System image utility : creating Leopard & SL Netinstall images to share on Lion

Hi!
I have recently upgraded to Lion server from SL server, our server had 1 main purpose: host Leopard & SL Netinstall images as well as some netboot diagnostic drives.
It seems however that with a fresh install of Lion Server that trying to create a netinstall image from anything other then Lion doesnt work, even whipping out the old 10.6.3 install DVD mounts on the system but image utility shows no valid source.
i remember going from tiger sever to leopard that i could no longer make tiger images, and had to run from a tiger system to create them, but when i was running SL, i was able to share leopard images without issue.
So, is there anyway i can (without having to reinstall SL server ) i can create fresh netinstall images of 10.5 & 10.6OS's for my shiny new Lion server to share?
now unfortunatley the leopard & SL images i had previously are gone (a HDD crash giving me reason to upgrade) (yeah yeah i know, backups.. ) but i thought i would just reimage the files again as that is this servers only purpose.
Thank you kindly in advance, any help appreciated.
Richard

i know that was the case in Leopard and Snow Leopard but i just mounted a leopard image to create a new netrestore on my lion server. i was not able to boot any of my images created on Leopard or SL when running Lion Server. I assume i need to recreate the images on Lion. Right now my Lion server is using a leopard image as the source to create a netrestore i can push on the Lion server.

Similar Messages

System Image Utility - Create User - Activate Remote Management

When creating an image with system image utility, based on a DVD image instead of a cloned image, I cannot create a user and activate Remote Management.
I have created an installer package with Apple Remote Desktop that is supposed to do both, however it doesn't work. I do not get an error, but no user is created.
I have tried a post-install script however the dscl command is not recognized even if I put the path /usr/bin/dscl.
I even tried to use a popular package out there called "createUser" but that fails as well.
Has anyone had any luck with this when trying to make a moduler image with System Image Utility?
Message was edited by: NeedSomeAnswer

After configuring all the appropriate settings, I
push the "Create" button and it appears to start
working, prompts me for a location to save the actual
image itself, creates a folder with the default name
and then nothing happens.
ok here's the deal: i created a folder in my OSX server home directory labelled "images" and keep our multiple images there. although you CAN have your images on other drives or on the network, that would take a LOOOOOOOONG time to do the data transfer to the invisible netboot folder on your server. my advice: keep local copies of all images. save a ton of time for yourself, eh?
then, when it's time to use the system image suntility to load up an image, i go to that same location each time, call it up and have the app set to the prefs i want or need. i'm on 10.4.7 server and have had no problem using the software.
so try using images locally and then, if that doesn't work, upgrade to 10.4.7

Can I create a system image with System Image Utility and then transfer the image folder to another server?

I am currently in the process of creating several images to restore for classroom purposes. I am wondering if it is possible to use the System Image Utility on a computer which has Server Admin Tools installed, then transfer that image folder directly to the "NetBoot" folder on our current Apple Netboot Server. Has anyone tried this and/or succeeded? I'd like to get some feedback before attempting it myself on our college's netboot server. Thanks!

We've run into a few problems concerning this process. When we create the image on a seperate machine from the server using SIU and then place it in the NetBoot folder, not every .nbi folder created works properly. We're running into errors that say "Could not find any scan information. The source needs to be imagescanned before it can be restored". This does not happen with every image, but it does happen with computers which have a lot of programs installed on them. Is there a way to imagescan the .nbi folder and/or resolve this issue without going through the process of making a completely new NetRestore image?

System Image Utility "Create" problem

We have a new Xserve that we're finally going to be available to use for Open Directory/Net Boot/Net Install/etc in our coporate network. So, this is all new to me but I'm trying to make a Net Install image to export to the server.
My G5 workstation (Mac OS X 10.4.6, but the imaged drive has 10.4.5) has two hard drives, one of which has our corporate image of software installed on it, "clean". The other hard drive is my own with lots of extra software and customization. I'm trying to use the System Image Utility (v. 10.4.4 (251)) to create an image. I am an administrator user on my computer. After configuring all the appropriate settings, I push the "Create" button and it appears to start working, prompts me for a location to save the actual image itself, creates a folder with the default name and then nothing happens. The spinning gear would seem to indicate that the System Image Utility is doing something, but the "Create" button continues to throb blue. I can click "Create" again and another folder is created when I'm promted to save the image and it continues to remain empty. All I can do is click "Cancel" and start over.
I was quite frustrated until I logged into my computer as the local administrator user (this user is employed when we're configuring a workstation for the first time to give it the correct file sharing name and bind it to the Active Directory). Creating an image works just find while I'm logged in as the local administrator. (At least as far as creating/exporting the image, getting Net Boot to turn on the Xserve is proving a challenge.)
So, is there something preventing network administrator users from creating images? I'd really rather have my own e-mail open and running as well as my own bookmarks while I'm working on a project like this, but it doesn't seem possible. Any tips would be appreciated.
-Doug

After configuring all the appropriate settings, I
push the "Create" button and it appears to start
working, prompts me for a location to save the actual
image itself, creates a folder with the default name
and then nothing happens.
ok here's the deal: i created a folder in my OSX server home directory labelled "images" and keep our multiple images there. although you CAN have your images on other drives or on the network, that would take a LOOOOOOOONG time to do the data transfer to the invisible netboot folder on your server. my advice: keep local copies of all images. save a ton of time for yourself, eh?
then, when it's time to use the system image suntility to load up an image, i go to that same location each time, call it up and have the app set to the prefs i want or need. i'm on 10.4.7 server and have had no problem using the software.
so try using images locally and then, if that doesn't work, upgrade to 10.4.7

System Image Utility - Issues with making bootable images

During the image creation process for a Netboot, the System Image Utility reports an error. I've included the log file (everything before the removal of the bad image below).
------------Begin Log File --------------
2006-06-02 13:19:25 -0400 Initiating user authentication
2006-06-02 13:19:28 -0400 Image creation in progress
2006-06-02 13:19:28 -0400 Starting image creation
newfs_hfs:
2006-06-02 14:10:30 -0400 b=400: bitmap clump size is too small
--------------End Log File--------------------
I have no issue creating images from restore disk sets (that shipped with machines) or retail masters of various OS's. This issue seems to be related to the particular drives I am trying to create images from.
The drives that give me this error are hardwarily OK and the software works great. I can boot from these drives and have no issues with the machines imaged from them after the fact. I just want to Netboot off of these so I don't have to lug a million drives around...
Any clue?

i know that was the case in Leopard and Snow Leopard but i just mounted a leopard image to create a new netrestore on my lion server. i was not able to boot any of my images created on Leopard or SL when running Lion Server. I assume i need to recreate the images on Lion. Right now my Lion server is using a leopard image as the source to create a netrestore i can push on the Lion server.

System Image Utility 10.4.11 Gather Image Fails

Hello,
I am having some issues with an XServe with 10.4.11 using System Image Utility to try and gather an image from a 10.4.11 computer. Can anyone help?

2011-01-05 13:29:16 -0500 Mounting image to gather information
2011-01-05 13:29:19 -0500 /dev/disk5 Applepartitionscheme
/dev/disk5s1 Applepartitionmap
/dev/disk5s2 Apple_Driver43
/dev/disk5s3 AppleDriver43CD
/dev/disk5s5 AppleDriverATAPI
/dev/disk5s6 AppleDriverATAPI
/dev/disk5s7 Apple_Patches
/dev/disk5s9 Apple_HFS /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/NetInstallMacOSXCom.nbi/mnt
2011-01-05 13:29:19 -0500 Mounted image to gather information
2011-01-05 13:29:31 -0500 "disk5" unmounted.
"disk5" ejected.
2011-01-05 13:29:31 -0500 Unmounting image...
2011-01-05 13:29:31 -0500 Image editing cancelled
2011-01-05 13:29:31 -0500 Click New Install or New Boot button in the toolbar to create another image
2011-01-05 13:32:14 -0500 Initiating user authentication
2011-01-05 13:32:27 -0500 Starting image creation
created:
2011-01-05 13:50:45 -0500 /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2k11/PPCS2K11.nbi/NIUReserve dSystem.dmg
2011-01-05 13:50:47 -0500 /dev/disk5 /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2k11/PPCS2K11.nbi/mnt_blk
created:
2011-01-05 14:09:06 -0500 /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2k11/PPCS2K11.nbi/PPCS2k11.d mg
2011-01-05 14:10:06 -0500 Copying /Volumes/PPCS2K11
2011-01-05 16:23:40 -0500 installer: Package name is SIUExtras
installer: Installing onto volume mounted at /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2k11/PPCS2K11.nbi/mnt.
installer: The install was successful.
2011-01-05 16:24:18 -0500 /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2k11/PPCS2K11.nbi/mnt/System /Library/Extensions/ACard62xxM.kext/Contents/MacOS/ACard62xxM doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/Volumes/Upper-/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/Plug Ins/AppleHollywood.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleHollywood doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleMemore xCDROMDriver.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleMemorexCDROMDriver doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/CanonEOS1D. kext/Contents/MacOS/CanonEOS1D doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/initioFWBri dge.kext/Contents/MacOS/initioFWBridge doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOFireWireS erialBusProtocolSansPhysicalUnit.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOFireWireSerialBusProtocol SansPhysicalUnit doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/LSI-FW-500. kext/Contents/MacOS/LSI-FW-500 doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MKE-LF-D211 A.kext/Contents/MacOS/MKE-LF-D211A doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/MKE-SR-8171 .kext/Contents/MacOS/MKE-SR-8171 doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleStorageDrivers.kext/Contents/PlugIns/OxfordSemic onductor.kext/Contents/MacOS/OxfordSemiconductor doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/S/System/Library/Extensions/iPodDriver.kext/Contents/PlugIns/iPodSBCDriver.kext /Contents/MacOS/iPodSBCDriver doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/BSDKernel.kext/BSDKernel doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/IOKit.kext/IOKit doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Libkern.kext/Libkern doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Mach.kext/Mach doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/System6.0.kext/kernel.6.0 doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Unsupported.ke
2011-01-05 16:24:29 -0500 xt/Unsupported doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
2011-01-05 16:24:42 -0500 chown: /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2K11.nbi/mach.macosx.mkext: No such file or directory
cp:
2011-01-05 16:24:42 -0500 /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2K11.nbi/mnt/mach_kernel: No such file or directory
2011-01-05 16:24:42 -0500 cp: /Volumes/Upper-Left/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1/PPCS2K11.nbi/mnt/mach_kernel: No such file or directory
2011-01-05 16:24:44 -0500 hdid: attach failed - No such file or directory
2011-01-06 09:14:55 -0500 Unmounting image...
2011-01-06 09:14:55 -0500 Error creating Image. This image is not usable

Disk Utility: Creating a new blank image receiving "file too large" error.

Hello All!
I'm trying to create a 10GB non-encrypted, non-compressed RW blank image via the disk utility. The DU runs for a few minutes then barfs out "file too large" error. I have over 30GB free on my HDD. I tried with a smaller size of 6GB to no avail. Also tried unsuccessfully to create from a file (about 4 GB). My ultimate goal is to create a case-insensitive image to run an extremely important program needed for high priority work productivity (i.e. WoW). Thanks in advance for any advice! You will be my new best friend if you help me resolve this. =D
Hollie
"There are only 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't."

Hi Hollie, and welcome to the forums!
Have you created images before successfully?
Is this to/on your boot drive, or an external drive?
Have you done any Disk/OS maintenance lately?
We might see if there are some big temp files left or such...
How much free space is on the HD, where has all the space gone?
OmniDiskSweeper is now free, and likely the best/easiest...
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/
WhatSize...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13006/
Disk Inventory X...
http://www.derlien.com/
GrandPerspective...
http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/

Disk Utility - create ISO Data DVD image for burning?

Which are the exact options in Disk Utility that I need to select, in order to create an ISO DVD Data image that will be readable by PCs and Macs alike?
I have looked on the web and in the help but am none the wiser due to lack of an explanation of the options
Format: Mac OS Extended (journaled),...,MS-DOS (FAT)
Partitions:Single partition - Apple Partition Map,...,Single Partition CD/DVD with ISO data
If you cannot point me in the direction of some decent documentation, please just tell me which options I need to select to create an ISO Data DVD
Thanks

Try this link.
Basically, you can drag a folder into the list on the left. Then, with the folder selected, click New Disk Image from the toolbar at the top (not sure of the exact wording, but it's something along those lines). Make sure to select ISO from the pop-up menu.
Also try this article to convert a DMG to ISO.

System Image Utility 10.6.3 - fails when creating NetBoot image from DVD

System Image Utility 10.6.3, trying to create a NetBoot image from a bundled installer disc that came with a 27" Late 2009 iMac (iMac11,1). Image creation fails consistently, since the image that System Image Utility creates is only 901M.
Anyone see this before?
Don
--------- System Image Utility log ----------
Workflow Started (2010-06-16 14:03:02 -0700)
Starting action: Define Image Source
Finished running action: Define Image Source
Starting action: Create Image
Starting image creation process...
Create NetBoot Image
Initiating NetBoot from Install Media.
Creating working path at /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetBoot of Mac OS X Install DVD
Creating disk image (Size: 901 MB)
Finalizing disk image.
created: /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetBoot of Mac OS X Install DVD/NetBoot.dmg
Attaching disk image
Installing to destination volume
2010-06-16 14:03:38.126 installer[2365:6f03] Looking for system packages
2010-06-16 14:03:38.129 installer[2365:6f03] no system packages found
2010-06-16 14:03:38.130 installer[2365:6f03] No or Invalid system receipts found on /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn
2010-06-16 14:03:38.130 installer[2365:6f03] Attempting fallback using: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemMigration.framework/Resources/FallbackS ystemFiles.plist
2010-06-16 14:03:38.175 installer[2365:6f03] Finding system files...
2010-06-16 14:03:38.619 installer[2365:6f03] Writing system path cache.
2010-06-16 14:03:38.623 installer[2365:6f03] Error writing cache to /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn/Library/Caches/com.apple.FindSystemFiles.plist
2010-06-16 14:03:38.625 installer[2365:6f03] Failed to enumerate /tmp/mnt.LjFArn/Library/Caches, cannot prune (
"com.apple.userpictureCache"
installer: Package name is Mac OS X
installer: Installing at base path /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn
installer: The install failed (There is not enough space on this disk to install the selected items. Deselect at least 6.46 GB and try again.)
Script is done.
NetBoot creation failed.
Image creation process finished...
Stopping image creation.
Image creation failed.

Brian Nesse wrote:
Hi Don, here's my guess...
The 901 number is additional space added in the scripts. This indicates that the source image size was 0.
Since you are making a NetBoot from Install media, under the covers the installer process is being run to create a NetBoot volume. The media shipped with the 27" iMac is most likely CPU specific and thus the installation fails because you are trying to create the image (i.e. install the system) on an unsupported CPU.
In order to produce a NetBoot from the install media, you'll have to create it on the 27" iMac.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the response. This makes perfect sense. I'll give this a try and shout back!
Thanks,
Don

System Image Utility - Takes FOREVER

13 hours ago, I asked System Image Utility 10.5 to create a NetInstall image of a 75GB Leopard partition. It's only 40% done. It's definately working on it (ie the percentages increase) but this seems ridiculous.
Source System: iMac 20" Intel Core Duo 2. In Target Disk Mode connected to a MacBook Pro running leopard client with Server Tools downloaded from Apple's site.
Both systems, Leopard retail.
Image is being saved to an attached USB drive (attached to the Macbook Pro).
Any ideas why this is so slow?
Thanks
Woody

Looking at my System log, it appears the image creation took 4 hours 13 minutes (I started it as I left work). More interesting errors:
Nov 1 18:19:45 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7963]: Assistant - Selected source:"NetBoot of Macintosh HD 1".
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Assistant - Selected source:"NetBoot of Macintosh HD 1".
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Enable or Disable Tracks” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Export Movies” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Hint Movies” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “New Audio Capture” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “New Video Capture” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Pause Capture” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Play Movies” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Start Capture” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Stop Capture” could not be loaded because QuickTime Pro is required.
Nov 1 18:20:32 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: The action “Show Growl Notification” could not be loaded because the file “/Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane” was not found.
Nov 1 18:20:33 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Could not find image named 'splitterHandle'.
Nov 1 18:21:55 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Workflow Started
Nov 1 18:21:55 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Starting action: Define Image Source
Nov 1 18:21:55 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Finished running action: Define Image Source
Nov 1 18:21:55 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Starting action: Create Image
Nov 1 18:22:00 host-46-132 KernelEventAgent[52]: tid 00000000 received unknown event (256)
Nov 1 18:22:00 host-46-132 authexec[7985]: executing /Applications/Server/System Image Utility.app/Contents/Library/Automator/Create Image.action/Contents/Resources/bridge
Nov 1 18:22:00 host-46-132 bridge[7985]: Bridge is launching external task.
Nov 1 18:22:00 host-46-132 [0x0-0x2d52d5].com.apple.server.SystemImageUtility[7973]: 2007-11-01 18:22:00.668 bridge[7985:913] Bridge is launching external task.
Nov 1 18:22:01 host-46-132 hdiejectd[7993]: running
Nov 1 18:22:02 host-46-132 com.apple.KernelEventAgent[52]: KernelEventAgent: sysctl_queryfs: No such file or directory
Nov 1 18:22:02 host-46-132 kernel[0]: hfs: Initializing the journal (joffset 0x76000 sz 0x800000)...
Nov 1 18:22:19 host-46-132 diskarbitrationd[59]: DiskManagementTool [7982]:50079 not responding.
Nov 1 18:22:28 host-46-132 com.apple.launchd[399] (0x10f130.Locum[8005]): Exited: Terminated
Nov 1 18:22:35 host-46-132 diskarbitrationd[59]: DiskManagementTool [7982]:50783 not responding.
Nov 1 18:22:35 host-46-132 hdiejectd[8006]: running
Nov 1 18:22:35 host-46-132 KernelEventAgent[52]: tid 00000000 received unknown event (256)
Nov 1 18:22:36 host-46-132 kernel[0]: hfs: disabling journaling for mount @ 0x98df000
Nov 1 21:40:40 host-46-132 kernel[0]: hfs: Initializing the journal (joffset 0x75 sz 0x800000)...
Nov 1 21:40:42 host-46-132 notifyd[12]: EV_DELETE failed for file watcher 65
Nov 1 21:40:43 host-46-132 kextd[10]: couldn't respond to filesystem change notification!
Nov 1 21:40:44: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Nov 1 21:40:44 host-46-132 hdiejectd[8278]: running
Nov 1 21:57:53 host-46-132 hdiejectd[8313]: running
Nov 1 21:57:53 host-46-132 KernelEventAgent[52]: tid 00000000 received unknown event (12)
Nov 1 22:23:49 host-46-132 hdiejectd[8359]: running
Nov 1 22:23:52 host-46-132 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.hdiejectd): Throttling respawn: Will start in 7 seconds
Nov 1 22:24:03 host-46-132 hdiejectd[8373]: running
Nov 1 22:24:07 host-46-132 fseventsd[56]: log dir: /Users/ben/Documents/Generic 10.5 (beta)/mnt/.fseventsd getting new uuid: 275BD72D-8EED-4DC8-8A05-D7035EA72B5D
Nov 1 22:32:44 host-46-132 bridge[7985]: Bridge finished
Nov 1 22:32:44 host-46-132 [0x0-0x2d52d5].com.apple.server.SystemImageUtility[7973]: 2007-11-01 22:32:44.644 bridge[7985:913] Bridge finished
Nov 1 22:32:45 host-46-132 System Image Utility[7973]: Failed to create image from script createNetRestore.sh.
Nov 1 22:32:46 host-46-132 KernelEventAgent[52]: tid 00000000 received unknown event (256)
Nov 1 22:33:23 host-46-132 fseventsd[56]: Events arrived for /Users/ben/Documents/Generic 10.5 (beta)/mnt after an unmount request! Re-initializing.

System Image Utility is locking up entire server

22GB image, trying to build a NetInstall image, 2GB of RAM in brand new xServes.
About 5 minutes into image creation, everything locks up, all services halt. Tried 2 separate xServes.
I have a dozen Mac Pro towers to deploy, i have installed everything we need on one workstation. CLeaned everything, repaired permissions, etc... I have tried this from an image, from firewire... Nothing makes any difference. NetInstall not looking too usable.

Are there any crash logs? Or anything informative in the system log? If you open the log window in SIU (and run it in full debug logging) what's the last thing displayed?
You could try copying the SIU application to a different system. You don't need to run it on the Xserve.

NetInstall Image PARTIALLY working

I have a problem which is driving me batty!
I have used NetInstall to create an image that was put together using a G5 Imac as the computer booting from an external firewire drive. The computer boots normally when using this firewire as its boot device. This same FW drive will boot a IMac G3 normally. When I use this same FW drive to supply an image for NetInstall, it creates the image just like always. Here is where it gets interesting.
When I try to install this image using NetInstall on either a G3 Imac or a G4 PowerPC, the imaging process starts normally (Block World, Spinning World, Spinning Gear, Install window) and then it goes to h*! The install bar indicated that the image requires 7.8 Gig, which is no problem for the 40 Gig drive or bigger depending on the particular system, and the bar starts across the window. In a matter of maybe 20 seconds the bar has made it to the halfway point and after 30 or so more seconds, it ends with the "completed but there were errors, please try again". The normal image process would take maybe 30 or 40 minutes on the IMac.
The image is set to erase the hard drive before installing the image. It completes this since when I take a look at the drive after the failed install it is completely empty and has its name changed from Macintosh HD to SIU_Image.
When I try the image created a few months ago, the process proceeds normally to a completly installed image. This was the image installed on the FW drive and then the various updates were installed. The new image has all the current Apple, Adobe, Text Wrangler, MS Office and other updates installed. It also has the new Apple remote Desktop 3 client software installed. (The original image had ARD 2.2, and 10.4.4 software)
The system used to supply the image is an IMac G5 running 10.4.6 Server with 1 Gig RAM and 100 Gig HD. The various clients are anywhere from an IMac G3, 512 Meg RAM & 40 Gig HD on up to a G5 Power PC with 2 Gig Ram and 100 Gig HD.
When I tried installing the older image, it installed normally once I told it to use the HD named SIU-Image (as it was renamed by the aborted NetInstall). It is normally used in an automated install to a HD named Macintosh HD.
The changes in the new image (ARD 3.0, 10.4.6, various security Updates etc.) seem to have generated some problem with writing to the hard drive. Use or non use of the machine renaming file in the sharing prefs does not seem to have any tie in to the problem. One other change which was done to the new image was that "Machine Renamer was removed from this image since I finally got Apples sharing pref name file to work (with the help of some people on the Discussion Forum). I would think that if this were the problem, the FW Boot would not work so I dont think that is the problem.
Another side point is that when the aborted install ask to restart, it will not restart. I have to go up and exit the Net Installer before the restart will take place.
With the abscence of any logs on the install system and no indication of problems evident on the netinstall logsat least as referenced to the install of the image that did work, I am at a loss. The one thing I did notice was that in the NBI folder the old (still working) image had an empty folder named "mnt" that was not in the new images nbi folder. The only other difference I saw was that the plist files for the old image had a slightly different ordered list for disabled systems but all the same systems still appeared to be present, just moved around. Incidentally, the image was set to work on all Apple systems in both the working (older) and non-working (newer) image.
Anybody have a hint, suggestion or thought about what is going on?

Sequence of images created and results obtained.
I used my most current, at that time, image to update all software, having ARD 3 client software installed, both Apple and Non-apple programs fully updated, optimized it (using Onyx) and created a new Net Install image with fully automated setting using the sharing preferences to name the imaged systems. This is the image which failed to install. This image was created on an external Firewire drive.
I tried again, creating an second image from the same system as above think that perhaps this image failed somehow during the creation process. The results were the same.
I tried booting the systems which were being imaged using the external Firewire drive and the systems booted normally.
I then used Carbon Copy Cloner to install the image from the FW drive to the hard drive of the client system. The image installed and booted normally.
My next try was to create an image, using the previous (pre ARD 3, pre updates post January 06) again using the external FW drive. This image created normally and installed ALMOST normally. It was set to automatically restart at the completion of the install but auto restart failed to occur. Manually forcing a restart worked and the imaged system booted normally using the new image. The restart process shows the Finish window with a restart button. Clicking the button causes the button to "gray out" but nothing else. I have to go to the Network Installer menu and exit the IN. This brings up the startup disk window. Selecting the newly imaged HD, clicking Restart and confirming the Restart then restarts the system in the normal manner on the HD.
I then used this base image, installed all current updates EXCEPT ARD 3 (the image remained at ARD 2.2) on an external FW drive. Created the new Netinstall image and then imaged a client system. The client system installed normally again EXCEPT for the automatic restart. A manual restart was done and the system then booted normally using the newly installed image.
My last try was this same image (all current updates) but with ARD 3 installed. The results were the same as the ARD 2.2 image. Normal install but a failure to do the automatic restart. Operation, on the HD, was normal following the manual restart.
As it stands now, the auto restart function is the problem area. Since I am doing the image install remotely but I have to manually go to the systems to do the restart (ARD will not recognize the systems till after the restart) the usefulness of this remote netinstall is substantially reduced.
The only thing that I have not done with the latest image (all updates including ARD 3) is run it through the ONYX optimization and clean up routines. Since it works up to this point other than the restart issue, I would suspect, but have not tried it to confirm my suspicions, that something in the ONYX program "confuses" the client hard drive when Netinstall is used. This same "confusion" does not occur when using an external FW drive to boot from or when using Carbon Copy Cloner to install the image on the hard drive of the client system.
I hope that this provides you with some help. Right now the major problem is the lack of an auto restart or the ability of ARD to recognize the drive till after the restart.
If I get a chance, I will try to use Onyx to optimize the image on the FW and cut a net Netinstall image to see if the same failure to install problem occurs. This may not happen for several days since I am tied up with other projects at present.

Problems getting Acronis True Image Home 2010 to find my image files.

I have recently purchased this A505-S6005 laptop and it has been nothing but a pain in the pretty much ever since I got it. Recently I have tried to roll back to a previous system image I created with Acronis True Image Home 2010 but am unsuccessful everytime I make the attempt.
Everytime I try to recover from the previous image which I have saved on a external drive I get an error message "Cannot find any hard disk drives" upon startup of the Acronis recovery manager. I get this problem no matter which way I go around it either from the boot cd that I created or directly from Windows and the Acronis software.
I simply cannot restore from my image file no matter how hard i try to get it to work.
Does anyone else have these issues with Acronis True Image 2010?

Satellite A505-S6005
Best to post in the Acronis forums.
-Jerry

System Imaging Utility + Scripts to create a Netinstall

I need everyone's help on this one!
We have an Xserve G5 server that is running Leopard Server 10.5.2. What we want to be able to do is Netinstall Windows’s script to image a drive on a dual boot Mac Pro, meaning partition the drive for Mac and Windows. Currently Netinstall only supports Tiger dual boot it won't work on Leopard. I'm not sure when Bombich will be releasing this on his web site for Leopard. However, is there a script that will work with Windows using the System Imaging Utility that is in Leopard?
Can someone please give me the steps to do?
Thank you
Phil

I know this is kinda old but netrestore has been updated so i think you should be set now

Error creating a netboot image with System Image Utility

Hi all !
I am trying to create a NetBoot image from my Panther CD, to boot an old iBook.
I am using System Image Utility version 10.4.11.
I can create a NetInstall image, but when I create a NetBoot image SIU give me an error.
I looked in the logs and I can see the error is generated by the script Applications/Server/System Image Utility.app/Contents/Resources/.preinstall
This command is the culprit:
/usr/sbin/installer -verbose -lang 'eng' -pkg '/Volumes/Mac OS X Install Disc 1/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg' -target /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/PantBoot3.nbi/mnt -_multiDiscPath /tmp/siuInstallExtras
The error is (as seen in the logs):
This package requires authentication to install.
If I take the command and run it in the terminal using sudo it goes thru, but gives another error:
installer: Cannot install on volume /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/PantBoot3.nbi/mnt because it is disabled.
installer: Mac OS X cannot start up from this volume.
Is this thing supposed to work ?? It seems to me SIU is buggy.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards
Mike

I'm not digging the new SIU at all yet. Maybe I'll get used to it in time. I couldn't get it to accept a Tiger 10.4.6 Install disc the other day to build a NetInstall. Don't know if I was doing something wrong or if it was instinctively rejecting it because I was doing something unsupported.
I miss NetRestore. I think Mike wants use to use Automator... but I want NetRestore's automated Multicast ASR and Windows image restore. It would take a lot of work to match Mike's shrink-wrapped solution.
Speaking of NetRestore, its creator Mike Bombich advises against use CCC for mass deployment. This may include what you're doing. It's really a backup tool, but unfortunately a lot of people got into the habit of using it for creating deployment images and these often have problems. It's the best tool for create images that you will deploy onto multiple Macs.

System image utility : creating Leopard & SL Netinstall images to share on Lion

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