VNC Viewers.

I am new at working with Apple products so I need help understanding some things about ARD. I just set up a Mac lab with 25 brand new iMac's. They all connect to the internet wirelessly. I logged onto each one and went into Sharing and then Remote Management. I checked everything except for "Show when being observed". I can now Observe, Control, Curtain, Install, etc. just fine. When I click on Computer Settings I see something that says VNC viewers may control screen with password. What is this? I don't have it checked right now. Also I am using Lion and all of the iMac's are running Lion.
Thanks for the help.

Dave, no one has ever defined VNC to me quite that well.
As a result, I feel you are the one to answer this question.
When setting up Lion to allow my laptop to remotely access my desktop (without ARD, I do not have $300 to spend), do I need to open up the 5900 port on my router for this to work? I have dynamic IPs. Would I have to change to the port IP access everytime I have new IP?
Screen Sharing works locally, not remotely. I have tried both Chicken of the VNC and the Finder's 'Connect to Server' when remote, neither is successfull.
I sure do appreciate any advice you may have on making this work. I found a tutorial that sent me to DynDNS to set up a domain! I was like, really? Are you serious? I don't think it is that difficult! Nothing seems to outline both setting up the server and the client. And each time I change a setting, I could be interfering with another one!
Sharing prefs have 'Screen Sharing' on and a password in place for VNC access. 'Remote Login' is also on but neither of the other 'Remote' options are enabled. I only have one user allowed access thru screen sharing.
Thanks so much for your help!!
AppleLisaRose

Similar Messages

Command key in Windows VNC viewers?

When using a vnc viewer under Windows to connect to a remote Mac, how do you do a command key (cloverleaf)?
What's your Windows vnc viewer of choice?
15" PB 1.5 Ghz G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

OK, so I'll answer my own question: it looks like th Alt key substitutes for the command key.

A stable, fast reliable VNC connection to Lion or Lion server

I hope this post help people with VNC setup from non Mac machines to a Mac running Lion or Lion Server 10.7.4.
Apple has changed quite a few things in Lion regrading VNC and screen sharing. As a consequence many VNC viewers are no longer compatible until the VNC software is upgraded to be Lion compatible. You will find many posts about this topic in this forum, eg
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3289794?start=0&tstart=0
Often, the result is that the user can't proceed beyond the gray login screen (screen locks up etc).
This post describes how configure Real VNCs VNC server on Lion Server 10.7.4 to work in conjunction! with ARD, thus allowing you to keep screen sharing enabled and still use ARD from client if that is desired)
Download the VNC server at (Version 5! necessary)
http://www.realvnc.com/download/vnc/latest/
and install the VNC server on the host (the computer you want to login to via VNC)
Single User Host setup
==================
- Install the VNC server and follow the intsruction
(If you your Mac is configured for remote management, screen sharing, remote apple events the installation may complete with error stating to contact the manufacturer....ignore the error as it most likely caused by a port conflict because VNC server and ARD (or apple scrren sgaring both use port 5900 per default), the software was still completely and correctly installed.
- start VNC Server by opening Finder -> Applications -> Real VNC -> VNC Server (User Mode)
You will see a small VNC icon in the top tsak bar of the screen.
(if you open the "information Center" the issues tab will show a port 5900 conflict)
- open VNCserver Options and select the connections tab:
+Change the default port from 5900 to 5901 and serve Java viewer on Port from 5800 to 5801
+ Change Authetication to "Mac password"
+ Select Encryption "always on"
- Selct the expert tab
+scroll down to the bottom of the list and change "StopUserModeOnSwitchOut" to "no"
(this settings prevents the VNC server to be stopped automatically if you have Fast Switching User Mode enabled on the host.)
- select "Apply"
(now if you open the Information Center" again, the port conflict problem should be solved.
- select "open" from the VNC server menu:
If the configuration was succesful, thw window will show a check mark in a green box stating everything is ok.
- In addition you will find the address that the client user will need to connect to the VNC server on the host
it will say something like "VNC viewer user can connect using the address 192.168.x.y:1"
Note: If you start several VNC servers, each session will need a dedicated port (like 5902, 5903 etc)
Router/Firewall Settings:
===================
Depending on the router/firewall you use your ports may have been automatically configured for you (airPort extreme for example).
You need to open port 5901 and 5801 and forward these ports to the IP address of the host. If ARD was alredy working in your setup, you can copy the port coniguration for ports 5900, 3283 and 3306 that are used by ARD and implement the same rules for the new port used by VNC 5901.
Review the settings of your firewall/router.
VNC client
========
- download the VNC client for your OS from
http://www.realvnc.com/download/viewer/
and follow the install instructions.
- Start the VNC client on your client PC (Windows for example) and enter the address that the VNC server reported to you earlier (192.168.x.y:1)
- Encryption : "Let VNC Server choose"
- select "connect"
- enter your Mac username and password that was setup on your host
you are now connected via VNC to your host.
You can also configure the VNC server to allow other users to login to the same! VNC session using their user credentials (friends/family or serverAdmins that want to share access to the host)
To do this open the options dialog box on the VNC server host computer and select "configure" next to authentication.
- add the users that are supposed to get access to your VNC session using their own credentials. (make sure this is what you really want, otherwise read on in the multi user section of this post)
Multi User Host Setup
=================
If multiple users are supposed to access the host computer using their own credentials logging into their own! desktop, follow these instructions:
- first enable Fast User Switching on your host computer by going to
System preferences -> User/Groups -> Login Options and select the check box "show fast user switching menu as..."
- For each user on the host that should be reached via a VNC session start VNC server (user) as described before and assign a new port number to the new user like 5902 etc.
- repeat the configuration outlined above for each user (eg. "StopUserModeOnSwitchOut" to "no")
(note initilally when you start the VNC server for the first time again, you will get notified that a port conflict exists again....this disappears as soon as the new port is configured)
now another user can login via VNC into his own desktop using the server address : "191.168..x.y.:2"
Final notes:
=========
I spent hours trying to get a variety of VNC viewers to work with the new screen sharing/VNC implementation in Lion and finally gave up. I called Apple Enterprise support and they confirmed that "a majority of the existing VNC products are not compatible with the new VNC implementation in Lion yet and that Apple recommends ARD". The discussion on what other non Mac users (Windows, Linux) should do did not go anywhere....
I have tested the above configuration with the free version VNC server 5 on the host and the free version VNC viewer 5 on a client. It worked flawlessly, fast, reproducable and very stable. You need to be aware that depending on the features you want (number of desktops, users etc) that you may have to purchase the personal or enterprise edition for the server.
The featurs are described here:
http://www.realvnc.com/products/vnc/
I personally installed the enterprise edition after I verified that the free editions worked stable and reliably as I needed them to work.
I hope you now have a stable VNC link into your Lion host from the platform of your choice !

I'm using the free VNC edition from RealVNC on Mt. Lion (10.8.5) and the basic information is in this article for Lion is confirmed for the VNC Server 5.0.6 (r113416) on Mt. Lion.
The main Options... window shows the Connections tab and I just changed my port to something other than 5900 and the port conflict went away.
The Free edition does not allow Mac password and encryption can't be enabled. (Ya gotta pay for that.)
Connected to it from my iPod Touch using Mocha VNC with no problems.

Screen Sharing / vnc with OS X 10.5.6 fails

I can not get the Screen Sharing that comes with OS X 10.5.6 to work with any vnc client. The server is my laptop, an MBP 2.4 GHz Intel running OS X 10.5.6.
*I enable Screen Sharing by doing the following:*
1) +System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing+ is checked
2) +System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing > Computer Settings > Anyone may request permission to control screen+ is checked
3) +System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing > Computer Settings > VNC viewers may control screen with password+ is checked and I've entered a password
4) I also have Remote Login enabled for SSH access, but no other services are enabled.
*I see two different behaviors depending on one of two clients that I try using:*
1) +Chicken of the VNC v2.0b4+ running on same machine- Always says "Connection Terminated / Authentication Failed" without ever asking for a password. Logs the following in system.log (dates, hostnames and pids removed):
Chicken of the VNC: Server reports Version RFB 003.889
Chicken of the VNC: Bogus RFB Protocol Version Number from AppleRemoteDesktop, switching to protocol 003.007
I believe that the information in system.log is OK, and is just warning me that Chicken of the VNC is working around Apple's strange protocol version.
2) +TightVNC 1.3.9 on Windows XP sp2+- Says "Security type requested", then asks for a password. I enter it, click OK and tightvnc simply waits endlessly.
*Other Notes:*
1) I have tried configuring and starting the server using kickstart from the command line as suggested at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2370 (+sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/k ickstart -activate -configure -access -on -restart -agent -privs -all+)
2) I have tried unchecking +VNC viewers may control screen with password+, but in this case Chicken of the VNC says "Please configure Apple Remote Desktop to allow VNC Viewers to control the screen. Unknown authType 30,31,32" and TightVNC says "Server did not offer supported security type!"
3) If I disable the Screen Sharing feature that comes out of the box with OS X, I CAN install and successfully run the OSXVnc server available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/osxvnc/. In this case, both Chicken of the VNC and TightVNC are able to connect.
*So Apple's Screen Sharing does not work. Does anyone know what the problem is? Are there any log files I can look at, or is there another way I can debug this? I'm not impressed. :)*

Thanks for the suggestion. It was possible that one of these files had become corrupted, so I tried moving each of these files to another directory but unfortunately I'm still seeing the same behavior.
Here's what happens with each of these files individually after they're moved:
1) When I set the VNC password in the system prefs, com.apple.VNCSettings.txt gets re-created (with the same contents as the original unless I change the password, so that just looks like a hash of the password).
2) com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist also gets recreated when I change the system prefs. If I use "sudo plutil -convert xml1 com.apple.RemoteManagement.plist" I get the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>ARD_AllLocalUsers</key>
<true/>
<key>ARD_AllLocalUsersPrivs</key>
<integer>2</integer>
<key>ScreenSharingReqPermEnabled</key>
<true/>
<key>VNCLegacyConnectionsEnabled</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>
3) For me, com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist does not exist.
4) Interestingly, com.apple.ARDAgent.plist does not get created until I run "sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/k ickstart -activate -configure -access -on -restart -agent -privs -all". Its XML contents are as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>AdminConnectInfoList</key>
<dict/>
<key>AgentLogLevel</key>
<integer>3</integer>
<key>ServerConnectInfoList</key>
<dict/>
<key>Version</key>
<real>3</real>
</dict>
</plist>
Looking at this, I tried setting ScreenSharingReqPermEnabled to false, but that didn't help. Then I increased AgentLogLevel to 100 and got a lot of output in system.log (12:28:45 is when I restart the server and 12:29:34 is when I try to connect):
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: ******ARDAgent Launched******
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: got a sessionDict, onConsoleRef is 0xa04cd400
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: grUserOnConsole is 1
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 122
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: LoadMenuExtra: Attempting to unload menu extra
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: PostNotificationForced: Going to send notifation value 9
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: UpdatePrefs: versionFlt : 0.000000 kCurrentPrefsVersion : 3.000000
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 44
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 22
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 100
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 94
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 96
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 18
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 106
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 74
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 130
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 60
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 45
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 65
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 66
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 105
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 115
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 38
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 12
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 61
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 20
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 62
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 39
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 30
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 101
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 53
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 103
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 107
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 109
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 135
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 41
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 110
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 111
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 28
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 36
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 48
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 59
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 57
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 116
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 58
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: InitAppUsageHandlers: Called gTrackingDays is set to 0
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: CheckRFBServerPIDFile: return 679
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: RemoteCommandListenerThread init communications
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: RFBServerStart - did not kill 679
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: DOCStartDOC: No serial number. Task Server not started.
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: DT_InitLocalProcessing: Loading existing tasks from disk.
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: DT_InitLocalProcessing: Found 0 tasks
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 158
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 117
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 118
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: AddHandler: Added handler for cmdCode 162
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: ARD Agent: RFB Server exited quickly after starting - probable failure.
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: PostNotificationForced: Going to send notifation value 6
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: PostNotificationForced: Setting lastNotification to value 6
Feb 24 12:28:45 ARDAgent [749]: ******ARDAgent Ready******
Feb 24 12:29:34 Chicken of the VNC[693]: Server reports Version RFB 003.889
Feb 24 12:29:34 Chicken of the VNC[693]: Bogus RFB Protocol Version Number from AppleRemoteDesktop, switching to protocol 003.007
Feb 24 12:29:36 ARDAgent [749]: PostNotificationForced: Going to send notifation value 1
Feb 24 12:29:36 ARDAgent [749]: PostNotificationForced: Got request for kCurrentStateNotification. Sending value 6
Interesting that it says "ARD Agent: RFB Server exited quickly after starting - probable failure." That doesn't sound too good.
I will try to watch fs_usage more closely to see what else gets modified and accessed, but I'm increasingly suspicious that there's simply a bug which is showing up under whatever specific conditions I have on my machine. Perhaps the included log info will trigger an idea for someone.

Which VNC program should I use to remotely connect to my Mac?

I have attempted to use both RealVNC Viewer and TightVNC. I have set up "Screen sharing" within Leopard and ensured that in the "Security" settings in System Preferences that "allow all incoming connections" is checked. I have also ensured that port 5900 (the default port for vnc) is routing to my mac through my router.
I can initiate a connection to my mac but the second the connection starts to open, it resets. I am not sure what what I'm doing wrong and am open to suggestions.

You could just as easily get by with "set access for specific services and applications" on the remote server machine, as an FYI.
Are you attempting to VNC across the internet at large, or are you on the same local subnet? If you are trying to do this across the internet at large, you need to do some configuration to the router on the server end (which I am assuming is a home-based machine), as you have done.
Are you using Leopard for both client (local) and server (remote) machines? Then use the built-in Screen Sharing on the client machine in Finder. Just do a ⇧⌘k to browse the home network (if you are on the same subnet), click on the server machine, then click on Share Screen. Or you can do ⌘k and enter vnc://remoteComputerName or vnc://remoteComputer192.or10.IPaddress if local. If trying to do this across the internet, you would ⌘k and enter vnc://yourDomainName (if you have a domain name for your home network like from noip.com or dyndns.com) or vnc://yourRouter's_External_WAN_IPaddress. And you would need port forwarding set up in your home router.
If you don't have Leopard on both machines, and you have to use a VNC client like RealVNC Viewer or TightVNC or CotVNC or JollysFastVNC or..., then on the remote server Leopard computer, in its System Preferences Sharing, after you single-click on Screen Sharing and have checked the checkbox, make sure you click on Computer Settings... and click on VNC Viewers may control screen with password and enter a password that the client VNC program would use.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 and Real VNC

Just wanted to post an FYI, that recently I found out VNC (Real VNC) Server & Viewer were conflicting with ARD 3.2 in terms of screen sharing/control. All other connections were fine. (e.g. chat, message, package install, etc..) For me to regain a successful connection to my clients I had to uninstall VNC, reboot and "whalla" screen share/control was full functional again. I don't know if anyone had a work around for the two programs to work simultaneously, but I couldn't figure it out and just uninstalled VNC. Not sure if this would be the same case with Ultra VNC, but I think it is safe to say that if you are wanting to remote manage a group of Macs (PC's included) you should stick with just one program. Any thoughts out there?

The "normal" version:
Yep. All generic VNC software will conflict with ARD. This is a good note for most admins out there.
The "geek" version:
Tell RealVNC to use port 5901. Look at the "Connection Options" section of the documentation for your server-side os/version.
The "too much information?" version:
Actually, VNC servers and ARD do just fine side by side. (Aside from listening and bonjour advertising and that), both servers are actually inactive until they receive a connection request. The clincher is that any services ...from Apache to ARD reports to SMB to VNC... always need to be listening to different sockets on different ports. In the good old days, VNC servers could actually listen on several ports and would serve at different color depths and resolutions based on the port number of an incoming request. In fact even today, because ARD uses a mostly standards-compliant VNC implementation, it has to use a different port for reports and commands and such so it won't conflict with the inbuilt VNC server.
VNC is usually on port 5900 nowadays. ARD uses 5900 for its VNC without asking. ARD also uses (or has used) 3283, 5432, 5433, and 5988 for reports and other non-VNC communication. (See: Apple's [list of common ports|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629].) In my experience, ARD's VNC client can very reliably control standards-compliant VNC servers, though your mileage may vary.
-- To control a non-ARD VNC server via ARD, just do whatever you normally would in ARD. When controlling, it may warn you that the VNC server doesn't support keystroke encryption, etc. but should still work fine.
-- To connect ARD to a VNC service running on a different port, choose "Add by Address… ⌥⇧⌘N" and in the address field, type the domain name or IP address as you normally would, but append a full colon ":" and the port number. For example, jsmith.example.com:5901 would connect to the computer named jsmith but would look for the VNC service on port 5901.
-- To control a Mac which is running the OS's ARD-VNC server from a third-party VNC app, you must have 'plain' VNC access turned server-side (that is, on the Mac to be controlled: System Prefs > Sharing > Remote Management > Computer Settings > "VNC viewers…"). As long as you use a decent client, it should work reliably after that.
I routinely run the standard ARD "Remote Management" services on my servers for normal remote interaction, but then have a Vine Server set up on 5901 with vastly different settings to benefit low bandwidth connections from the internet, from my iPod's VNC client, or through bouncy ssh tunnels.
If you have any other experiences or questions, or especially if anyone wants try any of this and encounters problems, by all means post back.
Cheers, Joel

Remote Management and Windows VNC clients

Hey guys,
I recently had a go at getting the built-in VNC server in Leopard (as part of remote management) up and running.
Remote control works flawlessly from other Macs, but it refuses connections to Windows clients most of the time (throws up errors like 'Error waiting for server message' or something).
Any ideas? I thought it might have something to do with the Windows client not understanding the encryption, but haven't found any way to change security settings.
Thanks in advance!

Have you giving the server a VNC password?
System Preferences -> Sharing -> Remote Management -> Computer Settings -> VNC viewers may control screen with password: xxxxxxx
What VNC client are you using on Windows. Not all VNC clients are created equal? I know about TightVNC (which has been reported to work), RealVNC, and UltraVNC are 3 that I've heard about.
You can also install your own VNC server (in parallel using a different port or instead of the Mac OS X VNC). Vine Server (aka OSXvnc) has been used successfully for years. After all not all VNC servers are created equal either

VNC viewing problem

I'm running 10.5.5 on my 17" MacBook Pro and have VNC enabled (requiring a password). I work in a place full of linux work stations and these guys use VNC all the time. I'm the only Mac guy in the house .
Anyway, I can join in on any of their VNC sessions by bringing up RealVNC's VNCViewer and typing in a specific IP address followed by ":1" and after entering the password I can see their world. The Console says the following when I connect:
11/17/08 3:33:07 PM [0x0-0x42042].com.realvnc.VNCViewer[598] Connected to 10.66.87.15 on port 5901
However, if I do a Connect To Server and enter vnc://10.66.87.15:1 then I immediately get a connection failure dialog box. Similarly, if I ask any of those guys to look at my screen, they type in my IP address (with or without "") into their VNC viewer and they get the password prompt. When they enter the password, my menu bar flashes briefly (nothing reported in the Console) and their application hangs - requiring a force quit. This is usually followed by gratuitous snickering etc...
I'm stumped - any ideas?
Mick.

I just want to make sure I understand. When you say requiring a password, did you use
System Preferences -> Sharing -> Computer Settings
[X] VNC viewers may control screen with password:
You will be using VNC port 5900. Or in their world,
Port 5900 is the standard VNC port. Many VNC servers/viewers use the shorthand , :1, :2, etc... to mean 5900, 5901, 5902, etc...
Your vnc://address.of.Linux.sys:5901 is because a URL is a full address and the : in that address is a generic way to specify a port via a URL, not a special VNC shorthand notation.
If you do not make any progress, you can always install the Vine Server, assign it to port 5901, and let your Linux co-workers use that to view your screen.
Also, you might want to check out JollysFastVNC client and the Chicken of the VNC clients, if for some reason the RealVNC and or the Linux Screen Sharing clients give you problems. Depending on the situation I use different VNC viewers. Some give better remote F8 key control during boot, some a better at low bandwidth performance, some do copy/paste better, etc... Your mileage may vary.

VNC setup in Leopard

I have an iMac at home running leopard and connected to my Airport extreme base station (new model) through an ethernet cable. I would like to remotely connect to this iMac with my MacBook from school over the internet. I know i must configure a VNC connection but I am a bit confused as to how to do it. From what I gather, these are the steps to take:
1. Enable screensharing on iMac through systemprefrences\sharing and allow VNC viewers to control with password.
2. Configure Airport Extreme Base Station port mapping to allow "apple remote desktop" connections.
3. Use Chicken of the VNC to remotely connect by typing the ip address of my home internet connection followed by the port number....example: 89.94.4.292:5900, enter password and click connect.
When I do this, Chicken of the VNC does not connect and it gives me error. what am I doing wrong? Do I have to enable "Remote management" under systemprefrenses\sharing also or is it a firewall problem? I would appreciate step by step instructions or a link to a website with instructions for doing this with Leopard. (I've found some but they're outdated). Thank you.

Enable "remote management" then under settings, enable "VNC Viewers can...."
Screen sharing is for local network, unless you have .Mac and can use Back to My Mac, in which case you would not need VNC.

VNC Mocha Lite, DynDNSm, iPhone setup for accessing Mac outside network

Not sure if this will help but it took some trial and error to get right. This is to help those who want to use the Mocha VNC program to remotely access their Mac from outside their own network. Hope it helps.
1. First you need to get a domain name (free) from www.dyndns.org. Simply go there and sign up for a free account and pick your domain name (such as joeblow.homeip.net)
2. Goto the Mac you want to remotely control. In System Prefs goto the "Sharing" menu. Make sure to click on the "Screen Sharing" option (no need for Remote Login/Mgmt, etc). Then click on "Computer Settings...". Check on the second option "VNC viewers may control screen with password:" Then type in a password and hit "Okay"
3. Open Airport Utility
4. First you need to ensure the Mac retains a static IP address within your network if you access the network wirelessly. Your router may change it from time to time, so just to be sure, make it static. You do this by selecting your router then 'Manual Setup'.
5. Click on the "Internet" option at the top of the setup dialog box, then select the "DHCP" tab.
6. In the "DHCP Reservations", hit the "+" sign below.
7. Type in the description, for me this is simply the name of the Mac we are setting up, you can name this whatever you like.
8. Be sure the "MAC Address" is checked and hit "Continue".
9. Type in the MAC address, you can get this from the "Network Utility" utility found in the Applications/Utility folder and in the dropdown box be sure you select "en1". You do not have to type in the ":", it will automatically be done. Then in the "IPv4 Address" box type in the IP address you want to set as static for the Mac. For me, i simply used the address my router had currently given it, 10.0.1.197, but it can be 10.0.1.19x. for most who aren't connecting to more than 10 computers this won't be a problem. Hit "Done", you have not made the IP address for the Mac static.
10. Now you have to 'port forward' a port on the router so that when a call is made from outside the network on a certain port, it is forwarded to this Mac. Click the "Advanced" icon at the top of the Airport Utility application. Then click the "Port Mapping" tab.
11. click the "+" button below.
12. In the first two boxes, type in "5900" (if you add other Macs, make it 5901, 5902, etc, etc, each Mac must have a unique "Public" UDP and TCP port). Then in the private IP address type in the IP address you just reserved for the Mac. In the two bottom "Private" port text boxes type in "5900" (this is the same for ALL Macs...for whatever reason, on the Mac, VNC only seemed to work on port 5900). When done, hit 'continue'.
13. Type in a name for this port mapping - I used "VNC - {name of computer}" and then hit "Done"
14. Click the "Update" button at the bottom right of the Airport Utility app to update your router with these new settings. That's all you need for the Mac.
15. After installing VNC Mocha Lite on your iPhone. Open up the app and hit the "Menu" button, the "Edit Connections". Select one of the empty 6 connections.
16. In the "VNC Server IP Address" type the dyndns.org name you reserved "joeblow.homeip.net".
17. In the "VNC Server Port" box type 5900 (or 5901, 5902 etc, for subsquent computers)
18. In the "VNC Password" box type in the password you created in step 2 above
19. Give it a name in the next text box, whatever you like
20. Be sure the Mac OS X server is "On" as well as all the other options.
21. That's it, you should be set.
Hopefully this helps others.

Thanks a million, Dave and John, for the very helpful responses and suggestions. I now understand that with OS X 10.5.2 there is a "built-in" VNC-like server, thus there is no need to run Vine Server.app; I also checked, it is NOT in the Login list (under Accounts), hence does not automatically load in the background.
One puzzlement and one question:
The Puzzlement: the Password necessary for connection seems to be my regular password to log in to my Mac as a user. Whatever password I set under System Preferences>Sharing>ScreenSharing>Computer Settings>Password seems to have absolutely no influence on my being able to login with my iPhone with the (stored on the iPhone) "regular" password. that is to say, no matter what password I set on the MAC, I am not being asked and the iPhone connects and displays the screen. Go figure! ???
The Question: how do I do a port forward on the Airport Extreme BaseStation?
Using the Airport Utility.app (vers. 7.3.2)>Manual Setup>Advanced tab>PortMapping tab I click the plus button and then I am at a loss what Service to choose (Personal File Sharing, I assume?) and what numbers/digits I need to fill into these fields. Any advice appreciated.
I will follow-up on the dyndns.org advice.
Hope that you can help.
Thanks and cheers,
Veit

How do I enable VNC remote login on Snow leopard?

I am setting up a Mac Mini running SL for my in-laws in NYC. I have been using Chicken of the VNC to access their Windows machine to keep it running with all of the viruses and malware they continually download.
I had found instructions on how to enable OSX's built in VNC access:
http://www.dssw.co.uk/blog/2007/05/14/a-vnc-server-is-included-in-mac-os-x-104/
but when trying to set it up I find that SL's systems sharing preferences have changed and I do not see VNC on the list...
What do I do?

Do I need to enable BOTH remote management AND screen sharing and if so which one do I enable first?
What users need to be defined in "Allow Access"? All Users or just the under accounts defined on the host machine?
In Remote management Under "Computer Settings" which should I have checked: ... only "VNC viewers may control screen with password"? (and of course enter password...) Does anything need to be filled into the "Computer Information fields .. and if so what?
Under "Screen Sharing" what users need to be defined in "Allow Access"? All Users or just the under accounts defined on the host machine?
Again in "Computer Settings" which should I have checked: ... only "VNC viewers may control screen with password"? (and of course enter password...)
Thanks... this is the only thing I have yet encountered on a Mac that is more difficult to get working than it is on a WinDoze machine.....

VNC from PC to Mac?

If a PC has a VNC client, and I'm running Screen Sharing, would the PC be able to control/observe my Mac?

Thought I'd answer this since there are a few similar questions posted without any real answers to the problem.
YES, you can use TightVNC on a Windows PC to remote control a Mac with it's built in Apple Remote Desktop feature (10.4 and newer). There is only one little check box that normally prevents this though. To enable it, open the Sharing control panel and click on Apple Remote Desktop (which should be checked, meaning it's running) and then click "Access Privileges..." From the next screen, you will see an option that says "VNC viewers may control screen with password:"...click the checkbox to enable it and enter a password of your choice.
That's it!
I've tried the RealVNC client but it didn't work off the bat and TightVNC does, so I haven't bothered to explore RealVNC further.
Message was edited by: Autograph
Message was edited by: Autograph
Message was edited by: Autograph
Message was edited by: Autograph

VNC / Screen Sharing SLOOOW after Chicken of the VNC connection

We have a vacation home with a Mac Mini installed behind a standard cable modem / router. I occasionally VNC using the Lion Screen Sharing function (Connect to Server aka Command-K, vnc://ipaddressofvacationhome). I have the ports open on my router, everything worked well up until today.
I was having some redraw issues with Screen Sharing over the internet, so I thought I'd try another VNC client to see if that worked any faster / better. In Sharing/ Screen Sharing I enabled "VNC viewers may control my screen with password" (usually i just login with the user account of the machine with the built in client.
Anyway, I connected this way with COTVNC once and didn't like it, so uninstalled it and went back to use my built in Lion VNC app. Now the VNC session is crawling slow (10-20 seconds to register a click) and I've tried everything to get it back from restarting to turning screen sharing off and on, unchecking VNC viewers may control my screen with password... everything. It seems that COTVNC has crippled my VNC connection and I have no idea why. A google search came up with nothing, so I thought I'd come here. The weird thing is... it's not physically taxing the cpu or anything, becuase if I connect via teamviewer that is also installed that is snappy. It's only when I use VNC. Sure I could continue to use teamviewer, but I liked the response time using the native client.
Any ideas? Is there a way to reset the VNC service or something to clear the cobwebs of COTVNC away?

I should also add that this mac mini in the vacation home is headless (no monitor). I'm not sure if COTVNC could have messed up some video setting when it connected which the machine couldn't repaid upon disconnection because of the lack of montior attached.

Best Method to Connect to My MAC Mini - VNC, Remote Desktop etc

First Post so please go easy on me....
I have had my MAC Mini (1st ever MAC) just one week now and trying to get setup just how I want it and finding hard to find the right program / method to remotely access and control it from my Windows 7 Laptop. Can you please offer some advice and I have used VNC but i am finding that it is delayed as well as being very jumpy. Now I use my ipad to connect using splashtop remote which is very smooth and would like something that can handle the task until I can persuade the other half to get me a Macbook.
Thank you

Spikey72 wrote:
Thanks for your comment mooblie, when you use free vnc do you actually use any other installed software on your MAC as I believe there is a built in MAC Server / Client in OSX 10.6?
You're right - there is a VNC server built-into Snow Leopard - as plcn says.
So "no" you don't need any more software on the Mac. Set it up like this:
System Prefs: Sharing: Screen Sharing: Computer Settings: Enable VNC Viewers...

How can i control my new mac mini using my new macbook air? Thanks

Hi, I would like to control and even file share my macmini using my macbook air... the mac mini is plugged into the family 50inch plasma... so getting access to it is not always easy! I'd like to play itunes, films, file share, just about do everything from the macbook air as if I was on and in front of the macmini... i'm hoping to do this from any country using wifi!
I've looked at screens - vnc client, but can;t find anywhere where it says I should download the app... is there a master to download to the mac mini, then waht do i download to the macbook air to enjoy control... also am i expected to download twice and pay twice?
I'm very new to the mac world... loving it, but lots to learn! Appreciate your help, thank you
Chris
PS... bonus if I can also control the mac mini using my iphone4 and ipad 2 (yup, my bank balance took a major hit.... apple certainly got me hooked!)

Sceen sharing is built into the OS go to your help in the finder and type in "screen sharing"
To set up screen sharing: (on the mini)
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Sharing.
Select the Screen Sharing checkbox.
To specify who can share your screen, select one of the following:
All users: Select this if you want to allow any user with a user account on your computer to share your screen.
Only these users: Select this if you want to restrict screen sharing to specific users.Click Add at the bottom of the Users list and select a user from Users & Groups (accounts you have set up in Accounts preferences), Network Users (users on your network), or your Address Book. Or click New Person and enter a name and password to create a sharing account. Then select that user from the list and click Select.
Click Computer Settings and set the following options:
Anyone may request permission to control screen: Select this to allow anyone on your network to request to share your screen.
VNC viewers may control screen with password: Select this and enter a password that VNC viewer applications can enter in order to control your screen.
It’s recommended that you not set a password if you only share this computer’s screen using the built-in screen sharing viewer in Mac OS X.

VNC Viewers.

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