I am hoping someone can help me with an issue I am having trying to image newer MacBooks with a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter.
The server is running 10.11.6 with server app 5.1.7 and the image I am trying to install is also 10.11.6. It isn't an issue with the image as it works fine on any machine with an internal Ethernet port but just not on any MacBook which needs a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter. I have also tried using a USB to Ethernet adapter and still have had no luck.
When I try and netboot using the N key I get the flashing globe which would indicate the machine is requesting an IP address, but then it seems to time out and boots into the current Mac OS installation on the disk. I have checked the DHCP settings and everything is fine on that side. If I try holding the option key to bring up the Startup Manager it only sees the internal disk and not any of the images on the server. But if I go into Startup Disk preferences it sees all the images but selecting one of them and restarting I get the same behaviour as when I boot using the N key. It seems like it isn’t loading the driver for the the thunderbolt adapter until it loads the OS. I’ve checked in the logs on the Server and I don’t see any entries that relate to the MAC address of the adapter for DHCP or BDSP. Its a real shame that you can't do a NetBoot in verbose mode (not as far as I know anyway) so you could actually find out where it is failing.
Does anyone know why the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter isn’t get recognised until the OS has loaded? If this is by design then Apple have really messed up as how would you be able to do a NetBoot/Install/Restore without the adapter being recognised when the firmware loads?
MacOS – NetRestore not working on new MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter
macosserver.app
Related Solutions
When an interface self-assigns an IP it generally means the interface isn't getting any response from your router or DHCP server. This is a feature of OS X to let the machines build an adhoc network when they cannot determine the actual network they're on -- you can put a bunch of Macs on a dumb hub and almost get them to self-organize and function with this feature.
Your router and DHCP server are going to see the MAC address listed for the device in the Network Preferences pane. Go to System Preferences -> Network and click on your Thunderbolt interface. Click on the Advanced... button and then on the Hardware tab:
That's the MAC address that your interface is broadcasting on the network when it's trying to acquire an IP on your network from your DHCP server.
OS X Yosemite doesn’t have support for natd binary or ipfw anymore. Instead pfctl is used.
I assume the following IP-adresses/netmasks:
Router: 192.168.0.1/24
Mac mini gateway: en0: 192.168.0.2/24 gateway 192.168.0.1 en1: 192.168.1.2/24
Internal network: 192.168.1.0/24
First you have to enable forwarding on your Mac computer with following commands:
sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1In order to do NAT you have to create a pfctl rule. Create a file called "nat-rules" with the following content:
nat on en0 from en1 to any -> (en0)Save the file and now start pfctl using the rule from the file we have created earlier:
sudo pfctl -d #disables pfctl sudo pfctl -F all #flushes all pfctl rules sudo pfctl -f /Path/to/file/nat-rules -e #starts pfctl and loads the rules from the nat-rules fileNow configure a static route on your router:
192.168.1.0/24 (the internal network) -> 192.168.0.2 (Mac mini IP-address of the external interface connected to the router)
Enable the DHCP-service on your Mac mini gateway:
- Name: choose a name
- Network Interface: en1
- Starting IP address: 192.168.1.10
- Ending IP address: 192.168.1.100
- Subnet Netmask: 255.255.255.0
- Router: 192.168.1.2
- DNS: some DNS-server (e.g. 8.8.8.8)
Now use pfctl to add rules or get a pfctl-GUI like IceFloor or Murus to configure your firewall. Both apps should also allow you to enable NAT (step 2/3)
Related Question
- MacOS – DNS resolution broken in El Capitan with Thunderbolt Ethernet Adapter on Offline network
- MacOS – How to use 3rd-party USB Ethernet adapter with El Capitan
- MacOS – Location of NetBoot operating environment
- MacOS – Mid-2015 MacBook Pro shuts off without warning when an Ethernet adapter is *not* plugged into a Thunderbolt port. Why
- MacOS – macbook air: unable to assign static IP on USB ethernet adapter
Best Answer
I NetBoot with those all the time (Thunderbolt mostly). This is an Apple dongle, right? As long as it's connected before you start up then it'll load the driver.
You can NetBoot in verbose mode. Set the Startup Disk in System Preferences then restart while holding
Command-V(I usually set it permanently on test systems:sudo nvram boot-args="-v").Not seeing any entries from that adaptor's MAC Address in the server's system.log means the traffic isn't making it to the server for some reason. You can confirm by getting a server-side packet trace (assuming you're using
en0):I usually filter in Wireshark for
bootp or tftpto see how far along things get.You can get a client-side packet trace by using either a "dumb hub" (not as common these days) or mirroring a port on the switch (assuming your network gear can do this).