Mac Deploy Stick Admin Guide
Last Updated On April 22, 2019 Overview Mac Deploy Stick is a macOS application to create the resources needed to automate the install of macOS and initial software packages. Recent Macs do not support NetBoot or booting to external drives for setup. Mac Deploy Stick solves this problem by providing a mechanism for initially installing…
New Features in MDS 1.6
Last Updated On April 15, 2019Webserver for Hosting Images A folder can now be selected to host disk images over HTTP. The webserver starts when the checkbox is selected and there is a valid path specified. Files in the folder can be viewed in a browser by clicking on the URL that appears below it….
What’s New in MDS 1.5
Last Updated On April 14, 2019New Features Quickly set up and provision Macs with MDS 1.5. We’ve added in a bunch of new features in MDS 1.5 to make MDS even easier and faster. Script and Profile Ordering Scripts and Profiles can now be specified to be run or installed before or after packages from…
No Audio on Window 10 After Restoring Winclone Image on MacBook Pro (2012)
Last Updated On April 13, 2019On the 2012 MacBook Pro, audio may not work in Windows after restoring a Winclone image. To resolve this, do not boot into Windows after restore the image. Open Winclone and select Tools->Make Legacy Bootable. Select the volume that the Winclone image was restored onto, and click Make Legacy Bootable….
Deploying macOS and Windows 10 Using Winclone Pro and MDS
Last Updated On April 08, 2019Note: Please use MDS 1.5 or later and Winclone Pro 7.3.3 or later. MDS is a free, efficient way to deploy macOS, packages, and scripts to modern Macs. Winclone Pro creates standard macOS packages that partition and install Windows 10. Using MDS, you can quickly deploy Dual Boot Macs, setting…
MDS 1.4 New Features
Last Updated On April 04, 2019Major Features MDS 1.4 adds in more options and refines the current features. Updated Workflow UI Ability to create user including long name, short name, password, UID, and SSH key Prompt for computer name or set as serial number Skip Setup Assistant with option to configure to allow Location Services…
Deploying Xcode CI Servers with MDS
Last Updated On April 02, 2019MDS is the fastest way to get a Mac up and running. It can be used with Xcode Continuous Integration (CI) servers for fully automating initial deployment and wipe/reinstall for upgrades and maintenance. MDS MDS automates the install of macOS and packages with the help of the the MDS Automaton….
Create User with macOS Package
Last Updated On April 02, 2019Note: The content of this post is no longer relevant as of MDS 1.4 in which a workflow can be configured to create a user account automatically. See version history. You can use a package to create an initial user on macOS with MDS using the pycreateuserpkg script from Greg…
Mac Deploy Stick Automaton
Last Updated On April 02, 2019The Mac Deploy Stick Automaton automates the keyboard presses needed to fully automate a Mac setup using the resources for the Mac Deploy Stick macOS app. Specifically, when the MDS Automaton is plugged in to a USB keyboard, it will send the keyboard command to boot to recovery (command-R) then…
Installing earlier versions of macOS from the Recovery Partition with MDS
Last Updated On April 01, 2019Issue Summary If an MDS workflow is run from the macOS recovery partition and the version of the recovery partition is newer than the version of the macOS that is attempted to be installed, the installation may fail with a “permission error” or related error. This error can occur if…
How to Set Up Arduino IDE For MDS Automaton
Last Updated On March 22, 2019Since MDS software is open source, it allows the community the option to try modifying its code to meet special situations. One such example might be to modify the behavior of the Arduino used to enter keyboard commands. To do so, one must install and configure the Arduino IDE app….
MDS Speed Test
Last Updated On March 12, 2019To test performance of MDS, we set up three machines in our lab to run a standard workflow: Mac Mini (MacMini8,1) (8 GB memory, T2) MacBook Air (MacBookAir8,1) (13″, 8 GB memory, T2, Touch ID) MacBook (MacBook8,1) (12″, 8 GB memory, 1 USB-C port) The MDS workflow was configured to erase and…
Observing MDS Automaton Keyboard Commands
Last Updated On March 08, 2019When configuring an MDS automaton, sometimes it is helpful to observe and confirm the content and timing of the commands it was programmed to send. A simple way to do this is to use the macOS Keyboard Viewer. To open the Keyboard Viewer, go to System Preferences > Keyboard >…
New Features in MDS 1.3
Last Updated On March 06, 2019MDS 1.3 introduces an enhanced version of Imagr to support folder paths, setting computer name when first running a workflow, and a new Automaton feature to reflash the firmware without pressing the programming button. You are also able to change the name of the disk image volume in preferences. MDS…
MDS Automaton
Last Updated On March 02, 2019The Mac Deploy Stick Automaton is used to send commands to a Mac for fast and easy setup of a large number of Macs. The MDS Automaton comes with an enclosure and a USB cable for easy setup. Features Adafruit ItsyBitsy microcontroller (preconfigured and installed in enclosure) Microcontroller enclosure USB…
Refactoring MDS Package Folder Path Config
Last Updated On February 28, 2019We are currently developing a new way for MDS to handle the Packages & Apps path. Currently, when a user creates an MDS workflow and selects a value for “Packages & Apps Folder”, this is written to the Imagr configuration file by scanning the specified folder contents and writing information…
MDS Automaton Command Line Interface
Last Updated On February 25, 2019The MDS Automaton has a command line interface for changing modes and viewing/changing settings. In order to use the command line interface, download a serial terminal. In this article, the serial terminal Serial is used, but any serial terminal with the same settings should work. Setting up Serial Download Serial…
New Features in MDS 1.2
Last Updated On February 20, 2019MDS is the fastest way to get Macs up and running. MDS 1.2 introduces import/export, package only installs, and more. MDS 1.2 will officially be released as a beta this week and a full release about a week after that. If you want to try it now, head over to…
New Features in MDS 1.1
Last Updated On February 14, 2019MDS is the fastest way to get Macs up and running. MDS 1.1 introduces a large number of new features that have been requested by Mac Administrators. MDS 1.1 will officially be released as a beta this week and a full release about a week after that. If you want…
Activating Mac Deploy Stick
Last Updated On January 23, 2019Once you install the app and launch it, you’ll be presented with an option to purchase or activate : Enter the license key by clicking “Activate License” and enter in any email address and the license key: Click Activate and you will now have a fully activated copy of Mac Deploy…
