Enabling VNC

You can do it via kickstart, the command line agent to control ARD.

Something like this (believe it or not) should get you started (note is this one long line):

/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/ki ckstart -configure -activate -access -on -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes -setvncpw -vncpw <your VNC Password> - restart -agent

That should configure ARD to activate, allowing access and enabling VNC access using <your VNC Password>.

There are a myriad of other options, but they're probably best set via the GUi once you get past the initial login.

That's pretty nifty to know.

I was poiking around with ARD CLIENT 2.2 on my laptop and the VNC setting there don't let me specify the VNC password (whereas it DOES with access to the ARD SERVER). Does this command line agent allow for setting the VNC password?

Thanks! GB

Does this command line agent allow for setting the VNC password?

Yes.

If you look at my example, you'll see the options:

-vnclegacy yes -setvncpw -vncpw <your VNC Password>

Well, shut my mouth! 🙂 VERY cool!

Doesnt work here with Chicken of the VNC and VNCThing. I tried it on different machines (Mac OS X Client and Server, latest versions.) I get an 'incorrect password' each time i try it. Works fine when I enable it manually in the prefspane though.

After inspection of /Library/Preferences/com.apple.VNCSettings.txt, i noticed that whenever I use the kickstart command to enable it, the password is stored in clear text, whereas when I use the GUI, the password is stored encrypted. Maybe this has something to do with it?

I found a workaround for this problem. It involves making a local VNC Settings using the gui (all it stores is the VNC password anyway) and copying this over to the server.

First of all enable apple remote desktop and vnc on your local machine and choose the vnc password. Save changes.

then, in the terminal :

local machine :

scp /Library/Preferences/com.apple.VNCSettings.txt root@yourserverip:/Library/Preferences/com.apple.VNCSettings.txt

(all in one line - you will be prompted for the servers root password)

remote machine :

/System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/ki ckstart -configure -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes

(run as sudo or root - all in one line)

thought you'd like to know.

Hi There, This is what i have been looking for as well... but i think the server is running 10.3 (how do i find out by the way)... and this command gives me this back:

Unknown option: clientopts
Unknown option: setvnclegacy
Unknown option: vnclegacy
Unknown option: setvncpw
Unknown option: vncpw

How do i set up remote access to the box in 10.3?

Thanks

Simon : I suspect you are still on version 1.x of ARD Client. Only 2.x has VNC capabilities built in.

For VNC access on your machine, upgrade your client to ARD 2.x or install a third party VNC server.

I found an answer to this today thanks to the Google Cache of this page

https://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/phpwiki/index.php?pagename=Mac%20Server%20FAQ

For example, using the supplied perl code, "password" encodes as "6755221DFCC7B786FF1C39567390ADCA".

Since "kickstart" itself is written in perl, it would be nice if this encoding was done automatically.

-chuck


What about VNC connections to ARD?
sudo ./kickstart -configure -users admin -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes -setvncpw -vncpw password
Will configure vnc access for user admin with password password. As pointed out by Ben Low, the password you give here has to be 'encrypted' by truncation and XORing with a fixed key (1734516E8BA8C5E2FF1C39567390ADCA). This can be generated with the following:
perl -nwe 'BEGIN { @k = unpack "C*", pack "H*", "1734516E8BA8C5E2FF1C39567390ADCA"}; \
chomp; s/^(.{8}).*/$1/; @p = unpack "C*", $_; foreach (@k) { printf "%02X", $_ ^ (shift @p || 0) }; print "\n"'