Viewing the OS X Models in Your Environment

1. Log in to the JAMF Software Server (JSS) with a web browser.

2. Click Computers at the top of the page.

3. Click Search Inventory.

4. Click New.

5. To save the search, select the Save this Search checkbox.

6. Enter "Device Models and Years" in the Display Name field.

7. Click the Display tab.

8. Click Hardware and then select Model.

9. Click Save.

10. Click View to view the search results.

11. Sort the results by model by clicking the Model column heading.

System Requirements

Use the information in this section to determine which OS X versions are supported on the OS X models in your environment.

Note: The information in this section may not cover every computer in your environment. For a more comprehensive list, see the Mac OS X Versions (Builds) for Computers article from Apple.

Using the Casper NetInstall Image Creator

To avoid complications with server-to-client compatibility, create the NetBoot image on the server that will host the image. The NetBoot image must be created with an operating system that is running the same or later version than the operating system used to image client computers.

1. Download the Casper NetInstall Image Creator from JAMF Nation.

2. Follow the instructions in the Creating a NetBoot Image and Setting Up a NetBoot Server Knowledge Base article.

Using the AutoCasperNBI

The NetBoot image can be created on any OS X computer, regardless of version.

1. Download AutoCasperNBI from macmule.

2. Open AutoCasperNBI.app.
   Note: This requires administrator credentials for the computer or server.

3. Select the OS.dmg.

4. Select Casper Imaging.app.

5. Enter the JSS URL. For example, “https://jss.mycompany.com:8443/” (excluding the quotation marks).

6. Enter a name for the NetBoot image.
   It is recommended that you include the version number of the operating system in the name.
   Important: (NetBoot/SUS only) Do not use spaces in the name as they can break the imaging process in the NetBoot/SUS Appliance.

For NetInstall

1. From the NetBoot server, put the NetBoot image in /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/.

2. Turn on the NetInstall service in Server.app.

3. Ensure that a green status icon is displayed next to the NetBoot image in the NetInstall pane, indicating that the image is available for deployment.

For NetBoot/SUS Appliance

1. Log into the Net/SUS server web application.
   The default credentials are:
   Username: webadmin
   Password: webadmin
   Note: It is recommended that you change the default credentials for better security.

2. Click NetBoot Server.
   On a smartphone or iPod touch, this option is in the pop-up menu.

3. Click Upload Net Boot Image.
   This connects you to the SMB share where NetBoot images are stored.

4. Enter credentials to the share and click Connect.
   The default credentials are:
   Username: smbuser
   Password: smbuser
   Note: It is recommended that you change the default credentials for better security.

5. Copy the NetBoot image to the SMB share.
   Important: The name of the folder cannot contain any spaces.

6. Return to the NetBoot/SUS server web application and refresh the page.

7. Choose the NetBoot image from the pop-up menu.

8. Choose subnets for the NetBoot image by entering a subnet and a netmask. Then click Add Subnet.

9. Click Enable NetBoot.
   A green status icon is displayed next to the NetBoot image in the NetInstall pane.
   If a red status icon is displayed, do one of the following:

   • Ensure you are using the subnet that includes the NetBoot server. (For more information, see http://www.subnet-calculator.com.)

   • Ensure there are no spaces in the NetBoot image filename.

Manually Booting a Computer to a NetBoot Image

1. From the target computer, navigate to Apple menu > System Preferences.

2. Click Startup Disk.

3. Select the NetBoot image.
   Note: Hover over the NetBoot image to view its IP address.

4. Click Restart.

Using a Policy to Boot Computers to a NetBoot Image

1. Log in to the JSS with a web browser.

2. Add the NetBoot server to the JSS by doing the following:

   1. In the top-right corner of the page, click Settings.

   2. Click Computer Management.

   3. In the "Computer Management-Server Infrastructure" section, click NetBoot Servers.

   4. Click New.

   5. Configure the settings on the pane, making sure to choose "Use default image" from the NetBoot Image pop-up menu.

   6. Click Save.

3. Click Computers at the top of the page.

4. Click Policies.

5. Click New.

6. Use the General payload to configure basic settings for the policy, including the trigger and execution frequency.

7. Select the Restart Options payload , and choose "Restart immediately" from the No Users Logged In Action or User Logged In Action pop-up menu.

8. Choose the server that is hosting the NetBoot image from the Boot Computers To pop-up menu.

9. Click the Scope tab and specify the computers you want to boot to the NetBoot image.

10. Click Save.

Target computers not booting to the NetBoot image

If target computers are not booting to the NetBoot image:

1. Identify where the failure occurred.

2. Boot the target computer in verbose mode.

   • Hold down Command-V.

   • Additional messaging will display on the computer screen at startup and help to identify the failure.

3. Ensure the server and client(s) are on the same subnet range.

4. Isolate your server and client(s) to a private network on a dumb switch.

5. Recreate the NetBoot image.

Computers failing to block copy

If block copying of the base OS fails, is skipped, or Casper Imaging begins “Installing Base OS”:

Create a base operating system using a different method. For more information, see the OS X Server: Diskless NetBoot troubleshooting article from Apple.

Casper Imaging Debug Mode

If a computer does not finish imaging, put Casper Imaging into full debug mode and contact your Technical Account Manager (TAM). Putting Casper Imaging into debug mode will help your TAM identify the issue. To put Casper Imaging into full debug mode, execute the following command when creating the NetBoot image:

sudo touch /Applications/Casper\ Suite/Casper\ Imaging.app/Contents/Support/debug

When full debug is enabled in this way, a log is created on the target computer. This log can be found in the following location:

/Library/Logs/JAMF/ImagingScripts.log

A debug log is also created on the host computer running Casper Imaging. This log can be found in the following location:

~/Library/Logs/JAMF/CasperImagingDebug.log

Logs and any screenshots of the issue are also helpful. From the target computer, the logs to provide are:

• /var/log/system.log

• /var/log/jamf.log

• /var/log/install.log

From the JAMF Software Server, the log to provide is:

/path/to/jss/logs/JAMFSoftwareServer.log