Netboot issues from a Newbie

[anickless]

I am trying to get student laptops on 10.7.5 to netboot on a 10.10.5 with Server 5 machine. I am having issues where in they can see the server but cannot boot. I used DS to create a netboot set but it's not working when the client machine tries to boot to the server image it fails and boots normally.

Anyway to fix this? or suggestions.

[pmcgurn]

Hi there, and welcome.

I had the same struggles you have now, and it pushed me to the point of creating a better guide. Take a pass through this, and let us know if you're still stuck.

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=18922

[taugust04]

Hi @anickless :

Can you better describe "cannot boot"?

Does it just flash the NetBoot logo then proceed to boot off the local hard drive - or does it start to boot with the spinning globe NetBoot logo, but then never finish booting, or restart on its own, boot with the circle with the line though it, or end up with a kernel panic?

What model laptops are you trying to boot up? What is the version of OS X used to create the DeployStudio NetBoot image (I'm assuming 10.10.5)?

Are the laptops and the NetBoot server on the same network segment/VLAN? If not, do you have some sort of NetBoot across subnets configuration enabled on your networking gear (Cisco IP Helpers, etc)?

Answering these questions can help access where you are getting stuck in the NetBoot process.

~Ted

[davidacland]

@anickless

There are quite a few pitfalls that you could be stuck in here. Some of the main ones are misconfigured NetBoot service, missing iphelpers or incompatible NetBoot images.

We've got a guide up in a series that walks you through setting up NetBoot on a Mac server. It's for Imagr but ignoring that part the instructions might be of use to you: http://www.amsys.co.uk/2015/11/imagr-101-part-1-introduction-and-netboot-service/

[Chris_Hafner]

Yep, the devil will be in the details. My first thought happens to be something that @taugust04 has asked. What model laptop's are these? If it's a model that cannot support 10.10 then you might have done everything properly in regards to your .NBI and netboot setup.

[anickless]

Hi everyone, @taugust04 you are right when I try to netboot the client machine on the local lan tries and then boots to the startup disk. I get the anti symbol before it boots to the local hard disk.

I am using 10.10.5 as the server and I used a 10.7.5 disk from Deploy studio to create my netboot set.

Everything is on the local LAN and the laptop can see the netboot fine. though when things fail no log in generated on the server side.

[endor-moon]

I jokingly call that "anti symbol" the "No Smoking" sign. I don't know what it is normally called.

It is best to create the NetBoot NBI image set using the target machine hardware and the latest operating system you plan to support.

You'll need operating system installers and software such as MacMule's AUTOCASPERNBI which takes most of the guesswork away. For DS (DeployStudio) the process is similar but I like to use an operating system disk image created by AutoDMG 1.5.5, that wonderful utility by Mager Valp.

Keep in mind that System Integrity Protection (SIP) is a real pain to circumvent if you need to support El Capitan. You would need to turn off SIP on each machine which requires booting into Recovery mode and entering a terminal command, csrutil disable I believe.

Cheers...