Creating Images

Do not create your images that way. Look into a tool like AutoDMG which will create a never booted image that should work across all hardware. Or alternatively don't image at all and just deploy the software to the computers via Casper using policies or via Casper Imaging through imaging configs.

If its fully patched to 10.10.4 it might, although its likely you'll have other subtle issues to fight with.

You'd be better off creating a clean OS image with AutoDMG.

In my experience, if the build of the OS that is installed on the iMac is the same or newer than the OS build that shipped on the hardware you plan on imaging, it should work. But as @bpavlov states, using a tool like AutoDMG can create a never booted OS that will likely give you better results than an OS that you captured using Composer. It's very easy to use with the only caveat being that you need to boot from the same version of the OS that you plan to create. So it you want a 10.10.4 OS you should run AutoDMG from a system that has Mac OS 10.10.4 installed and use the latest version of the 10.10.4 installer from the App Store. AutoDMG will also download any additional updates that came out that may need applied to the OS and bake those in for you as well. You'll even get the recovery partition as well using the AutoDMG method.

Does using AutoDMG change the imaging process when imaging using the casper imaging app?

@swright.mm No instead of using composer to build an image you use autoDMG.

@swright.mm you could use one of those 2015 MacBook Pros to build yourself an OS image using AutoDMG in no time. Simply setup one of the computers, apply any updates needed to get the computer to 10.10.4 then download the Yosemite Installer from the Mac App store and then get AutoDMG. Then it's a simple matter of dragging the Install OS X Yosemite into the AutoDMG window and clicking the download button to download any needed updates. Then click the Build button. On that new MacBook Pro with the SSD it shouldn't take very long for it to build the never booted image. Drop it into Casper Admin and set the priority to 1 and test your newly-built OS on some test machines.

Ok, so what about all the settings that I have already set and the default profile? If I use the installer straight from the apple store won't it not include those settings when adding it to the AutoDMG? Is there a way I can add it to the Image still? Or can I use the image that I created using a 2015 MBPR with the settings and put that into the AutoDMG? It has only the apps from 10.10.4 nothing extra.

With AudoDMG you're really looking to have a clean, unconfigured base OS and layering config profiles and other installer packages on top to get the end result. Its a bit of work but makes the deployment workflows more flexible and easier to maintain in the future. My blog about config profile and first boot scripts is here.

@swright.mm can you elaborate more on the settings you want applied to the final imaged computer? Also, what do you mean by the "default profile" comment? We are relatively hands off on setting specific settings for the end user. We normally leave it up to the end user to choose how they want the computer to look. But we do start them off with a certain dock setup and a few finder related settings but not much else. As @davidacland mentions this imaging workflow is very flexible and quite easy to maintain. If you are used to the monolithic imaging method it takes a bit of getting used to though.

@mpermann When creating a image for our company we usually set a "default profile" up meaning once another user is created or logs into the machine, it will have all of the settings we set rather than the stuff that shows up by default when you have the factory image. Some of the settings we set is VPN, company background, the dock, network and some of the system preference settings. But if I add the Yosemite installer straight from the app store it will not capture those settings the way we have it. So I want to know is there a way to use AutoDMG and still get those settings in there.

@swright.mm so are you modifying the User Template in /System/Library/User Template? It is possible to use Configuration Profiles for at least some of the settings you're talking about. @davidacland may be able to speak to that more than I can. A maybe less desirable option would be to use Composer to capture the setting changes that you want to make to the system and create it as a .dmg file and use the FEU/FUT option to have those settings applied to the user accounts on login. If you go this route, be sure to test carefully. Some of the settings likely can be set via a script using the default writes command as well. If you're under the gun and have to get the systems imaged and deployed, you may just want to use the monolithic method you're used to and work toward the modular approach for use at a later time.

Yep, as long as its a plist setting going into /Library/Preferences or ~/Library/Preferences, you can create a custom config profiles. Nice thing is they are persistent so you don't have to worry about them only getting set during imaging. Plus you can change them around later on.