved with 1.1.4.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[HempfieldTech]

Just came across AutoCasperNBI recently - this is awesome! Using 1.1.4 AutoCasperNBI in conjunction with latest AutoDMG (another awesome tool), I've successfully created working Netboot images for 10.10.1, 10.9.5, and 10.8.5. So far, so good.

What I'd like to do now is to create NBI's for two older OS's - 10.7.5 and 10.6.8. The priority would be 10.7.5. AutoDMG only works for 10.8 and newer, so I've tried creating OS images by to feed into AutoCasperNBI by clean-installing 10.7.5 onto a laptop, then using both Casper Composer and standard Disk Utility to image the drive. Unfortunately, AutoCasperNBI is unable to read either variation, failing with an "Unable to Read OS Version" when I "Select" the OS image to use. I'm booted to 10.8.5 when running AutoCasperNBI. Is it limited to building 10.8 or newer nbi's?

[dmueller]

Hi @bentoms,

Definitely working much better now. Thank you Sir.

[bentoms]

@HempfieldTech, I have tested with 10.7+ via AutoDMG & it works for me.

But, I have had people also advise of issues with 10.7.x

2 questions:

1. Have you changed the name of the HD?
2. Could you possibly upload the DMG somewhere for & send a link to it via http://macmule.com/contact or drop me a line there & I'll reply with somewhere for you to upload.

[bentoms]

@dmueller, glad to hear it!