Rebuilding the Macintosh Operating System on Mac OS X v10.7 or 10.8

Before You Begin

• Ensure that the destination client is same as source client while performing a disaster recovery.

• Make sure to Install the Macintosh Operating System on the system that you want to restore. Make sure to install the Operating System exactly as it existed prior to a hardware or software corruption problem.

• The client computer must have an install partition with the Macintosh File System iDataAgent installed on it. Make sure to enable the Networking option. The TCP/IP, hostname, and domain name settings of the default install must match those of the system that you are restoring.

Procedure

1. Boot the system from the recovery partition if available. Alternatively, you can boot the system from a bootable Mac OS X v10.7/10.8 DVD or USB drive.

2. On the Mac OS X Utilities dialog, select Disk Utility and then click Continue.

3. Partition a drive using the Disk Utility. The default partition will be named Macintosh HD by default.

   1. Select a disk.

   2. In the Partition tab, click + under the Partition Layout pane and select the new partition.

   3. In the Name box under Partition Information pane, type the partition name.

   4. In the Format box, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if not already selected.

   5. In the Size box, enter a number that is at least 2 GB greater than the minimum space requirements for the version of Mac OS X that you are trying to install

   6. Press Return.

      Repeat these steps for each remaining disk/partition.

   7. Click Apply.

   8. Click Partition on the confirmation message. This might take some time to complete.

   9. After the partition is created, quit the Disk Utility.

4. On the Mac OS X Utilities dialog, select Reinstall Mac OS X and then click Continue.

5. In the Select Destination screen, select the mini_root partition created in step 3 above and then click Install.

6. On the Install Mac OS X dialog, click Continue.

7. Click Agree.

8. Select the mini_root partition created in step 3 above and then click Install.

   The install program starts copying the software. This step may take a while to complete. During the OS software installation, the system will restart automatically and the installation will continue.

9. After the installation completes successfully, click Restart.

10. After the system has restarted, enter registration information, then assign the computer name, hostname and IP address using the same settings that were used in the original installation.

    Update the hosts file and make sure SSH is enabled and working.

    If you are prompted to update your system software, select Quit Software Update.

11. Open a Terminal window, then enter sudo -i

    When prompted, provide a password for root.

12. Modify the restore disk mount.

    1. Type the following command to get the disk device name for /Volumes/Macintosh HD (/dev/diskxxxx).

       mac108vma:~ root# mount 
       
        /dev/disk0s3 on / (hfs, local, journaled) 
       
        devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse) 
       
        map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse) 
       
        mapauto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse) 
       
        .host:/VMware Shared Folders on /Volumes/VMware Shared Folders (vmhgfs) /dev/disk1s0s2 on /Volumes/VMware Tools (hfs, local, nodev, nosuid, read-only, noowners) /dev/disk0s2 on /Volumes/Macintosh HD (hfs, local, nodev, nosuid, journaled, noowners) 
       
        mac108vma:~ root#

       Note: The default mount options for the /Volumes/Macintosh HD disk (the destination restore disk) will cause errors on the restore if not modified, and also cause the bless command to fail.

    2. Type the following command to unmount /Volumes/Macintosh HD:

       mac108vma:~ root# diskutil umount "/Volumes/Macintosh HD" 
       
        Volume Macintosh HD on disk0s2 unmounted 
       
        mac108vma:~ root#

    3. Type the following command to create a new directory under /Volumes. This will be used only for the restore.

       mkdir /Volumes/HD

    4. Type the following command to remount the partition to the directory created and grant all the permissions similar to the mini_root partition:

       mac108vma:~ root# mount -t hfs /dev/disk0s2 /Volumes/HD 
       
        mac108vma:~ root# 
       
        mac108vma:~ root# mount 
       
        /dev/disk0s3 on / (hfs, local, journaled) 
       
        devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse) 
       
        map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse) 
       
        mapauto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse) 
       
        .host:/VMware Shared Folders on /Volumes/VMware Shared Folders (vmhgfs) 
       
        /dev/disk1s0s2 on /Volumes/VMware Tools (hfs, local, nodev, nosuid, read-only, noowners) /dev/disk0s2 on /Volumes/HD (hfs, local, journaled) 
       
        mac108vma:~ root#

13. Install the Macintosh File System Agent to the same CommServe using the same client name that was used during the previous installation.

    We recommend that you adjust your Energy Saver settings before restoring the system so that the computer, display and hard disk will not be put to sleep during the restore.