How to (freshly) install Lion on a headless Xserve

Dear all,
I'm writing here as I'd need some help on how to install Lion on a headless Xserve.
The Xserve has a static IP address, a DNS name and it is able to connect to the Internet. In order to install the OS on it I booted the machine from a self-made Lion DVD (connecting a keyboard and keeping the 'c' key pressed during the boot) and took remote control over it through another computer - on the same subnetwork - running ARD. So far, so good. The server can be pinged, ssh-ed, and the remote control via ARD works fine (blank username and the server serial number as password). I managed to erase the HD (which, of course, was previously backed up) and to launch the Lion installation. The installation seemed to go alright, until, at the end of it, ARD disconnected (I guess that happened because the installer forces a reboot at that stage). From that point onwards I'm not able to do anything else on the server. The machine can still be pinged, but no ports appear to be open. I can't therefore SSH the server and I can't access it through ARD or any alternative VNC client.
I've repeated the entire procedure twice, ending up with the very same results. My feeling is that the installation is waiting for some input by me (maybe it is stuck at the "select language/keyboard layout" stage?), but I don't know how to provide it. Of course I may be wrong and the problem being something completely different.
Please consider that the target machine doesn't have any graphics card installed at all, thus the option of connecting a monitor to it has to be excluded.
Would be absolutely lovely if someone could give me a hint!
PS: apologies for the cross-posting. I originally posted this message in the general Mac OS X 10.7 section, before realising it would have been more appropriate here.
Cheers,
Fabio

Thanks for your reply, Strontium. Unfortunately I'm quite confident about that Xserve not having any graphics facility. I manage 4 Xserve machine for my lab and, when we ordered them, I remember that we specifically asked for having graphics cards installed on only two of them. The other 2 servers (those, supposedly, headless) came with their DisplayPort closed by a plastic cap. To be fair I've never tried to plug anything on them but I would be EXTREMELY surprised (and feel amazingly stupid) in case something appears on a monitor (despite Wikipedia which seems to back your thought)!

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Install Lion on a headless Xserve machine

Dear all,
I'm writing here as I'd need some help on how to install Lion on a headless Xserve.
The Xserve has a static IP address, a DNS name and it is able to connect to the Internet. In order to install the OS on it I booted the machine from a self-made Lion DVD (connecting a keyboard and keeping the 'c' key pressed during the boot) and took remote control over it through another computer - on the same subnetwork - running ARD. So far, so good. The server can be pinged, ssh-ed, and the remote control via ARD works fine (blank username and the server serial number as password). I managed to erase the HD (which, of course, was previously backed up) and to launch the Lion installation. The installation seemed to go alright, until, at the end of it, ARD disconnected (I guess that happened because the installer forces a reboot at that stage). From that point onwards I'm not able to do anything else on the server. The machine can still be pinged, but no ports appear to be open. I can't therefore SSH the server and I can't access it through ARD or any alternative VNC client.
I've repeated the entire procedure twice, ending up with the very same results. My feeling is that the installation is waiting for some input by me (maybe it is stuck at the "select language/keyboard layout" stage?), but I don't know how to provide it. Of course I may be wrong and the problem being something completely different.
Please consider that the target machine doesn't have any graphics card installed at all, thus the option of connecting a monitor to it has to be excluded.
Would be absolutely lovely if someone could give me a hint!
Cheers,
Fabio

Linc,
resurrecting this thread, as I'm having an absolute heck of a time for days, trying to get my early 2009 xserve back online with a clean install of ML. This thread was enormously helpful, but my problem is just slightly different. My ML install finished but I cannot see it because I have no video card. But my problem is that I cannot get to the XServe via SSH, Screen Sharing, nothing. The box acquired a DHCP IP on eth0 just fine, and I can ping it from anywhere on my network, but the SSH service and VNC, etc. are NOT running, so I cannot connect anyway. I have a perfect install of ML sitting there, I just can't reach the box to do anything to it! I do have LOM addres on Port1 and it responds to ping also, but I cannot manage it through that IP, right? I am thinking I may have to use the serial port to get on the CLI and restart some things. BTW, the obvious idea is to boot back into Target Mode, and mount the firewire from another mac. No problem, that's actually how I got this far. But the problem is that when I launch like System Pref's, Network, from the host computer, it is showing me the host computer's network info, not the mounted Firewire xServe's settings. Is there some raw file I could manipulate on the drive (xServe boot drive), that would affect the assignment of a static IP, or better yet, just start up the SSH service so I can log in. I've tried changing System Pref's, Sharing, but it obviously didn't take, as SSH is not actually running on the box right now.
Thoughts kind sir?

How do I install lion on multiple family computers?

How do I install lion on multiple family computers?

Once you have purchased Lion for download via the App store, you can repeat the process with each computer and the App store will indicate that you have already purchased it and will ask you if you want to download and install it on each computer.

How do I install Lion on more than one Mac

How do I install Lion on more than one Mac? As I have a MacBook Pro and a iMac?

Purchase Lion on one of the machines.
Log in to the MAS with the other machine, using the same Apple ID you originally bought Lion with. Go to the Purchased Tab and Lion should be available for download. It should say Install.
It's possible that you will be asked for credit information as a form of verifying who you are.

How do I install Lion on new flash drive?

How do I install Lion on new flash drive?

For an emergency pocket size boot device?
Or something else?
Or, do you want to setup the Lion Installer for clean or reinstalls on flash memory card, which is what many use?
Create an OS X Lion Install disc
OS X Lion Install to Different Drive
How to create an OS X Lion installation disc MacFixIt
Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc
http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/how-to-make-a-bootable-osx-10-8-mountain-lio n-disc-or-drive-from-the-downloaded-mountain-lion-app/
USB on Intel Macs has always supported booting, that is what MacBook users have had to deal with. With a Mac Pro you have four internal drive bays, Firewire, and all of those are more suited and capable.
Old thread, never die do they.

We are a small design studio how do we install lion on all machines

We are a small design studio with 8 imacs. How do we install Lion on all 8. Do we have to download the installer 8 times! at 4gb a download that is a lot of bandwidth. Or can one person sign in to the App store and download then distribute to all 8 machines?
Any advice greatly appreciated.

You might want to peruse the licensing agreement for Lion, available here:
http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/
I have absolutely no experience with commercial or volume licensing; but, as a business, you might want to pay special attention to para. 2B and C. The terms are not the same as they are for a single user.

I own two i macs. I bought and installed Lion on one computer. How can I install Lion on the other computer without additional charge?

I own two I macs. I bought and installed Lion on one computer. How can I install Lion on the other compute without additional charge?

If it's the same email address Apple registration on both, use the 2nd computer and go to the App Store and find Lion. If different, use the second computer but log in to the App store with the address you used on the first go round. The buy button should instead say install. Then go through the same process again.

How do I install lion and format the hard drive?

How do I install lion and format the hard drive, as though this was a new mac.

If your Mac is a 2011 model and originally came with Lion Pre-Installed by Apple then you can use the Internet Recovery HD system to Wipe/Erase the Complete drive and Re-Install Lion.
If it is an older model, even and early 2011 model, that did NOT come with Lion Pre-Installed by Apple you can not sell or give it away with Lion installed on it. You have to install the original version of OS X on it.

How do I install lion on a macbook pro that has a MBR instead of GUID.

Not sure how that happened. Maybe when I installed parallels and Windows XP, but Lion apparently requires a GUID partition. I've backed up and copied all important files to an external drive. If I reformat the drive for GUID how do I restore Leopard so I can then upgrade to Lion. I lost me original disks. Can I make a boot disk from the current OS?

As you know you must install OS X on a GUID partitioned, Mac OS Extended, Journaled drive. You do not need to reinstall Snow Leopard in order to install Lion if you have a copy of the Lion installer. If you don't have a copy of the installer then I suggest you re-download Lion but save the installer on your external drive. Here's how you do that:
Download Lion Again Without Installing Snow Leopard First
There's an easy method to force a download within the Mac App Store without any tinkering. It seems to be the official method, although I found no description of this in any of Apple's documentation.
So here's how to do it:
Open the Mac App Store.
Navigate to your Purchased page.
Hold down the Option key on your keyboard and click on your 'OS X Lion' purchase link (not on the 'installed' button).
You see the Lion product page. It should say 'Installed,' but that button is clickable. Hold down the Option key again and click on 'Installed.' If you don't hold the option key it will tell you there's already a newer version installed.
Enter your login credentials.
Download.
It's important to hold down the Option key twice. Once on the Purchased page, once on the Lion page. You also can't navigate to Lion directly, you need to open it from the purchases page. But if you follow this procedure you should find the Lion Installer within your Applications folder.
Now, make yourself a bootable DVD or USB flash drive for installing Lion:
Make Your Own Lion Installer
1. After downloading Lion you must first save the Install Mac OS X Lion application. After Lion downloads DO NOT click on the Install button. Go to your Applications folder and make a copy of the Lion installer. Move the copy into your Downloads folder. Now you can click on the Install button. You must do this because the installer deletes itself automatically when it finishes installing Lion.
2. Get a USB flash drive that is at least 8 GBs. Prep this flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
3. Locate the saved Lion installer in your Downloads folder. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on the installer and select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu. Double-click on the Contents folder to open it. Double-click on the SharedSupport folder. In this folder you will see a disc image named InstallESD.dmg.
4. Plug in your freshly prepared USB flash drive. You are going to clone the InstallESD.dmg disc image to the flash drive as follows:
Open Disk Utility.
Select the USB flash drive from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the USB flash drive volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Drag the InstallESD.dmg disc image file into the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
When the clone is completed you have a fully bootable Lion installer that you can use without having to re-download Lion.

How do I install Lion on my new iMac from a recovery thumb drive?

Anyone know how to install Lion from a recovery copy? It's made from the copy on my MacBook Pro on a thumb drive.

Are you saying that you copied your system or installer from your laptop onto a thumb drive?
Please be specific: you really can't copy the recovery partition by itself because it's hidden - you can use Apple's recovery assistant to create a bootable startup on a thumb drive with which you can boot your system and then download/install. But, I believe that method requires the same machine ID to work.
IF you have the full installer, you need to boot up from another drive (the installer may not be bootable) and then direct it to another Mac.
So where do you want to install it? And exactly what is it that you have on that thumb drive?
If you just want to install Lion on another Mac, you can simply download a fresh copy from MAS.

How to re-install lion

The other day, an auto update of Safari and one other app proceeded. After reboot, I could bot log in. I rebooted in safe mode, and logged. Now my machine won't open most apps, and the screen re-freshed every few seconds, and is unbelievably slo. It is basically unusable. How do I re-install Lion?

How do I re-install Lion?
1. Boot into Recovery HD (Hold ⌘R on Boot)
2. Select Reinstall OS X Lion

Erased startup & Recovery disks, how to re-install Lion?

My Macbook Air shipped with Lion. I was trying to do a wipe and fresh install of Lion becuase my Air was running super slowly. I accidentally did erased the entire bootable disk which was alraedy running Lion 10.7, including the Recovery partition.
I want to reinstall Lion and I know about booting into Recovery mode, but since the Recovery partition was erased and obviously isn't detected on boot, how can I reinstall?
Command-R doesn't let me connect and redownload Lion from the App Store, I only get a grey screen with a folder-? when I boot...
Help!!

One thing I definitely ought to have mentioned: the way I erased the HD was by booting from a Snow Leopard disk, running Disk Util, and erasing/formatting the Macintosh HD at the top-level (below in red).
Note: the image is a random one I edited off google and my drive is a 150GB SSD that only displayed a single partition.

How do I install Lion on a bare drive?

When major OS versions are released I wipe a drive completely and install the new OS and my apps. I do not use Migration assistant. I install clean.. from scratch. Over the years this has helped maintain a very stable OS and eliminated 90% of slowdowns, reinstalls, and troubleshooting.
But.. how do I do that with Lion? I do not want to install 10.6. I want to use a bare drive and install 10.7.
Do I download 10.7 burn the download to disc then use that? Will the download allow burning a boot disc?
Thanks!

BackupLionBootable 10.7 Disk
Purchaseanddownload Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatibleMacrunning Snow Leopard.
Right click on “Mac OS X     Lion”     installer and choose the option to     “Show Package Contents.”
Inside the Contents folder     that     appears you will find a SharedSupport     folder and inside the     SharedSupport folder     you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is         the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
Copy “InstallESD.dmg” to         another folder like the Desktop.
Launch Disk Utility and click     the     burn button.
Select the copied “InstallESD.dmg” as the image to     burn,     insert a standard sized 4.7 GB DVD,     and wait for your new Lion Boot     Disc to come     out toasty hot.
With this disc you can boot any Lion compatible Mac, andinstall10.7 just like you installed previous version of Mac OS X. Youcaneven use Disk Utility's Restore function to image your Lion bootdiscimage onto a external drive suitable for performing a cleaninstallon a optical-drive-less MacBook Air, or Mac mini server.
Installing Lion clean
How will customers perform a clean     upgrade of Lion?
And how will IT departments install Lion across multiple     Macs?
The answer to these questions is a MacFirst Aid Kit, a specially formatted external hard drive thatcontains the required operating system and software to install Liononto any compatible Mac. All it takes is seven easy steps.
Purchase and download Lion from     the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Mac running Snow Leopard.
Right click on “Mac OS X Lion”     installer and choose the option to “Show Package Contents.”
Inside the Contents folder that     appears you will find a SharedSupport folder and inside the     SharedSupport folder you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is     the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
Launch Disk Utility and go     straight to the restore tab. Drag “InstallESD.dmg” the Source     field, and drag your external hard drive from the left side of the     Disk Utility window into the Destination field. Check Erase     Destination, and begin your restore. (It goes without saying this     process will erase everything on your external hard drive.)
Once Disk Utility's restoration is     complete you will be the proud owner of a Mac Frist Aid Kit capable     of booting and installing Lion clean. Test out your creation by     restarting any Lion compatible Mac while holding the option key, and     choose Mac OS Install ESD as the startup volume.
Once booted from the Lion enabled     partition on your external drive ou will have the opportunity to run     Disk Utility and erase your Mac's primary hard drive. From the Erase     tab select your Mac's primary hard drive and choose “Mac OS     Extended (Journaled)” as the format. Before you erase the drive     confirm you have a known good backup then click Erase…
With your Mac's primary hard drive wiped clean it is now time     to begin installing Lion. Quit Disk Utility to go back to the Lion     installer. Choose your Mac's primary hard drive as the destination,     and continue.
When the installation process is complete your Mac will have aclean copy of Lion installed on its primary hard drive, and you willhave an Mac First Aid Kit suitable for installing Lion on other Macsin the future.
Shipping software costs money, burns fuel, and requires a trip tothe store. By releasing Lion exclusively though the Mac App StoreApple is saving money, reducing its carbon footprint, and giving itscustomers convenience. Customers who own a MacBook Air or Mac miniserver will benefit most from the lack of installation media becauseApple saw it fit to ship these computers without a built-in opticaldrive. Performing a clean install of Lion is not required, but withan external hard drive it is easy to do across multiple Macs.
http://eggfreckles.net/tech/installing-lion-clean/

How do I install Lion on an MBP with Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Boot Camp'd XP and a Master Boot Record?

I think this is called "a pickle."
The machine is a 13" MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo w/ 4 GB RAM and a 500 GB HDD.
The HDD has a Snow Leopard 10.6.8 partition, and a Windows XP partition, via Boot Camp. Its Partition Map Scheme, sadly, is a Master Boot Record. I need to reformat it to a GUID Partition Table scheme to install Lion, but when I attempt to boot it from the Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD to wipe the drive, it grey-screens. Dead end.
From what I can gather on the forums, I can't boot a 10.6.8 machine using a Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD. I can't find my grey DVDs for this machine – still looking for those – but I expect those won't work either, being Leopard-generation?
The machine works fine, for the most part, including the optical drive. Has occassional display and wake glitches. Its HDD is backed up on a Drobo via Time Machine. I also have a 15" MBP Core i7 (with the exact same problem: 10.6.8, XP, MBR) which I can use for Target Disk Mode via FireWire. If I try to wipe the HDD on the 13", using Disk Utility on the 15" via Target Disk Mode, will the 13" then boot successfully from the Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD?
I just want to wipe the 13" machine, reinstall a fresh copy of Snow Leopard, then update it to Lion and restore from Time Machine, and never touch anything Windows-related ever again. (And then do the same for my 15", for which I've found my 10.6.3 grey disc. Not sure if that's any more promising.)
Any help appreciated!

Sounds like something is wrong with your disk. Have you tried cleaning it?
The Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD is fine – it mounts on both my 13" and 15", and I successfully created an image of it on my 15". I also tried my wife's Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD, also clean, which produced the same grey screen result.
Have you tried to use boot camp to erase the Windows partition?
Yep, this is supposed to be the proper way to remove a Windows XP partition from Boot Camp, so this was the first thing I tried. I get the same error as everyone with a Master Boot Record scheme appears to get:
The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.
Back up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again.
So, if I can't launch the Disk Utility from the Snow Leopard DVD, my next best guess is wiping it from my 15" over Target Disk Mode. However, if I try that, and still can't get it to boot from the Snow Leopard 10.6.0 DVD, then I'm stuck with an MBP without an OS.
My conclusion – that 10.6.0 DVDs can't boot to 10.6.8 machines – was based on forum posts about downgrading from Lion. I was wondering if there's a way to create a "10.6.8 restore DVD," and try booting from that. Shot in the dark perhaps.

How do I install Lion on a newly erased hard drive?

I used every trick on the internet including command R and bupkis. After 3 days I repaired the drive using my macpro as a Target and my iMac with Lion to do the repair. Nada. I have erased the drive completely and need to know how to install Lion. My Mac Pro is an intel based 2.56 GHz duo core. One of the older towers.
Thanks.

You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.

How to (freshly) install Lion on a headless Xserve

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