Re: Diskless installs?

On Jul 31, 2025, at 10:49=E2=80=AFPM, Martin Husemann =
<[email protected]> wrote:
>=20
> Oh, you are right - we should document the manual setup steps =
somewhere.
>=20
> It is not a long list. Assuming you are in single user mode on the new
> client machine with all sets unpacked and / writable:
>=20
> - run: cd /dev && sh MAKEDEV all
> - run: certctl rehash
> - create /etc/fstab according to your needs
> - create /etc/rc.conf according to your needs
> - set root password
> - add entropy if needed (you can use sysinst and the config menu
>   to check + fix it [if there is no entropy option in the menu
>   you are good] or check sysctl kern.entropy output)
>=20
> and then go multiuser.

This type of "dance" is why macOS has the following symlinks, first =
established by NeXT nearly 40 years ago:

- /etc =E2=86=92 /private/etc
- /var =E2=86=92 /private/var
- /tmp =E2=86=92 /private/tmp

Then each diskless client can share a single read-only root, with each =
system having its own read-write /private, created from a template by =
the script/tool that adds a new client system and discovered via =
directory binding. NeXT had its own directory (NetInfo) but could also =
use NIS and I think NIS+; in the modern era, macOS uses LDAP natively as =
specified by the appropriate DHCP option, and can also use =
ActiveDirectory.

  -- Chris