[Casper] imaging behind NAT

[Thomas Larkin]

So

For our summer imaging project I am running into a few snags.  We have pulled a server out of our server room that was extra and are making a mobile imaging cart to take out to all of our laptops.  Well, since every building is on different VLANs we thought it would be a good idea to toss the server behind a router and then not have to deal with all the managed switches and VLANs.  Our infrastructure is not fully in place and eventually (since we are education and work off a budget) will have extra servers in each building for netbooting.  However, since that is not the case we are going with mobile carts for this year.

I can netboot just fine and it will autorun the data just fine behind a router.  The snags I am running into is that I first noticed it will not resolve the JSS by domain name, only by IP address.  Not a huge deal, but I am not sure why that is.  Second it seems to want to not use the default server I set in the JSS, it wants to use the master file server.  I did a mass edit of auto run data and pointed it all to the mobile image server which has a 192.168.x.x address.  The router is controlling all DHCP so all clients will have a class C address.  The router also gives the server the same IP every time, it is reserved for that server.

Then the casper client will run but error out half way through.  I can only assume this is because I am behind NAT?  I have never tried this before.  I have AFP forwarded from the router to the server and anything that comes over port 548 will hit that server instead.

Anyone ever try this?  I know this is most likely one small thing I am over looking on my end, but I think technically this should work no issues.  Of course after my 6 new xserves come in sometime this fall I won't ever have this issue again, because I will have servers in the buildings that can do this.

Thanks

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
cell:  913-449-7589
office:  913-627-0351