AutoCasperNBI and Casper 9.65

[dmw3]

Seeing some strange errors appearing when trying to use AutoCasperNBI with Casper 9.65. trying to create the NBI on a I7 iMac with a 1TB Fusion drive OS 10.10.2 we get the following in the logs:

Thu Feb 26 10:55:22 AEDT 2015 NetBoot Name: 10.10.2.AutoCasperNBI
Thu Feb 26 10:55:22 AEDT 2015 Trying to get JSS version
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 Received JSS version
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 Checking JSS Version from https://<server>:8443/
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 JSS is: 9.65
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 Pre-Reqs met, Options & Build enabled.
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 NetBoot description enabled
Thu Feb 26 10:55:23 AEDT 2015 NetBoot description set to 'Mac OS 10.10.2 (14C109) with Casper Imaging 9.65 pointing to JSS https://<server>:8443/. Created by, <user> on: Thursday, 26 February 2015.'
Thu Feb 26 10:55:26 AEDT 2015 Selected path to create .nbi is: /Users/<user>/Desktop/
Thu Feb 26 10:55:26 AEDT 2015 Trying to get the Total size of '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2'
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Total size of '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2' is 17GB rounded up
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 There is around 690GB space free on '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2' rounded down
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Used space on '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2' is around -673GB
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 The NetBoot.dmg will need to be around -672GB
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Checking for free space on /
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 The volume / has 748GB free, rounding down
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 We need around -1344GB free to create the NBI.
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Selected Desktop Image: /Users/<user>/Documents/UTAS Work/Casper/Packages/utastri.jpeg
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Trying to create .nbi folder /Users/<user>/Desktop/10.10.2.AutoCasperNBI.nbi
Thu Feb 26 10:55:28 AEDT 2015 Successfully created '/Users/<user>/Desktop/10.10.2.AutoCasperNBI.nbi'
Thu Feb 26 10:55:28 AEDT 2015 Trying to create NetBoot.dmg in /Users/<user>/Desktop/10.10.2.AutoCasperNBI.nbi
Thu Feb 26 10:55:28 AEDT 2015 Error: Failed to create NetBoot.dmg

[calumhunter]

try changing the name of your internal hard drive from Macintosh HD to something else.
it looks like its getting confused with the hard drive names

[dmw3]

@calumhunter No same result, even choosing another volume as the destination gives the same results in the log.

This concerns me "We need around -1344GB free to create the NBI", considering the image is really only 17GB.

[calumhunter]

can you post the output from these commands on the machine you are using to try to create the nbi on?

ls -la /Volumes

diskutil list

[dmw3]

@calumhunter After quitting AutocasperNBI to make sure no extra volumes are not mounted, tried again with the same result. readout from the terminal commands:

ls -la /Volumes
total 8
drwxrwxrwt@ 7 root admin 238 26 Feb 13:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 32 root wheel 1156 10 Feb 10:17 ..
drwxrwxr-x 14 root wheel 544 11 Feb 08:45 Backup
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin 1 26 Feb 13:10 Fusion -> /
drwxr-xr-x 25 root wheel 918 2 Feb 16:01 Macintosh HD
drwxrwxrwx 0 root wheel 0 26 Feb 13:13 MobileBackups
drwxrwxr-x 25 dwikeley staff 918 10 Feb 13:35 UTAS

diskutil list
/dev/disk0 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *121.3 GB disk0 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1 2: Apple_CoreStorage 121.0 GB disk0s2 3: Apple_Boot Boot OS X 134.2 MB disk0s3
/dev/disk1 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk1 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1 2: Apple_CoreStorage 999.3 GB disk1s2 3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk1s3
/dev/disk2 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: Apple_HFS Fusion *1.1 TB disk2 Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk1s2 B83630B9-8B92-42FE-84A6-32AC21C081A6 Unencrypted Fusion Drive
/dev/disk3 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk3 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk3s1 2: Apple_HFS Backup 1.0 TB disk3s2 3: Apple_HFS UTAS 999.7 GB disk3s3
/dev/disk4 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *17.4 GB disk4 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk4s1 2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 17.0 GB disk4s2

[calumhunter]

So what is the /dev/disk4 17Gb partition called Macintosh HD??

also try to use the script brackets when posting output like that so it retains its formatting, makes it easier to read

[bentoms]

@dmw3 can you please open an issue at: https://github.com/macmule/AutoCasperNBI/issues.

I have only received some fusion drive macs over the past two weeks, so it may be that that has caused the issue & if so I can test with them.

[bentoms]

nvm.. issue created: https://github.com/macmule/AutoCasperNBI/issues/18

[bentoms]

@dmw3, well I thought the issue could be to do with the Fusion drive. So ran AutoCasperNBI on a fusion Mac Mini & it worked fine:

Sat Feb 28 21:35:51 GMT 2015 Selected path to create .nbi is: /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/
Sat Feb 28 21:35:51 GMT 2015 Trying to get the Total size of '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 1'
Sat Feb 28 21:35:51 GMT 2015 Total size of '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 1' is 34GB rounded up
Sat Feb 28 21:35:51 GMT 2015 There is around 25GB space free on '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 1' rounded down
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 Used space on '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 1' is around 9GB
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 The NetBoot.dmg will need to be around 10GB
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 Checking for free space on /
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 The volume / has 906GB free, rounding down
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 We need around 10GB free to create the NBI.
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 Trying to create .nbi folder /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/10.9.5TEST.nbi
Sat Feb 28 21:35:52 GMT 2015 Successfully created '/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/10.9.5TEST.nbi'
Sat Feb 28 21:35:53 GMT 2015 Trying to create NetBoot.dmg in /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/10.9.5TEST.nbi

[bentoms]

@dmw3, how big is the OS.dmg you creating the NBI from?

Somewhere things are getting confused.

Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 Total size of '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2' is 17GB rounded up
Thu Feb 26 10:55:27 AEDT 2015 There is around 690GB space free on '/Volumes/Macintosh HD 2' rounded down

Lastly, what language is the Mac set to?

[dmw3]

@bentoms Thanks Ben for your reply. The image size is 13.88GB (reading as 17GB by AutoCasperNBI), the language is set to Australian.

I have tried this on two computers now and get the same result, it does not seem an issue with the Fusion drive as I tried it on a MBP with a SSD. This image was captured from a Mac Mini new with just Apple updates applied and an admin account created.

I can use the image ok with Disk Utility and Target Disk mode to another Mac.

Is there a way to force the creation disregarding the size check?

[bentoms]

@dmw3, i'm not going to remove the space check as that will cause more issues & affect more people.

Could you post a copy of the com.macmule.AutoCasperNBI.plist & the log found in ~/Logs/AutoCasperNBI/ to the issue on GitHub? https://github.com/macmule/AutoCasperNBI/issues/18

Also, can I please have the output of diskutil info from it pointing to the image whilst mounted?

[bentoms]

@dmw3, I'm working on the next release of AutoCasperNBI.. If you could supply me the above I'll try & fix it.

I have a suspicion that it's the OS.dmg you're using.

[dmw3]

@bentoms I have been on leave the last couple of days and will post the returns of your questions when I get into work tomorrow.

Sometimes it makes it difficult being the other side of the world.

[RobertHammen]

Would also suggest trying to use AutoDMG to create a never-booted up-to-date base OS and feed it to AutoCasperNBI If that works it will just validate @bentoms' suspicions that there is something awry with your base OS.

[bentoms]

@RobertHammen I managed to speak to @dmw3 on the #jamfnation IRC.

Issue is that the DMG has 690MB free & AutoCasperNBI was reading the space as 690GB.

Should be fixed in next commit.

[dmw3]

@bentoms thanks for looking at this, I will give the next version a try with the same dmg and let you know what is the outcome.

I wonder if I use a different dmg the outcome would be different. How would you recommend a dmg be captured of a disk?

[bentoms]

@dmw3 Really it was my bad for not accounting for disk images with less then a GB of free space.

Please try AutoCasperNBI 1.1.5 & let me know if it has worked!

[bentoms]

@dmw3 More pre-release information:

[dmw3]

@bentoms Ben, downloaded and installed the latest release 1.1.7, found that the build button and options are greyed out so could not do anything more to test this release.

[bentoms]

@dmw3 hmm.. can you select the OS.dmg & then the imaging app?

[dmw3]

@bentoms Tes, but then the rest is greyed out. the screenshot image in the last post shows what is available.

I did delete any reference to the previous version before installing version 1.1.7

I haven't tried it on another computer yet will do tomorrow, to see if it is an issue in the downloaded installer.

thanks for your hard work.

[bentoms]

@dmw3 I managed to recreate with selecting "Casper Imaging.app" AND THEN the "OS.dmg"

Doing the reverse, (as it's read), works.

Looking at it today/later.

[dmw3 · Accepted solution]

@bentoms Ben, when selecting the OS.dmg first then the imaging .app, yes is does work, even on the original OS.dmg that was used at the start of this thread.

So I would consider this solved in relation to AutoCasperNBI not recognising the free space size correctly.