Imaging a Computer Lab

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Just received 27 new 21.5 imacs running 10.8.3 Mountain Lion for our computer lab. We had been using emacs running panther and it has been a long time since I have had to image a lab. Back then we could netboot from our server. It ended up crashing and then we never really reimaged the macs because they were so old. I just cleaned each one up separately. I think teachers thought I could just plug these new imacs in and start using them. I want to set up one imac.

How I want it to look:
Add additional software like Notebook, google chrome, hide facetime, hide photo booth you get the picture
Put that image on the other 26. We are a Catholic grade school. Can anyone offer an easy solution. Keep in mind I am not an IT person I am the computer teacher. THANKS
 

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Just received 27 new 21.5 imacs running 10.8.3 Mountain Lion for our computer lab. We had been using emacs running panther and it has been a long time since I have had to image a lab.

WOW...that is one heck of an upgrade!!! Congratulations on the new computers!!!:)

- Nick
 
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The way I do/did it with my Snow Leopard was to install all I wanted to begin with (IE all upgrades to date, all software I want to start with like Onyx - your case facetime hidden, photobooth hidden etc. and all took off software I don't need or want). Then I did a Carbon Copy Cloner (which is free for SL or lower - you coud get the educators discount) or I think Crash Plan might also be an option.

Hope that helps..
 
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The way I do/did it with my Snow Leopard was to install all I wanted to begin with (IE all upgrades to date, all software I want to start with like Onyx - your case facetime hidden, photobooth hidden etc. and all took off software I don't need or want). Then I did a Carbon Copy Cloner (which is free for SL or lower - you coud get the educators discount) or I think Crash Plan might also be an option.

Hope that helps..

Thanks for responding. If I download the Free CCC will it give me step by step instructions on how to do the process and what would be a reputable site to download it from. By the way what does SL stand for. Thank You
 

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The SL refers to Snow Leopard it's the commonly used name to refer to OS X 10.6.

You can find Carbon Copy Cloner here, Here's a pdf of the documentation. That may give you a few ideas.

Probably the easiest thing for what you want to do is get one machine set the way you want it. Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone that installation to an external hard drive. In the event of a problem you can boot the problem machine from that external hard drive and reinstall the basic setup.
 
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The SL refers to Snow Leopard it's the commonly used name to refer to OS X 10.6.

You can find Carbon Copy Cloner here, Here's a pdf of the documentation. That may give you a few ideas.

Probably the easiest thing for what you want to do is get one machine set the way you want it. Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone that installation to an external hard drive. In the event of a problem you can boot the problem machine from that external hard drive and reinstall the basic setup.
Thanks for the clarification on the SL. Would you have any idea how big the external hard drive capacity needs to be for an image for an imac running Mountain Lion 10.8.3 - 500GB hard drive and 4GB memory. Thanks so much for the 2 links. I really appreciate your help.
 
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WOW...that is one heck of an upgrade!!! Congratulations on the new computers!!!:)

- Nick
Yes it is! The students can't wait to use them. One little 2nd grader said my Dad has one just like it and I can't touch it, now I have one at school, awesome. I have gotten some great advice and links from your members. Thank you for your service.
 

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Thanks for the clarification on the SL. Would you have any idea how big the external hard drive capacity needs to be for an image for an imac running Mountain Lion 10.8.3 - 500GB hard drive and 4GB memory. Thanks so much for the 2 links. I really appreciate your help.
Glad to help.

You generally need a destination drive at least as large as the source drive. Personally I prefer one slightly larger. As you make changes to the drive you won't have to worry about whether you have enough space on the backup drive.

As I was reading your post the idea of a netboot setup kept coming back. It is possible to create a net boot image for 10.8. Here's a description / how to guide..

That guide is for 10.8 Server but the software is included as part of the regular OS X install so I think t would work without the server tools installed. The net boot imaging utility is in System/Library/CoreServcies/SystemImageUtility
 
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Net Boot

Glad to help.

You generally need a destination drive at least as large as the source drive. Personally I prefer one slightly larger. As you make changes to the drive you won't have to worry about whether you have enough space on the backup drive.

As I was reading your post the idea of a netboot setup kept coming back. It is possible to create a net boot image for 10.8. Here's a description / how to guide..

That guide is for 10.8 Server but the software is included as part of the regular OS X install so I think t would work without the server tools installed. The net boot imaging utility is in System/Library/CoreServcies/SystemImageUtility

Great Video for net booting. We had 12" of snow today so all schools closed. I will be back in the computer lab tomorrow and see if I can make an image. The Apple education guy I talked with had know idea of the system utility section. He sent me some link too. Your link will be the most beneficial to me. I will let you know how it goes. You do not know how much I appreciate the feedback. Like I said, I am far from an IT person. I'll keep you posted.
 
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Given the incredibly frequent update schedule for Chrome, not to mention its implementation of Flash, you may want to reconsider using it as a default browser if you're the one who's in charge of keeping everything up-to-date and secure.
 

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Glad to help. I've never used net boot before because I have never managed enough Macs to justify it. If I remember correctly in the past you've had to have the server tools installed.
 

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