Methods of Mac Remote Control
Part 3: Mac Remote Control Options Built into Leopard
Adam Rosen - 2008.02.29 - Tip Jar
Popularity: ![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $154 / 2GB kit $94, New 2008 iMac 2GB $46. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 / 1GB $23--Free shipping available.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: NewerTech miniStack FireWire/USB 2.0 HD & Hub Up to 1.0TB of Performance Storage + FW/USB2 Powered Hubs - convenient & sleek 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" Featured: 500GB $169.99; 750GB $209.99; 1.0TB $339.99
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $90 / 4GB $134 / 8GB $264. Click to Maximize your Macs...
Part 1 of this article covered general considerations and Apple-supported methods available for remote system control that will generally work on any version of Mac OS X (Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, and Leopard). Part 2 addressed some commercial solutions that also support multiple OS versions, along with how to force-reboot a remote Mac.
With the introduction of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple upped the ante on Mac remote control. All of the previously covered methods still work, but new options now exist in the operating system or via associated services.
Screen Sharing.app
Apple now offers Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) and VNC viewer application for screen sharing called "Screen Sharing" (how original). On a local network, shared systems will appear via Bonjour in the Finder's sidebar. Click on them, and you'll see a Share Screen... button. Access is usually fast and elegant on a local network, although shared systems sometimes come and go in the sidebar. Restarting the local and/or remote Mac usually fixes the problem. I attribute this behavior to bugs in early Leopard releases and suspect this will become more stable with subsequent updates.
You can use Screen Sharing to access remote systems not on your local network, but you need to manually launch the program and know the IP address of the remote computer. Screen Sharing.app is located in System/Library/CoreServices (along with lots of other useful things). Don't move the program from this location. Instead put an alias in the Dock or on the desktop for easy access. When launched this way, you will be asked for the IP address of a server to connect to.
Power users may want to turn on a hidden window of the Screen Sharing app by entering these lines at a Terminal prompt:
LocalMac:~ localuser$ defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing ShowBonjourBrowser_Debug 1
This adds a menu of VNC enabled systems accessible via Bonjour. Screen Sharing.app is a basic VNC viewer; it will satisfy many users, and the price is right.
Back to My Mac
A companion service for remote system control across the Internet is Apple's Back to My Mac capability. You must have a current .mac account to use this service ($99/year), and all systems must be running Leopard. Use the .mac System Preference Pane to login to the same .mac account on both systems and enable Back to My Mac on each machine. On the Mac to be controlled, you must also enable Screen Sharing and (if desired) File Sharing from the Sharing Preference Pane.
On the control (local) Mac, when you're away from your home or office the remote Mac should show up in the Finder's sidebar. You can choose to share the remote screen using Screen Sharing or mount one or more drives if File Sharing is enabled. The combination provides the one-two punch of (scalable) screen sharing and file transfers, and when it was available it worked very efficiently in my tests.
There's one big potential impediment to Back to My Mac working correctly, however: both the local and remote network routers must support pass through of Universal Plug'n'Play (UPnP) services. Some routers do this by default, some can be configured appropriately, and others are incompatible. At my home office I could not get a Sonicwall TZ170 small business router configured to pass Back to My Mac traffic, but an inexpensive Linksys WRT54G worked fine. Apple says their AirPort Extreme routers support Back to My Mac and publishes a list of known compatible third party hardware.
One security consideration: Once enabled, this service is available for anybody who has access to your .mac account. Apple recommends using a strong password for .mac, which is always a good idea, but for additional security turn on Fast User Switching on the remote system in System Preferences --> Accounts --> Login Options. This creates a menu with your account name in the right side of the menu bar. Choose "Login Window" from this menu when you're done using your shared machine or otherwise away from home to hide the screen and require a password for subsequent access.
iChatAV
iChat continues to mature and expand in capability, and with Leopard it has expanded to include screen sharing and file transfer capabilities. Implementation is excellent, and for the computer guy or gal in the family who always has to support their parent's and grandparent's computers, Apple has delivered a nice - and free - solution with this package. For this option, somebody needs to be present at the remote computer during the session.
You will need a different iChat account setup on both systems to establish communication; you can use an existing .mac or AIM account if one is available, otherwise you can signup for an iChat account upon first launch. On a local network, iChat can also use Bonjour to find remote systems, but this option in initially disabled in iChat preferences. You must have Leopard on both systems, and iChat must be launched on both Macs before attempting a connection.
The remote system will show up in either the AIM Buddy List or the Bonjour List, depending on the protocol used. Double-click a name to connect a chat session. The remote system will be prompted to accept the incoming connection (here's where the remote user assistance is needed), then off you go.
Once connected, use the Buddies menu and "Ask to Share" the remote screen. Another dialog box at the far end requires acceptance of the sharing request. Apple uses it's graphics wizardry to show both the local and remote screens, properly scaled, simultaneously on your screen. Very slick. Click on the smaller window in the bottom right corner to switch between local and remote screens.
To transfer files, go to the Buddies menu and choose "Send File..." The remote user must again accept the request. Once transferred the sent file shows up in the Downloads folder in the remote user's home directory.
By itself iChat doesn't make a good option for unattended systems due to the acceptance prompts which must be answered on the remote end before an action takes place. For attended remote desktop systems, or as a second option where you have another screen sharing solution in place like VNC, iChat is a viable solution. You don't need to know any IP addresses or perform firewall configurations, and it can perform file transfers between computers. You also have good security, since you don't have to leave the remote control on at all times - when you quit iChat the session is done.
Mac OS X Server Admin
As a final option, system administrators running the Leopard version of Apple's Server Admin application can take advantage of Apple's built-in screen sharing (ARD/VNC) direct from Server Admin.app - just choose Share Screen from the File menu when connected to a remote server. I typically use VNC alongside the Server Admin app for this purpose, but it's always nice to have multiple options.
Leopard and Leopard Server both show a maturation of remote access
and sharing capabilities, which is welcomed on the Macintosh. Options
should only improve with time.
Methods of Mac Remote Control
- Part 1: Remotely Control Your OS 9 or OS X Mac
- Part 2: Software to Remotely Control and Reboot Your Mac
- Part 3: Mac Remote Control Options Built into Leopard
This article was originally published on Adam's Oakbog website. It has been adapted and reprinted here with his permission.
If you find Adam's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Adam's Apple Columns
- Tales of old Mac data retrieval, 06.13. Getting apps and documents off 400K floppies, old disk images, and a Mac running System 5.
- Software to remotely control and reboot your Mac, 02.15. Commercial software to control your Mac over a network or the Internet. Also how to restart a remote Mac.
- Remotely control your OS 9 or OS X Mac, 02.01. With the right software, some of it free, you can remotely control your Mac from another Mac or a Windows or Unix PC.
- Using ProTools Free 3.4 with older Macs, 01.04. How to install and use the free version of ProTools 3.4 with the Classic Mac OS on a wide range of older hardware.
- More in the Adam's Apple index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: PowerBook 190cs, Aug. 1995 - The last 680x0-based PowerBook could take a PowerPC upgrade.
- List of the Day: The iPod List The iPod List is a forum to discuss the iPod, it's accessories, the iTunes Store, iTunes, and related topics.
- August 28 in LEM history: 95: PowerBook Duo 2300 - 00: Gaming on older Power Macs - 01: AppleShare on Linux - From Beebs and Acorns to Macs - 02: Sleep of Death, - Think smarter? - It's the software, stupid - 06: PowerBook 5300 reminiscence - You might be a Mac fanatic if... - Hiding complexity behind elegant simplicity
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- 10 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 08.28. A look at Internet Explorer, Radon, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Flock, and Camino running in Leopard.
- Clone and Boot: Another Advantage of the Mac OS, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 08.28. Unlike Windows, Apple makes it possible to clone a bootable drive (Classic Mac OS or OS X) and use it with another supported Mac.
- Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. Used 1.83 GHz, $799; 2.0 black, $875; refurb 2.1 GHz, $899; 2.4, $1,099; black, $1,299; new 2.1, $1,019 after rebate; 22, $1,094; 2.4, $1,219 a/r; black, $1,394 a/r.
- Best iMac G5 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $499; 1.8 SuperDrive, $530; 2.0, $600; 1.9 iSight, $625; 20" 1.8 GHz, $580; 2.0, $650; 2.1 iSight, $700.
- Best classic Mac OS Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.28. System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
- CrossOver Strikes Out, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 08.27. Running Windows apps on a Mac without paying for Windows is great in theory, but actually getting Windows software working is another story.
- MacDrought: 4 Months with No New Macs, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 08.27. The most recent Mac update was over four months ago, and the Mac mini has been unchanged for over a year.
- Resurrecting a Dead Pismo, Spotlight Search Tip, and EasyFind a Good File Finder, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.27. Lots of tips on bringing a comatose Pismo back to life, a Spotlight file name search tip, and EasyFind as an alternative to Spotlight.
- Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. Used 17" 1.83 GHz, $625; 20", $599; 2.16, $749; 24", $950; refurb 20" 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; new 3.06, $2,094 after rebate; more.
- Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. Used 1.25 GHz Combo, $600; SuperDrive, $650; 1.33 Combo, $640; 1.5, $680; SD, $725; 1.67, $730; hi-res, $800.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.27. 500 GB Time Capsule, $294; 1 TB, $468; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; 802.11n Base Station, $166; 802.11g AirPort Express, $60; 802.11n, $98.
- Does Running OS X System Maintenance Routines Really Do Any Good?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 08.26. Mac OS X is designed to run certain maintenance routines daily, weekly, and monthly - but can't if your Mac is off or asleep.
- Purposeful Reincarnation for Old Macs, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 08.26. The key is to avoid spending more on upgrades than the final use of the machine can justify.
- Best Power Mac G5 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.26. Used 1.6 GHz single SuperDrive, C$499; 1.8, $569; dual, $675, 2.0, $800; 2.3, C$899; 2.5, C$1,199; 2.7, $1,225; 2.5 Quad, $1,500.
- Best 17" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.26. Used 2.16 GHz Core Duo, $1,330; 2.33 C2D, $1,689; refurb, 2.4, $1,899; new, $2,099; 2.5, $2,558 after rebate; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $2,399 a/r; more.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 08.26. Refurb 3G 1 GB, $39; new 3G, $45; refurb 2 GB, $59; new, $68.
- More links in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
