Netboot across VLANS

[abz_mungul]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone could make sense of this.

Brief background:

We are using Casper as our deployment software for Macs, DHCP server (Windows Server 2008 is a different VLAN to our netboot server). Our Macs are also split across a number of different VLANS. We use Juniper switches.

I've added ip helpers to our core switch

The problem:

When I try netbooting it seems that the client machine will not grab the image

Here is a snapshot of the system.logs

Jun 12 15:02:43 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP DISCOVER [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:02:43 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP OFFER sent [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] pktsize 437
Jun 12 15:02:44 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:02:44 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:02:45 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:02:45 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:02:47 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:02:47 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:02:52 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:02:52 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:00 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:00 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:16 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP DISCOVER [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:16 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP OFFER sent [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] pktsize 437
Jun 12 15:03:17 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:17 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:19 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:19 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:21 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:21 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:25 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:25 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300
Jun 12 15:03:33 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea NetBoot195 arch=i386 sysid=iMac5,1
Jun 12 15:03:33 buildbox-lon3 bootpd[1972]: NetBoot: [1,0:16:cb:98:89:ea] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.100.64.9 pktsize 300

I have tried the following

tftp to netboot server

get NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetInstall Snow Leopard DVD.nbi/i386/booter

This works both on the netboot server and also the end client machines

Can anyone give me any pointers on this please?

Thanks

Abz

[tsd25108]

Are you using the Apple NetBoot Server or JAMF NetSUS Appliance? The appliance currently won't netboot across VLAN's even with helper addresses due to its inability to respond to encapsulated requests. I was a little dissappointed to find that out since I really wanted to replace our X serve with the netboot appliance.

[johnnasset]

We found that with any Macs that shipped with Lion, they are unable to Netboot when the DHCP server is on a different VLAN than the NetBoot server. Once we flattened out the network, it worked fine. This has something to do with either the firmware version or the ethernet controller in these newer macs. Apple acknowledged this after lengthy troubleshooting but I'm not aware of any fix.

[CasperSally]

@tsd - thanks for posting that - I didn't know the appliance couldn't do that - now I know not to waste my time testing (for now).

@abz is your netboot and DHCP server on different VLANs as @johnasset suggested? Our servers are on same VLAN, but clients across many other VLANs and haven't had issues.

[abz_mungul]

Hi

I am using the Apple Netboot Server. Netboot and DHCP server are on different VLAN as are our client machines

We are using Juniper switches and I have correctly set the ip helpers, but still with no success doing a TFTP to the booter file works on the client machines yet they still do not netboot

[abz_mungul]

I've moved the netboot server to the same VLAN as the DHCP server and still cant netboot.

Do I have to do anything special on my MS DHCP server to get this working?

I also put the netboot server on the same VLAN as our workstations but still cant netboot

[anant_jauhari]

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=13131

Please provide a solution on above mentioned thread/discussion , Thanks in advance

[PEGS_JAMF_Suppo]

If you are using Windows Server as DHCP server. You have to have Both(DHCP and BOOTP) enabled on the DHCP Scope.