As of macOS 10.13 Apple systems running Solid State disks are, by default, being converted to use an updated file system called APFS on the boot disk. Deep Freeze does not support installation on a APFS based system and cannot be used on systems that have been upgraded to macOS High Sierra and converted to APFS at this time.
While Faronics does intend to support AFPS in a future release of the Deep Freeze product we at this time cannot provide a timeframe for support. For customers who wish to upgrade to High Sierra, and run Deep Freeze this document will detail a process for performing the macOS upgrade and suppressing the conversion of the file system to APFS.
It is important to note that while converting to APFS is the default during the High Sierra install process not all machines are converted during the upgrade. Systems running a magnetic disk, or systems configured as a Fusion Drive are not automatically converted and continue to use the existing HPFS+ based file system on the boot volumes.
This document will detail the process of installing High Sierra and suppressing the conversion of the system to APFS in order to continue to be able to use Deep Freeze on the client system without interruption.
If the client system has already updated to High Sierra and has converted to APFS the only way to revert this setting will require a reformat of the disk and a reinstall of the operating system. Upgrading to macOS High Sierra without conversion.
be run manually from the terminal.
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Open terminal by browsing to the Terminal.APP located in the Applications\Uitlities folder.
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In terminal type in the following command; sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall - -converttoapfs NO
This command assumes that the macOS installer has been downloaded into the default locations form the Mac Apps Store.
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Some prompts will be shown requiring acceptance of the macOS license agreement, accept those prompts.
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Once completed the install process will begin and the computer may reboot multiple times over the course of the installation.
When completed the system should now be running macOS High Sierra with a HPFS+ file system. At this time Dep Freeze can be installed as per our normal instructions. Reinstalling macOS High Sierra on a non APFS Volume.
If you have already upgraded to High Sierra, or your system ships with High Sierra installed you can reinstall the operating system and force the installation to make use of a HPFS+ based volume during the install process.
Warning, this process will erase everything on your hard disk. This should only be done by persons who are comfortable working in the command line and after ALL data is backed up and verified as restorable using tools that you are comfortable with.
Faronics takes no responsibility for loss of data or any other damages resulting from the following of these directions.
The first step for the upgrade is to create a bootable installer for macOS using the information in the link below; https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201372
Once the bootable media is created you will need to reboot the computer and boot from this newly created disk. To do this reboot the computer while holding down the Option key on the keyboard.
Once booted you should see a Utilities menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen, click on the menu and open the terminal.
In the terminal run the following command
Please note that this command will destroy all information saved on your computer. You must ensure that any information that you want to save is retained and saved to an external disk, network share, or USB storage device that is not attached to the computer when you run this process.
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ Macintosh\ HD /dev/{disk identifier}
Assuming that your computer is using the default disk partitioning scheme and the device has a single storage device installed with a single partition the disk identifier should be disk0, if you are using a machine with more than one disk, or multiple partitions please ensure that you select the appropriate disk and partition. Failure to ensure that the appropriate disk is selected will result in loss of all data on the volumes affected.
must ensure that any information that you want to save is retained and saved to an external disk, network share, or USB storage device that is not attached to the computer when you run this process.
Provided you have followed the instructions provided earlier in creating the boot volume you should now be able to run the command below to start the install process, and skip the conversion to APFS.
/<path to file>/Install\ macOS\ High\
Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume
/Macintosh\ HD --converttoapfs NO
The default path to the file is generally the Install Image folder;
/Volumes/Image\ Volume/Install\ macOS\ High\
Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosintall --volume /Macintosh\
HD --converttoapfs NO
Some prompts will be shown in the installer and you should eventually see your workstation reboot several times and complete the install process.