Target Disk Mode imaging is erasing the very Host doing the imaging?

cgordy
Contributor

I must be doing something wrong or there is a bug.

I am running JSS 9.11
I have built stand-alone MBP stations which are not enrolled in the JSS.
I have renamed Macintosh HD to something unique.
I have installed the CasperSuite and replicated the share to a local folder.

When I launch Casper Imaging, I: 1) setup my Target Disk Mode session
2) choose my config
3) tell it to erase connect drive
4) click Start 5) connect a used MBA via Thunderbolt.

The process works as expected on the attached MBA.
It erases it, applies the OS and packages and reboots. The attached MBA is as expected and I move on and connect another MBA to be re-imaged for re-deployment.

However - the host machine is running the packages too behind the scenes...
I discovered this because of the bug with Thunderbolt imaging, where a connected drive won't mount and you have to reboot the Host. Upon reboot, the packages are then running and hose my machine.
It is not fully erasing it though. Now the Host machine is enrolled and JSS logs show it did run the whole config just as I did on the attached MBA....

I have an open ticket with Support, and they have heard of this happening with one other client and are working on it.
Anyone else have a say on why this is doing this?

5 REPLIES 5

bajones
Contributor II

Been there. Here's a screenshot I was able to take of my computer suddenly missing its Applications folder before I forced it to shut down. Had to restore from backup. I no longer run target mode imaging from my main work computer.

external image link

hansonr55
New Contributor

This happens to us as well. It happened today in fact. This has been happening from 8.71 through 9.21. Also, we have never been able to Target Mode image more than 5 before we have to reboot the host machine. We have all Mid 2013 MBAs.

I can't count the number of times that we've had to restore our imaging host from a Time Machine backup...

Any help with this would be great!

ClassicII
Contributor III

Yes this has gone on even farther back all the way back to 8.64.

Eisiminger
New Contributor III

We've been experiencing this as well. Has there been any kind of resolution to this issue yet?

nigelg
Contributor

I wish I had read this thread before I used this feature. I was told about it on my jumpstart and specifically set up a local repository on my main iMacs SSD to facilitate thunderbolt target disk mode to a second mac with SSD and test my configurations as fast as possible.

So last night I connected a target disk mode macbook Pro to my iMac by thunderbolt and it referred to the name of the partition on the macbook Pro (untitled 1). It shot through all the imaging process and I rebooted the Macbook Pro to find that no changes had been made. I was then unable to reattach the Macbook Pro using target disk mode which I have since seen is referred to as a bug and requires the reboot of the host machine.

I rebooted my iMac and when it came back up it gave the Casper reimaging splash screen on the host!!!!!!!!!!!! Not enough exclamation marks... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to quickly turn off the iMac before too much damage was done, unpick the firmware password as it wasn't allowing me into single user mode, then in single user mode I had to make the file system readonly then deleted the JAMF launchdaemons that had appeared in /Library.

If this really has been broken for this long surely it should either be removed as an option or fixed. I was lucky not to lose anything.