NetSUS kills Apple NetBoot on Network

[Easton]

Hello,

I'm experiencing an issue where if a network with local OS X netboot servers is added the the NetBoot page, the local NetBoot servers stop working (Clients cant boot to their NetBoot sets).

If I remove the network, local NetBoot servers begin working just fine.

This also effects the local network the NetSUS appliance is on. If I have the whole /24 local network enabled in the NetBoot settings, other NetBoot servers stop working. If I add only the IP /32 (subnet 111.111.111.111, network mask 255.255.255.255), the local NetBoot servers begin working again, but the NetSUS appliance's NetBoot set doesn't show up in Startup Disk or when option booting.

Any ideas?

[Josh_S]

What you're experiencing is expected behavior. Basically, as it currently stands, the NetSUS basically takes over the NetBoot discovery process for any Macs on the networks it is enabled for. This means that the only image that will successfully boot using discovery on these networks, versus using the bless command on a running system to point it at a specific image on a specific server, is the one hosted by the NetSUS.

If you're hosting NetBoot images on Mac OS Server, the only workaround is to disable the NetSUS on those network segments.

[bentoms]

Can the NetSUS not load balance with OSX NetBoot?

[Josh_S]

Not in my experience. I believe at present too many values, including listen and response codes, are hardcoded. I have some projects I'm working on currently taking up my attention. When my plate clears a bit, I intend to dedicate some time refining this behavior and extending the ability of the NetSUS.

It's all open source if someone else wants to take a look at this before I get a chance to do it.

[franton]

I agree with @Josh_S . We tested v.2 of the NetSUS a while back and it catastrophically broke net boot across our estate. We came to the conclusion that it was going to be an either/or deal for using it.

[danielc29]

I was experiencing the same issue when both servers were hosted on the same subnet. About a week ago I moved my OSX netboot to a different subnet due to construction in office, and I've been able to netboot from both servers while running concurrently ever since.

[Easton]

@danielc29

So you have the NetBoot server located on network two, NetSUS server located on network one. You have the NetBoot server broadcasting to network one. You can then boot to both NetBoot and NetSUS on Network one?