How to start a VNC session on mac-mini to remotely log in, not screen sharing?

I'm not sure it is possible on a Mac. All of the third party apps I know of will also affect and control the screen of the user working on the physical system. On Linux it is possible to create other virtual displays on the X Server of the system you want to connect to so you can connect to a Linux system and use the GUI without affecting a user logged into the physical Linux system.

If you don't need to use the GUI, then you can just ssh into the remote system although you will first need to enable this feature in the Sharing System Preferences.

If you can get a vnc client, that will do a macOS username & password login, and not a vnc password only login, then you can access a different account from the one logged in on the display.

RealVNC might support this.

fejj.net wrote:

Wanted to mark this as "answered my question" as well, but apparently can do that to only one.

You can only mark one response as "Answered my question". However, you can mark to additional answers as "Helpful".

The RealVNC server costs.

Do I need to license the software?
No. VNC® Viewer is always free to use. Just accept the EULA the first time you run.

The Real VNC Viewer generally is free to use

https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/linux

I'm not sure it is possible on a Mac. All of the third party apps I know of will also affect and control the screen of the user working on the physical system. On Linux it is possible to create other virtual displays on the X Server of the system you want to connect to so you can connect to a Linux system and use the GUI without affecting a user logged into the physical Linux system.

If you don't need to use the GUI, then you can just ssh into the remote system although you will first need to enable this feature in the Sharing System Preferences.

SecretStudioReports wrote:

If you can get a vnc client, that will do a macOS username & password login, and not a vnc password only login, then you can access a different account from the one logged in on the display.

The RealVNC Viewer (free) can make a macOS username & Password login. I've done it, logging into a different account than what is controlling the screen. There is someone at work that does it from a Windows system at home to their company Mac in the office (well that was before the Covid-19 work from home).

https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/linux

I do not use Linux as a workstation, so I cannot test what you are doing.

I have frequently used a Mac to connect to a separate account on another Mac while the user of that Mac has control of the screen, and there is never any interaction.

My Wife actually uses TurboTax on my personal Mac via Screen Sharing from her Mac. See does not have control of the physical screen, just a virtual screen.

I have experimented with RealVNC Viewer on 1 Mac and logged into a separate account that did not interact with the normal account controlling the physical screens.

NOTE: It is necessary to NOT use the VNC password, but rather use a separate macOS username & password account.

Actually, I would suggest disabling the VNC password, so it cannot be used. It is insecure anyway. That way there can be no confusion about how you are connecting to the Mac.

I could not get TigerVNC to use the macOS username & password, so I assumed TigerVNC only works with the VNC password and controls the physical screens.

As I said, I am not familiar with Linux as a workstation, so I do not know what VNC clients are available. Knowing the Open Source world, there are most likely a lot. I'm guessing many just use the VNC password, and not a username & password, but I hope more than just RealVNC offer username & password support (I could be wrong).

Once you are connected to a username & password macOS account, then keeping the virtual desktop separate from the user physically controlling the screen should all be macOS, and that has been available for years, and is well debugged software.

BobHarris wrote:

I have frequently used a Mac to connect to a separate account on another Mac while the user of that Mac has control of the screen, and there is never any interaction.

NOTE: It is necessary to NOT use the VNC password, but rather use a separate macOS username & password account.

I had trouble connecting to my Mac using a Linux VNC client without enabling the VNC password. I didn't try to troubleshoot it too long, but I was never able to get the VNC client to connect to the Mac using a user name & password. I wasn't sure I was issuing the command correctly since the Linux VNC client documentation is a bit confusing (had trouble incorporating the ssh portion into one VNC command as well). As soon as I enabled the VNC password on the Mac, I could connect. This is perhaps some of the trouble the OP is having as well.

I could not get TigerVNC to use the macOS username & password, so I assumed TigerVNC only works with the VNC password and controls the physical screens.

I'm thinking the same thing as I have uses Tiger or Tight VNC (forget which) although the VNC client utility interface appears to have options for using the user name & password feature. I know connecting to another Linux system over VNC allows you to manually select a different "screen" if you start the VNCserver to create a new "screen". It has been a while since I had to connect to my other Linux system with VNC so I forget whether it used the username & password or just the VNC password.

As I said, I am not familiar with Linux as a workstation, so I do not know what VNC clients are available. Knowing the Open Source world, there are most likely a lot. I'm guessing many just use the VNC password, and not a username & password, but I hope more than just RealVNC offer username & password support (I could be wrong).

Remmina is a more full featured GUI app for Linux that might have more options as it uses a lot of different remote access & desktop protocols. I think there was another GUI app as well, but I don't recall its name since I chose Remmina once years ago when I was just learning how to connect remotely. I just wanted a GUI interface at the time. I haven't used it in years.

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HWTech,

Are you trying to use the default VNC client (/bin/vncviewer). If that is the case, I do not think it includes macOS username & password login protocols.

The RealVNC client (free download) mentioned above, should include the macOS username & password protocols. I say should because I do not have a Linux workstation to experiment with.

Using the VNC password ALWAYS results in sharing the physical screen. It NEVER gives you a virtual screen. Only logging into a different username & password account will give the virtual screen.

And of course if you login to the account that has current control of the screen, then you get control of the physical screen as well. To get a virtual screen, you have to use a username & password that is different from the user logged into the actual Mac controlling the physical screen.

Two additional :)