Installation manual

Distributing Installer Packages
You can distribute and automatically installation packages in .pkg and .mpkg formats.
Apple Remote Desktop lets you install software and software updates on one or more
client computers without user interaction or interruption, or even if no user is logged
in. After installation, Apple Remote Desktop erases the installer les. If the computers
need to be restarted, as they do following an operating system update, you can restart
them from Apple Remote Desktop.
For example, you can use Apple Software Update to download an iCal update or an
operating system update to a test computer. If the update works as expected and
introduces no compatibility issues, copy the installer package to the administrator
computer to distribute to computers that need upgrading. This approach conserves
Internet bandwidth, because only one copy of the package needs to be downloaded.
You can use the PackageMaker tool (included on the Apple Remote Desktop
installation CD and with the Apple developer tools) to create your own installer
packages, such as when you want to:
Distribute school project materials or business forms and templates Â
Automate the installation of multiple installer packages Â
Deploy custom applications Â
Before performing remote installations, you can send an Apple Remote Desktop text
message to notify users, perhaps letting them know that you’ll be using Apple Remote
Desktop to lock their screens at a particular time before you start the installation.
Using NetInstall Images
You can also distribute and install software, including the Mac OS X operating system,
by using NetInstall images.
On Mac OS X Server, use the Network Image Utility to create a NetInstall image.
You can create the image by cloning a system that’s already installed and set up, or
by using an installation disc or an image downloaded using Apple Software Update.
If you choose to auto-install, you won’t have to interact with each computer. On
the Apple Remote Desktop administrator computer, set the startup disk of remote
client systems to point to the NetInstall image, and then remotely reboot the clients
to start installation.
Before initiating installations that require computers to be restarted afterwards, send
an Apple Remote Desktop text message to client users to notify them of a pending
installation. For example, tell users you’ll log them o at 5:00 p.m. to install an
operating system update.
18 Chapter 1 Using Apple Remote Desktop