Casper Admin Can Not Mount a Distribution Point

Problem:  When attempting to Launch Casper Admin the distribution point will fail to mount and an error is displayed saying "The master Distribution Point (server name) could not be mounted".  It then gives you some tips to resolve the issue.

Solutions:  Follow the tips and check that the correct permissions and passwords are set on the Distribution Point's file share.

One good way to check if the permissions are set correctly is to connect to the server share from another Mac using the "casperadmin" and "casperinstall" accounts.  If you can mount the Distribution Point then the permissions should be OK.

With the Distribution Point mounted launch Casper Admin.  If it opens without an error then your problems are very likely not related to permissions but rather a corrupt or missing symbolic link to the CasperShare folder.

In /Library/WebServer/Documents there is a folder called CasperShare that is a symbolic link to the "real" CasperShare.   If you suspect that the link is corrupt the easiest thing to do is simply delete the symbolic link and create a new one. 

Note: in Casper versions prior to 8.31 you could use the JSS Setup Utility to recreate the symbolic link.  Unfortunately since version 8.31 the JSS Setup Utility has been removed and you have to do the process manually.

To recreate a symbolic link to the CasperShare do the following:

• Open Terminal
• Type "cd/"
•  Type "sudo ln -s /Shared\ Items/CasperShare/ CasperShare" this will create a symbolic link to the CasperShare and put it in the root of the drive
•  Move the CasperShare symbolic link to /Library/WebServer/Documents and replace any existing CasperShare link
• If you do an "Apple-I" to get information on the Symbolic Link you will see that next to "Original" it has the path to the CasperShare

 

After you have recreated the symbolic link launch Casper Admin to test connection to the share.

Remember, you can not launch Casper Admin from the server that hosts the primary Distribution Point.

For a good overview of symbolic links see this article.

Where are JSS database backups located?

sudo /private/var/backups/jss/

How to build a Casper netboot set using Apple's System Image Utility

Information directly from the Jamf site:

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/article.html?id=64

The instructions tell you how to create a netboot set that will automatically launch the Casper Imaging Utility.  However if you want to use your netboot set in different environments then you should not auto-launch Casper Imaging.  Rather, just put the icon in the Dock and enter the JSS info when prompted.  It's one more step but worth it if you need to share your netboot set with other sites.

High CPU usage caused by: krb5kdc: didn't find any realms when starting

We have seen several instances where a computer is unable to launch applications and suffers other performance problems when edu.mit.kerberos.krb5kdc repeatedly exits and respawns.  Look in the Console log for these errors:

To fix this, open Terminal and type:

sudo /usr/libexec/configurLocalKDC

It has also been suggested that you delete all files in the following location:

sudo /var/db/krb5kdc/

Although some people may not have any files in that location.