Post DEP Imaging

[nmanager]

So currently we deploy our new MacBooks through DEP and everything works great. And if we need to "re-image" them I am currently using Deploy Studio to install just the base OS. Now with High Sierra and above it appears this is not going to be a viable option. Between APFS and NETBoot changes I will need a new solution.

My current thought is to create USB OS X installers and use those to "re-image" to the base OS. Issue here is they are slower than Deploy Studio and I have to re-create them for every update that comes out. I thought about the Internet Recovery Partition but that take too much time and bandwidth. I also thought about using the Recovery Partition that is on the device but I have no luck with it staying around. It seems like after the first time I recover using that it's gone. Even for device straight from Apple. It doesn't seem like JAMF Imaging is going to be viable either.

So what is everyone doing for those device you need to "re-image" back to just the OS? Is there any good solution at this time?

[rickgmac]

Check out the video from MacSys Admin by Greg Neagle - Imaging is Dead: What Now?
http://docs.macsysadmin.se/2018/

[sshort]

Nothing is going to be fast like the "old days" of NetInstall/NetRestore, so you're mostly picking what works best in your environment. If the Mac is still functional (and you have admin access) then doing an erase and install via self service using the relatively new startosinstall command works well.

You can use a caching server via System Preferences in 10.13+ so the Recovery partition can pull the installer more quickly at your org. You can also use Greg Neagle's Installr or Bootstrappr tools from the recovery partition.