Apple (iMac) imaging noob here - any help/advice?
I've deployeod over 5,000 Windows 7 machines with our K2000 in the past 2 years, and everything is pretty solid there. However, we are going to get about 80 iMacs in this year, and I have no clue where to begin. We're a K-12 organization, and will be putting them in labs, if that matters.
Any suggestions? I'm used to sysprep, MSI files, etc...but have no clue what the equivelant for Apple is, and if there is a way to automate scripting/imaging and setup for OSX. Ideally, there will be some basic software:
-Office
-Flash/Java/Shockwave/AIR/etc
-Acrobat
-Adobe Creative Suite 6.5
-they will probably want some other software such as garage band, etc, which may require an Apple ID.
Any suggestions on how to do this? Any tutorials that are easy to follow? I'm not big on linux/unix/shell commands, so I'm pretty much a noob in this sector - but I'm in charge of figuring it out in the next 2 months.
Thanks =)
Answers (4)
This should help: http://www.itninja.com/blog/view/capture-deploy-a-mac-image-from-start-to-finish-in-k2000-version-3-4
You might want to check out
K1000 KKE's: https://support.software.dell.com/k1000-systems-management-appliance/kb?k=KKE
You need to upload a netboot for the os you are using. You can capture a machine as the master to many others, they will not need any special syspreping since they do not have the SID problem like a W7 machine has. I am a windows specialist but have found MAC imaging easier then windows less hassles. You want to create a generic apple ID for updates and this will also allow you to use ard to get to these machines via the apple id to make changes like admin PW and such
A couple important pieces of info:
- Only build netboot environments that match the version of OS X running on the technician machine. For example, only build 10.8 netboot environments from a machine running 10.8, only build 10.6 environments on a system running 10.6, etc.
- You probably only need one netboot environment. A 10.8 environment will take care of drivers for all Macs manufactured within the last couple of years. No need for driver feeds.
- You cannot netboot across subnets unless you a) setup ip forwarding or b) bless the Mac. I have had a great amount of success using Bombich's free tool: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Network-Admin/NetBoot-Across-Subnets.shtml
- Deploying software via command line is generally very easy:
K1000 KKE's: https://support.software.dell.com/k1000-systems-management-appliance/kb?k=KKE - Here is a guide I helped write on "sysprep" for a Mac: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2azflp6t4ooin1e/Advance%20Mac%20Image%20Creation%20v2.pdf
