Best Option for Imaging 1to1 laptops to High Sierra

[dsweigart]

I am in the early stages of trying to figure out how we are going to image our 1to1 laptops this summer with High Sierra and the new AFS formatting. For years we have been using Jamf Imaging ands its been working great. Here is a background of how we currently image.

• Create a custom image with all our needed software, custom settings, and configurations that are needed for the 1to1 laptops and then use composer to create that image. Once that image is created in composer its added to Jamf Admin and then a custom config is created that also binds the laptop to AD and sets the firmware. we then use Jamf Imaging via net-boot to then push the image we created to the laptops.

Any advise people have tried or want to suggested would be greatly appreciated!

[blackholemac]

The best advice is to consider using DEP, the OS that’s already there and policies/scripts/packages/printers to intelligently “provision” the new machine upon mandatory enrollment from a 40,000 foot overview. Imaging is going away.

That being said, the devil is in the details of that. I am in the process of transitioning away from imaging now, but I don’t totally have my new workflow down pat. I mostly have it ready for direct 1 to 1 user-assigned machines but am still tweaking my lab machine workflow as it isn’t quite fully automated or up to my standards yet. My specific issue is automating the restore of the base OS and getting through some pesky setup assistant prompts which can’t be suppressed in a standard DEP prestage. (Language, keyboard layout and actually acknowledging to the machine that I wish to proceed with DEP enrollment specifically.) Most other parts I’m good on. It doesn’t help that Apple seems to be sun setting NetBoot on new SecureBoot Macs:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202770