NetBoot was a technology from
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
which enabled
Macs with capable
firmware
In computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, h ...
(i.e.
New World ROM) to
boot
A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
from a network, rather than a local
hard disk
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...
or
optical disc drive
In computing, an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can on ...
. NetBoot is a derived work from the
Bootstrap Protocol
The Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) is a computer networking protocol used in
Internet Protocol networks to automatically assign an IP address to network devices from a configuration server. The BOOTP was originally defined in published in 1985.
Whi ...
(BOOTP), and is similar in concept to the
Preboot Execution Environment
In computing, the Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE; often pronounced as ''pixie''), often called PXE boot (''pixie boot''), is a specification describing a standardized client–server environment that boots a software assembly, retrieved ...
. The technology was announced as a part of the
original version of
Mac OS X Server
Mac OS X Server is a series of Discontinued software, discontinued Unix-like server operating systems developed by Apple Inc., based on macOS. It provided server functionality and system administration tools, and tools to manage both macOS ...
at
Macworld Expo
Macworld/iWorld (originally Macworld) was an information technology trade show with conference tracks dedicated to Apple's Mac platform. It was held annually in the United States during January. Originally ''Macworld Expo'' and then ''Macworld Con ...
on 5 January 1999. NetBoot has continued to be a core
systems management
Systems management is enterprise-wide System administration, administration of distributed systems including (and commonly in practice) computer systems. Systems management is strongly influenced by network management initiatives in telecommunic ...
technology for Apple, and has been adapted to support modern
Mac Intel machines. NetBoot, USB, and FireWire are some of the external volume options for operating system re-install. NetBoot is not supported on newer Macs with the
T2 security chip or
Apple silicon
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture family, ARM architecture. They are used in nearly all of the company's devices including Mac ...
.
Process
A
disk image
A disk image is a snapshot of a storage device's content typically stored in a file on another storage device.
Traditionally, a disk image was relatively large because it was a bit-by-bit copy of every storage location of a device (i.e. every ...
with a copy of
macOS
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
,
macOS Server,
Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9 is the ninth and final major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. Introduced on October 23, 1999, it was promoted by Apple as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever", highlight ...
, or
Mac OS 8
Mac OS 8 is the eighth major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It includes the largest overhaul of the classic Mac OS experience since the release of System 7 ...
is created using
System Image Utility and is stored on a server, typically macOS Server. Clients receive this image across a network using many popular protocols including:
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...
,
AFP,
TFTP,
NFS, and
multicast
In computer networking, multicast is a type of group communication where data transmission is addressed to a group of destination computers simultaneously. Multicast can be one-to-many or many-to-many distribution. Multicast differs from ph ...
Apple Software Restore (ASR). Server-side NetBoot image can boot entire machines, although NetBoot is more commonly used for operating system and
software deployment
Software deployment is all of the activities that make a software system available for use.
Deployment can involve activities on the producer (software developer) side or on the consumer ( user) side or both. Deployment to consumers is a hard t ...
, somewhat similar to
Norton Ghost.
Client machines first request network configuration information through
DHCP
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a clie ...
, then a list of boot images and servers with
BSDP and then proceed to download images with protocols mentioned above.
Both Intel and
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
-based servers can serve images for Intel and PowerPC-based clients.
NetInstall
NetInstall is a similar feature of macOS Server which utilizes NetBoot and ASR to deliver installation images to network clients (typically on first boot). Like NetBoot, NetInstall images can be created using the
System Image Utility. NetInstall performs a function for macOS similar to
Windows Deployment Services for
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
clients, which depend on the Preboot Execution Environment.
Legacy
Mac OS 8.5 and Mac OS 9 use only BOOTP/DHCP to get IP information, followed by a TFTP transfer of the
Mac OS ROM file. Next, two volumes are mounted via
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a discontinued proprietary suite of networking protocols developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. AppleTalk includes a number of features that allow local area networks to be connected with no prior setup or the ...
over
TCP on which the client disk images reside. All in all, the Classic Mac OS uses three images; a System image which contains the operating system and may contain applications. Next a private image (or scratch disk) is mounted in an overlay over the read-only System image. Finally, an applications image is mounted. This image, however, may be empty.
See also
*
Remote Install Mac OS X
References
External links
Analysis of the Use of the Boot Server Discovery Protocol in NetBootApple detailed Boot Server Discovery Protocol Documentation*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netboot
Network booting
MacOS