Q: How do you set up computers so that you can see them with Remote Desktop?
I have just purchased Remote Desktop 3.8 and when I try to view the computers on the network I get the error message, "Authentication Failed to computername". I am obviously missing something. Can anyone tell me what it is?
Thank you,
Remote Desktop 3.8, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
Posted on Aug 5, 2015 3:42 PM
It's difficult to do this retrospectively and should really be done at the outset. Basically begin at the end to start at the beginning. Depending on how many workstations you want to support this may involve a lot of legwork?
What you do is:
1 - Decide on a local administrator name and password (keep the password to yourself) for all the workstations.
2 - Enable Remote Management in the Sharing Preferences Pane and select all the options on all the workstations.
3 - Enable Remote Login (SSH) as an extra safety net and back door way in.
Ideally all of the above should be done when creating your master image/images and deploying it/them to your workstations with whatever you're using for deployment. That way everything is pre-configured for you and won't - hopefully - involve any further legwork?
If you've had the foresight to enable SSH and forgot about Remote Management then you're halfway there. Simply launch Terminal on the mac you're using for administration, establish an SSH connection to your workstations and send this command first:
sudo systemsetup setremotelogin on
Followed by this command:
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/k ickstart -activate -configure -access -on -users ????? -privs -all -restart -agent -menu
Where ????? is the short name of the local administrator account on that workstation.
Launch ARD Admin on whatever mac you're using for administration and use its scanner feature to discover the workstations. Select them all, click observe first (rather than control) and when prompted key in the administrator name and password you'd decided on. When successful all of the workstations will display a solid blue 'light' by the side of their name or IP address. You can then select them afterwards and click control either singly or all together. In the scanner part of ARD Macs will always appear with a blue icon. Anything else - printers, PCs, switches etc - will always display a black icon.
Finally, if the local admin accounts on all your workstations are different - ie: different account names and passwords - then you can still use the above advice (provided you've enabled SSH first) although you've got to remember a lot of different names and passwords which involves a lot more effort. This could be why you're getting the error message you're seeing? If you're using your the local admin name and password on the mac you've installed ARD on and it's different than the one on the workstations you're trying to control, it won't work.
If you're new to ARD (the admin part you've purchased) then it can be difficult at first to understand/appreciate fully on how to use it? However, stick with it as it is an extremely powerful tool in helping to administer a fleet of mac workstations. Yes it does have its 'features' such as randomly crashing - occasionally - for no particular reason as well as randomly displaying incorrect names or the odd error message which does not have any connection with what you're trying to achieve. But, as already mentioned, it is a powerful tool and represents great value for money. Furthermore when coupled together with OS X Server, DeployStudio, Munki etc it forms a solid quartet of mac specific management tools which can and does deliver in a major way.
Does this help?
Posted on Aug 10, 2015 3:42 AM