Netboot OS X installation from an Ubuntu Linux system

Question

I'm interested in netbooting an OS X install (Snow Leopard) from my Ubuntu box. I've made an ISO of the install dvd, but I'm not sure how to proceed from here. I know it's possible to do this from an OS X server, but can it be done from Linux as well?

The Macs that need to receive the netinstall are all intel versions.

I'm not sure why there's a vote to move this to superuser - netboot is a systems admin thing. — Rob Moir, Apr 09 '11 at 07:45

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 11 '22 at 16:04

1

Never tried it myself - I do netboot from OSX server because its nice and easy - but there is a guide to doing this available at afp548.com, here. The example talks about CentOS but I guess you can either adapt the steps to work with Ubuntu or install CentOS on another box.

edited Aug 11 '22 at 16:04

answered Apr 09 '11 at 07:40

Rob Moir

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An anonymous user noted that your link has died. :( – HopelessN00b Oct 06 '12 at 00:25
Thanks @HopelessN00b - updated link to another guide I know. – Rob Moir Oct 06 '12 at 09:53

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 09 '11 at 07:18

Here's an (admittedly old) article about making any Mac a Netboot server: http://www.macgeekery.com/hacks/hardware/make_any_mac_a_netboot_server

The author does say the idea of a Linux based netboot server is probably possible:

And for good measure, I’ll show you how to do this without having to use BSDP at all (Debian NetBoot server, anyone?).

But I can't find any info on that ever having been accomplished.

Netboot OS X installation from an Ubuntu Linux system

2 Answers2