Sierra Imaging

[omatsei]

Hey everyone, got a problem with imaging Sierra onto systems. Brief recent history:

I upgraded our JSS from 9.96 to 9.98, downloaded Sierra via the App Store, looked at the package contents, found the "Install OS X Sierra.dmg" file and dragged it into Casper Admin, then replicated the file share distribution points. I can confirm that the DMG is on both the file share distribution points, and that Casper Admin has it marked as an OS X Installer.

Problem is, I added it to a few Configurations, and removed El Capitan, but now the configurations don't boot. I boot up the system, tell it to use one of the Sierra-based configs, and it goes through the whole process, but when it finished, it reboots to a black screen. No keyboard, mouse... nothing... but the screen is on. If I hold alt/option when I boot it, it shows the Untitled HD (I just leave it as Untitled and rename it later), but if I select it, it boots to a black screen again.

Anyone have any idea what could be wrong? It's been almost a year since I did this, so I might have done the process of adding Sierra to Casper incorrectly... I just can't remember.

[LukeMason]

I don't think you can add the dmg from within the installer app to an imaging configuration like this.

You should run it through something like AutoDMG to create a clean OS dmg first, and then add that to your imaging configuration.

[omatsei]

Ah, yeah, that sounds familiar. Thanks! I've only done this once, and I didn't document as well as I should have...

[aaronf]

Just drag the installer app into CasperAdmin. It will extract what it needs. The resulting DMG will be called something like Install OS X Sierra.InstallESD.dmg

[omatsei]

I don't need to extract anything, or use another app to create a DMG? Just drag the "Install MacOS Sierra" from Applications into Casper Admin? That seems too easy...

[omatsei]

So far, no joy... Here's what I'm doing now:

I got the "Install MacOS Sierra" app directly from Applications after I downloaded it from the App Store. I dragged that directly into Casper Admin, and it named it "Install MacOS Sierra.InstallESD.dmg". I created a new Configuration, called "Sierra Test" and dragged only that file into it. I went into the properties of that Configuration and added a username and password for the management account, and checked the box to create it if it does not exist. Then I saved CasperAdmin, and Replicated both file shares. The "Install macOS Sierra.InstallESD.dmg" file is 4.95gb on both file shares, so it looks to be complete.

I'm testing on a 27" 5K iMac from 2016. I boot it into my NetBoot image, which is running OS X 10.11.5 and Casper Imaging version 9.92 (maybe that's it?). I select the new Configuration, hit the box to erase the target drive, name the computer, check the box to boot to the target after imaging, and click Image. After about 10 minutes, it boots to a black screen.

I'll create a new NetBoot Image with Casper Imaging 9.98 on it and see if that helps... it was on my optional to-do list anyway.

[davidacland · Accepted solution]

When I'm doing this, I normally pass the install app through autodmg to create a restorable .dmg file. That has always worked for me.

I have heard you can do the same with Composer, but as autodmg has always worked for me I've never had the need to look elsewhere.

I can't confirm whether dragging the app into casper admin works (I haven't tried it that way), but the OS images usually need to have a priority of 1 and the "install on boot drive after imaging" should be switched off. Just a couple of other things to check just in case.

That said, I would just use autodmg personally!

[omatsei]

I'm making progress.

I re-did everything from the beginning, starting with using AutoDMG to create a DMG, then using AutoCasperNBI to take that DMG and create a NetBoot image with Casper Imaging 9.98. Now it boots, and looks like everything is working. At least, working with Casper. Now I have a lot more work to do to get the whole process running correctly...

[jbutler47]

For Sierra 10.12.4+, check out this article:

https://www.jamf.com/blog/streamlining-your-macos-upgrade-process/

Follow up with the GIT link as well: https://github.com/kc9wwh/macOSUpgrade

Seems to do the trick.

Enjoy.