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General discussion

roll out image to many Imac osx Intel

Dec 6, 2007 11:38AM PST

Hi,

I just got 70 new Intel Core 2 Duo OSX Imac. Instead of painfully installing the same software on them one by one, how can I do this the easy way? I'm new to Mac. I come from Windows. Please show me step by step if you can. I'm lost on the Mac.

Discussion is locked

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If I understand correctly, you have 70 brand new iMacs?!
Dec 6, 2007 11:59AM PST

Wow. Nice little lot there. Now as to your question, what do you intend to install?
If you are using these for a business, I suggest setting them all up, connect them to a network, and do some network installing for different apps, that is, if you can do this like an OS network install. If you plan to resell, and you do not have a network, installing things one by one may be the simplest and most frustrating thing to do.

A little more on the machines and what you need to do to them may help us help you better.
-BMF

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With that many Mac's
Dec 6, 2007 8:43PM PST

you might want to consider Apple Remote Desktop.
This would enable you to administer all those machines, assuming they are on a network, and push applications to them.

Another method would be to use something like CarbonCopy Cloner or SuperDuper, get your first machine set up and then clone the drive to an external HD
Use that HD to clone the HD of each machine. It would still mean that you would have to touch each machine but you would have had to do that in the Windows world too.

Or, you could find 70 people, sit them down and ........... Maybe not Happy

P

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roll out 70 imac
Dec 7, 2007 4:44AM PST

The previous admin set up something on the XServe server that when pressing the N key on booting up it finds the server to automatically installing the software. How can I do this on the Intel Imac?

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Exactly the same way
Dec 7, 2007 5:59AM PST

The "N" key on startup forces the computer to look to the network for a Bootable image

More details can be found in the Server documentation

P

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Disk Image,
Dec 7, 2007 11:05AM PST

the other Admin probably built an image with all the necessary files/apps/docs that were needed by the lab and made the whole thing Bootable.
Each machine was booted using the "N" key and booted from the image on the server.
To add new programs or other changes he altered the image and when the machines next booted up, they had the new stuff or had got rid of the unwanted stuff.

I think you are going to have to do some serious digging in the X-Server (OS X server software) manual for this to help you.

Good Luck

Just curious, if you are new to Mac's, how did you land this job?

P

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Servers and servers.
Dec 7, 2007 7:23AM PST

70 iMacs and an XServe? Wow. What do you use those for? LOL. Remote desktop ought to do it though, like mrmacfixit said.

I know 70 people who wouldn't mind helping out, for cash that is. Wink

-BMF