Casper 7.1 OS Image Building

[stevewood]

Okay, I thought I heard that Casper 7.1 allowed for a "build train" like
InstaDMG uses for building OS install images. I know I heard Josh
Wisenbaker mention it Tuesday at an Apple Enterprise event here in Dallas,
however I am having a difficult time figuring out how it works.

Does anyone know how to use this feature in Casper 7?

I thought the process was to add the DVD image of your OS, whether the
Retail DVD or a Drop In box DVD that comes with machines, into Casper Admin
and then build a configuration. However, that didn't work for me.

I'm looking for the same functionality of InstaDMG.

Anyone?

Thanks.

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

[tlarkin]

I am trying to get my 10.5.0 + 10.5.8 combo updater to image on a brand new iMac. Apple swears to me that even though these iMacs ship with 10.6 they will still boot 10.5....

I will post whatever I find in the next few days.

---

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
blackberry: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351
chown -R us /.base

[donmontalvo]

Hi Steve,
Steve Wood <swood at integer.com> wrote:

First, thanks for your recent demo of Casper at your office in Dallas. It was comforting to see InstaDMG working along side Casper. You demonstrated reimaging a Mac, where the process included automagically layering on CS4 (Adobe's Silent Install). The time and effort are greatly appreciated. If there are any other shops in the Dallas (DFW) area, I'd love to see how you're using it in your environment (breakfast or lunch is on me!). :)

I'm heading to west coast to meet our front end guys who bought Casper for this client to review the strategy for this client. I'm holding to my InstaDMG workflow until Casper's imaging toolset achieves feature parity. InstaDMG has a workflow that satisfies a lot of the process requirements for us. Hopefully that'll be soon, since I have to ramp up for image production for all our clients from here at our back office location. JAMF are helping us to develop a strategy for multi- tiered support model.

In conversations with some Casper and InstaDMG users, the consensus was that Casper Imaging and even Apple's System Image Utility in 10.6 are not yet at the level of the InstaDMG workflow. Hopefully JAMF will add in all the InstaDMG flexibility and controls, so we can lay InstaDMG down to rest. JAMF certainly backs up their product with firm commitments and resources.

Thanks,
Don

Don Montalvo
Dallas, TX

[tlarkin]

Here is my issue....

I took a 10.5.0 retail DVD and made an image of it. I then mounted it and took a OS snap shot with Composer. I am testing this now, but previously I had just dropped the image into Casper Admin and told CA that it was an OS X installer. It gave me the options to create an install and when it block copies to the iMac, it just block copies the actual image. It doesn't lay down the OS installed. Now I also told it to install the 10.5.8 combo update as well, which it doesn't seem to do that either. I am currently playing with it, and will post back when I figure out how to get it done.

How do you guys deploy updates? I was thinking I may have to convert an update to source and then compile it with my OS image to create a 10.5.8 base image?

Thanks

Tom

---

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
blackberry: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351
chown -R us /.base

[dderusha]

Turn on software update on your apple server.
Point all your clients to this update server in the JSS
Management-Software update servers- add server

create a policy that installs the software updates from this server at night.

Let me know if you want more details

Dan

[tlarkin]

Our WAN traffic is maxed out pretty much from Internet usage and my SUS server is an old PPC server that chokes when too many clients hit it. I would very much prefer to slip stream the update into the image itself and for it to be pristine so I don't have to fuss with things. Then just download the PKG of the combo updater and go from there.

I have lots of clients and not really the infrastructure to set up one SUS. My other alternative is to setup SUS at each building but then I got over head on my OD servers.

Plus, I manage a 1:1 and laptops go off campus at night.

Thanks

Tom

[abenedict]

Once you make an image from the installer disk, there is no need to mount it
and take an OS snapshot. All you need to do is drop the image of the
installer disk into the Casper Admin and check the box that it is an OS X
installer.
My image came from a Mac Pro that has the highest build for any of our Macs. I also have dropped the 10.5.8 combo updater into the admin and made that
part of the configuration.

The one thing I have noticed is, if I try and image from that config that
has the installer, it will lock up sometime during the install. If I
compile the image first, it works every time.

--
Alan Benedict
?
Macintosh Technician
The Integer Group
O: 515-247-2738
C: 515-770-8234
http://www.integer.com