Once installed, launch the DeployStudio Assistant, which will walk you through configuring your server and your DeployStudio NetBoot sets. Nightly builds are also available, if you prefer to live on the bleeding edge. The current stable version is 1.0rc131b, but the project is updated fairly regularly with bug fixes, new features, and support for new OS X versions. This does not necessarily need to be hosted on the same server providing the NetBoot service, though it can be.įirst, you’ll need to download and install the DeployStudio package on your server. A networked file share using the AFP or NFS protocol.Apple's own documentation on setting up the NetBoot service is pretty extensive if you need help. To enable and configure it, you'll need the OS X Server Admin Tools, which are a separate download from Apple. A Mac running Lion Server and connected to your network with an Ethernet cable.Here's what you'll need to host DeployStudio: This article will focus mostly on integrating DeployStudio with NetBoot, but configuring workflows and creating and restoring images will work the same way regardless of how your back end is configured. AdvertisementĭeployStudio can actually be installed and run from any external drive large enough to hold the software, a basic OS X install, and your images and installers but the best and most convenient DeployStudio setup will use NetBoot to simplify the imaging process. If you’ve got a large number of Macs to image and not a lot of time to image them, it may just be the program you’ve been waiting for. These tools can deploy fully configured images with all of your desired programs and customizations, but if you need to make changes for individual computers or departments, you’re left to either make these changes manually or create and maintain multiple images, adding to your workload.Įnter DeployStudio, a free third-party tool that combines the convenience of NetBoot with flexible and customizable tools for automating application installs and post-configuration tasks. The System Image Utility, part of the OS X Server Admin Tools package, can capture your images, and the NetBoot service will let you apply that image to multiple Macs without the need for third-party programs or bootable media. The tools Apple builds into OS X Server are more useful for larger deployments, but they don’t make it all the way there. Software like Disk Utility or Mike Bombich’s Carbon Copy Cloner, which can copy the contents from one Mac’s hard drive to another’s, are fine for imaging individual Macs, but these tools typically don’t scale very well, and administrators will still need to perform some post-install configuration tasks manually-things like renaming computers and binding them to directories. Supporting Macs means coming up with ways to manage and configure them to run your programs and comply with your IT department’s best practices, and doing that quickly and effectively means finding ways to install pre-configured operating system images and approved applications on them. Macs are on the rise in businesses and educational institutions, and while IT managers might not like it, users are increasingly asking for more Mac support from their workplaces. iCloud for Windows 2.0: An improvement, but not much has changed.Create your own local Dropbox with AeroFS.HP's ElitePad 900 wants to bring Windows 8 to your business.Review: Free, open source VirtualBox lags behind VMware and Parallels.Take Your Kindle To Work Day? First glance at Amazon's Whispercast.
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