ARD won't save multiple computers with same IP and different port!

Question

I'm trying to access multiple computers over the internet behind a firewall with port forwarding.
I can access each computer, but ARD won't save the IP address and port (in IP Address column of ARD 3.1) of multiple computers with the same IP address. It will only save ONE. I've tried 'add by address', adding a list for each computer or adding a list for all those computers. Nothing has worked. ARD will actually change the first computer's IP address to 0.0.0.0
Example: Static IP address
Computer 1 xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:51 (public port 51 is forwarded to port 5900 on computer 1)
Computer 2 xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:52 (public port 52 is forwarded to port 5900 on computer 2)
Computer 3 xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:53 (public port 53 is forwarded to port 5900 on computer 3)
Has Apple really overlooked this or am I missing something? Isn't this how most people would remotely manage multiple Macs offsite?
Thanks

Answer 1

ARD cannot do this as you're asking. If your
workstations get their addresses from an NAT device
rather than being "real", the ports also need to be
forwarded in the router to the workstation's internal
IP address. ARD uses port 3283 for the reporting and
updating function, so if your Macs are getting their
IP addresses through NAT, since you can only forward
a port to a single workstation, you can only get
reports, push package/files to etc. for a single
workstation.
ARD uses the VNC protocol for observation and
control, though, and there are a range of IP
addresses for that protocol, starting with 5900. ARD
uses 5900 by default, so that port would be forwarded
to the first workstation. You would, I believe, need
to install VNC servers on the systems (since the ARD
client cannot listen on any port other than 5900
while VNC servers can be set for other ports such as
5901, 5902, etc. You would then forward 5901 to the
second workstation (and on to 5902, 5903, etc.). You
can then use the following information:
Remote Desktop 2: How to specify a port number
for a VNC client
to connect.
The only other options are: 1) to run the ARD
administrator on a workstation on the network, and
then take control of that system from outside, either
via VNC or another copy of ARD, or 2) set up a
virtual private network (VPN) so that when you
connect from outside, your admin system is officially
part of the local network.
Hope this helps.
That definitely helps. I have ARD installed on my MBP and on a workstation on the LAN. I have used ARD from the MBP to control ARD on a workstation on the local network, but it can get a little tricky. I already have VNC setup on all the workstations. I used to use COTVNC prior to purchasing ARD 3.1.
I guess what I'm really asking is...
How do I add a list of workstations and save the settings (same IP address for each workstation with different ports?) to control/VNC via ARD?
I simply want a list that shows each workstation, so I can control/VNC them using ARD offsite.
Name: Computer 1 IP Address: 123.123.123.123:5901
Name: Computer 2 IP Address: 123.123.123.123:5902
Name: Computer 3 IP Address: 123.123.123.123:5903
I don't want to have to manually type in the IP address into ARD every time.
Will ARD simply not add another computer to the list if it has the same IP address but different port number as a computer already on the list? I haven't been able to find a way to make ARD do this.