Comments on: Create a Tiger to Leopard Upgrade NetInstall Image

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:28:55 +0000

My experience with non-Apple packages as part of the upgrade set hasn’t been very positive, so I try to keep it as spartan as possible. To be fair, the last time I tried was well before the 10.5.5 Server Admin Tools were released.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:23:34 +0000

Peter,

What’s been your experience when you mix other custom packages (besides the OSUpgrade.pkg and Combo Update) into your upgrade NetInstall image? I’ve usually done archive-and-install NetInstalls with 10.4 and 10.5 because I have a lot of custom packages, but that’s caused me to have to reinstall software like the Retrospect client after the upgrade, so I’m looking at upgrade installs for an upcoming 10.5 migration.

By: Lisa Madden

Lisa Madden — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:23:27 +0000

Wahoooo! Thanks. Got it. Hopefully the rest will go smoothly.

Thanks for being so quick to respond.

Lisa
NASA

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:17:46 +0000

Lisa, the package is in a hidden folder so you have to navigate to it directly. To get OSUpgrade.pkg from the Leopard Client DVD, - choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu - type /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Installation in the box and click Go. (If you're using a DVD that comes bundled with a new computer, use Mac OS X Install Disc 1 as the volume name.) You'll find the package in that folder.

By: Lisa Madden

Lisa Madden — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:08:03 +0000

Hi,

Am attempting to follow your instructions to create the upgrade net install image. How do I get the OSUpgrade.pkg off of the Leopard DVD? How do I get to /System/Installation/Packages on the DVD? I am assuming this is found on the client Leopard DVD and not the server Leopard DVD?

Thanks,

Lisa Madden
NASA

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:06:45 +0000

Eric, I know instaDMG well and use it regularly to build images for initial computer deployments. This post concerns upgrading already deployed computers from Tiger to Leopard while keeping user accounts and data intact, which is something instaDMG cannot do.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:41:52 +0000

Have a look at instaDMG, I am using it in conjunction with Netrestore to image and deploy an ASR ready image to 200+ Macs and it rocks!

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:35:13 +0000

matt, you can create a truly unattended installation by adding the “Create Automated Installation” action to your workflow and specifying the volume name in the volume selection section. Unfortunately, this means that the NetInstall Upgrade you create with this workflow will only work with computers that have a volume with a matching name. If your environment has a consistent hard drive naming scheme, then this option should work well. Even so, I recommend also creating a non-automated NetInstall Upgrade set so you have something to use for Macs with unexpected HD names.

By: matt

matt — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:39:24 +0000

Yes, I agree, this is great. It is saving me so much time. One thing that I cant seem to figure out is there a way to have it upgrade unattended? To just boot from the image and automatically upgrade without user intervention? that would be great. Either way this is a huge help indeed.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:23:12 +0000

That’s great to hear, Spankenstein. You’re welcome, and thanks for sharing.