Deep Freeze allows us to lock down a hard drive from allowing change, using 3rd party software and no server. Ideal for lab environments, although there are a number of strategies for using it otherwise. To get started, first download Deep Freeze from www.faronics.com and then extract the Faronics Deep Freeze for Mac .dmg file. To install and freeze the system:
- Open the DFX_4.51.2200.0365.pkg (or whatever the latest version of Deep Freeze is).
- Click on Continue at the Welcome to the Deep Freeze Installer
- Click on Continue at the Important Information screen
- Click on Continue at the Software License Agreement screen
- Click on Agree at the EULA statement
- At the Registration screen, provide the license key emailed from Faronics at the time of purchase and click on Continue
- At the Select a Destination screen, choose your desired target hard drive and click on Continue
- At the Standard Install screen use the Change Install Location to choose a directory to install Deep Freeze into or simply click Install
- Restart when the installation is complete
- Open the DFXControl application from /Application/Faronics
- Click on Create DF User (assuming it is the first time the application has been invoked)
- Type the desired user name in the DF User Name field
- Type the desired password in the Password and Verify fields, clicking OK
- Click Apply to commit the user creation
There, you’ve got a quick and dirty frozen partition. Great for a lab where you just want to lock a bunch of machines down, you can install Deep Freeze on the image and then save yourself potentially reimaging machines later. There’s a lot more you can do with it, but really, I called the article quick & dirty for a reason… 😉
