Hello,

We are preparing a lab with 44 MacBooks (Apple M4, 16 GB RAM).

Currently, we have not implemented any imaging solution yet. At the moment, we only use our Samba Active Directory domain for user authentication (LDAP/Kerberos) on the Macs.

All machines have the exact same hardware configuration, and we need a way to create a standardized macOS image and replicate it across all devices. This deployment process is performed once every semester, so we are looking for a reliable and repeatable solution.

We are evaluating the FOG Project as a possible solution, but we are unsure whether it supports cloning and deploying macOS images on Apple Silicon devices (M4).

We would like to ask:

Is FOG suitable for capturing and deploying macOS images on Apple Silicon Macs?
How does the cloning process for macOS work in this scenario?
If FOG is not recommended, what tools or best practices would you suggest for mass macOS deployment and domain integration with Samba AD?

Thank you for your guidance.

When attempting to boot clients over the network using FOG, the PXE process fails with the following iPXE errors:

Could not select: Exec format error (https://ipxe.org/2e008081)
Could not boot: Exec format error (2e008081)
Chainloading failed
Prompt: Press ‘s’ for the iPXE shell or reboot

This indicates that iPXE is trying to load a boot file that is not compatible with the client’s firmware/architecture (for example, attempting to boot a BIOS image on a UEFI machine, or vice versa).

The issue typically occurs during the deploy or capture phase when the client attempts to chainload the FOG boot file from the TFTP server.

Likely cause: Incorrect boot file configured in DHCP (Option 67) or in the FOG PXE settings for the client’s firmware type (UEFI vs Legacy BIOS).

bzImage Version: 5.15.93
bzImage32 Version: 5.15.93

Your version of FOG is up to date.
You’re running the latest stable version: 1.5.10

Hardware: Dell OptiPlex 3000 Micro
FOG Version: 1.5.10.1733
(Latest stable: 1.5.10.1734)

Hello everyone,

I am facing an issue while trying to capture an image from a Dell OptiPlex 3000 Micro that has two disks:

NVMe SSD – 256 GB

HDD – 1 TB

When I start the capture process, FOG only captures the 1 TB HDD. The NVMe SSD is not captured at all.

FOG detects the disks as follows:

HDD appears as Disk 0

NVMe SSD appears as Disk 1

The disk order does not change, and the NVMe is ignored during capture.

I am using the image type “Multiple Partition Image – All Disks”, because the goal is to capture the entire machine (both disks).

Tests already performed:

I removed the HDD and tried to capture only the NVMe SSD → the capture worked correctly.

However, this solution does not work for my scenario, because I need to deploy this image to around 80 machines, and doing manual captures or disk removal is not viable.

Because of this, I believe the issue may be related to:

NVMe disk handling, or

A limitation or bug in FOG when capturing multiple disks with NVMe + SATA together.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue or found a workaround for capturing NVMe + HDD together on Dell OptiPlex Micro systems?

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.