#How to netboot mac install#
#How to netboot mac download#
#How to netboot mac free#

Open up System Preferences, and choose Startup Disk. Now go to a computer on the same subnet as your NetBoot machine (weвЂ™ll call this one the Client). This image, if itвЂ™s not already there, belongs in /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0.

#How to netboot mac install#

You can also create one from a bootable disk (like your OS X install disk).

#How to netboot mac download#

The easiest way (especially if you plan on using it for imaging) would be to download DeployStudio, and follow the instructions on making a netboot image. Once youвЂ™ve run the script, you need to create a NetBoot image to test it with. Next, you need to run the script as root:ДЄnd then the script should execute. To run these scripts, first make sure theyвЂ™re executable:ДЇrom Terminal, CD to the directory youвЂ™ve saved the script to, and type chmod 777 netboot105.sh (or netboot104.sh) Netboot 10.6 script (This is just a test script right now. If you experience any trouble with them (or even if you donвЂ™t), let me know:

#How to netboot mac free#

IвЂ™ve tested them both and they work to my knowledge, but they are provided free and as-is. IвЂ™ve included two shell scripts that will setup your machine more or less effortlessly, but IвЂ™m going to take the rest of this article to outline whatвЂ™s being done (thanks to Adam Knight at Mac Geekery, as well as Armagon, who wrote the 10.5 script).ДЄs with anything you download from the internet, be careful with these scripts. If youвЂ™re using the client version of OS X, itвЂ™s a little trickier weвЂ™ve got files and folders to make, services to start and configure. IвЂ™m sure thereвЂ™s more to it, but I just like to imagine a nice button that says вЂњEnable NetBootвЂќ right there in System Preferences. Normally, all of the configuration needed to get NetBoot going smoothly is taken care of by the Server. While this technology certainly has other uses, itвЂ™s quite useful for imaging machines because it frees up the internal harddrive to be written to/from, without having to either boot the machine into Target mode or otherwise physically move the machine. Simply, NetBoot allows your Mac to boot over the network, from an external image stored elsewhere. If youвЂ™re reading this article, you probably already have an idea of what NetBoot is. Fortunately for us, all of the functionality is still in the regular version of OS X, we just have to make it work. And, considering we only manage six or seven laptops right now, we canвЂ™t justify the $500 price tag. Unfortunately, itвЂ™s only officially supported in the server editions of OS X. NetBooting can be an extremely useful tool for imaging your Macs. (I just uploaded a test copy of a script for 10.6.