First up, when you do the hdiutil convert command, that actually creates a brand new disk image with the contents of the original. This is why you can remove the original once the new one has been created.
the third point with the sym link, if you look in the ImageInfo.plist you will note that it has a key with the name of the image file. ie NetBoot.reduced.dmg. This is what is used by the netboot server so that it knows the path of the netboot image so it can provide that path to the client machine in order for the client to boot from that image.
Now you could modify this file and replace the old name with the new name, but I've had mixed results doing that.
The sym link method works and DeployStudio uses it and Casper NetImage creator uses it, and I've had 100% success using it. So thats why I am recommending it.
If you follow the above steps, you will be fine.
The netboot server will provide your netboot image to the client via NFS or HTTP depending on which your using. The server doesn't care about the format of the image so you don't have to worry
The client also has no problem using a sparse diskimage as a netboot source.
Good luck :)
Hi @calumhunter
Would you not just be able to delete the original Netboot.dmg and rename your new sparse one to be the same?
Darren
Kind of like renaming a .doc to a .xls no?
Sorry, I wasn't clear.
I meant carry out the conversion and instead of using the symlink, rename the newly created file?
Darren
No, I understand what you are saying. But we are converting a .dmg into a compressed .sparseimage
Different file types, different file extensions.
Sure, but I would have thought the plist file would only care about the full filename and not the extension verses file type?
Just kinda thinking out loud and checking it holds up :P
Darren
I'm not sure i understand?
the full filename of the newly created image is NetBoot.reduced.dmg.sparseimage
the extension is .sparseimage
the file type is defined by the extension .sparseimage
if you change the .sparseimage extension to .dmg then the system thinks that the file type is now .dmg and not .sparseimage
So like i said its kind of like taking a .doc file and renaming it .xls
I haven't tried it but it doesn't sound like a good idea.
.... My Monday pre-coffee ramblings. Don't worry about it
Darren
Hi calumhunter,
you mentioned below
"The sym link method works and DeployStudio uses it and Casper NetImage creator uses it, and I've had 100% success using it. So thats why I am recommending it"
However I'm not using any of these tools. All I'm using JAMF NetSUS appliance, so I'm not sure whether sym link works with NetSUS appliance or not!
@sidhu_navdeep
My intent with mentioning those tools is that they are both created by developers with a very long history of working with Apple, so when I see developers such as JAMF and the DeployStudio Team using the sym link method it adds a lot of credibility to it, if it was easier or "better" to rename the disk image or update the imageinfo.plist then I would expect to see these developers do that. But instead they are doing the sym link.
As I have said before, you will be fine doing this. To be clearer; Yes this method will work with NetSUS. It will also work with any other netboot server ie. Mac OS X Server, bsdpy
I would encourage you to learn more about the NetBoot process in general, the communications between server and client, its capabilities in general and its limitations. This will help you build out your infrastructure and also make troubleshooting later on down the track a lot easier.
The resources here are still a good starting point
https://static.afp548.com/mactips/bootpd.html
Hi sidhu_navdeep,
Have you gotten Riverbed optimizing https traffic? Are you using Client Certificate Support?
