[egg]

Hi,

I need to VNC into my parents imac. They are on 10.4, im using .5. Basically, getting them to open ichat can be a challange.

Any suggests how I can get a VNC connection to their imac, with the minimum of fusy from their side. Asking them to go into their router to open ports, make changes in the mac firewall etc etc - seems impossible

If I can get in once, I can fix everything for them - it's just getting in that once is the problem

cheers.

[seanc]

Get them to install LogMeIn.

Pretty simple.

https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en

[Simon]

Do you have a remote ssh login?

To turn VNC on (on the remote machine):
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -configure -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -configure -clientopts -setvncpw -vncpw abc (where abc is the password you intend to use)

Then just use any free VNC client (like this one). If there's a firewall and/or a router in between you will need to tunnel the VNC port (5900) through ssh. Or even easier, set up a local ssh forward. Add the following statement to your ~/.ssh/config:
Host remoteMac
User yourUserName
Hostname remoteMac.someHost.com
LocalForward 5900 remoteMac.someHost.com:5900

With that set up, you just open the ssh connection to remoteMac and tell your VNC client to connect to localhost:5900.


To turn VNC off (on the remote machine):
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -configure -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy no
sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -deactivate

[OreoCookie]

I've set this up (including ssh tunnel) for my parents' Mac, it's great. I can configure their system all over the world, as long as port 22 works!

Simon has essentially the correct procedure, but I think his method can be improved by an epsilon: first of all, get a (free) dyndns account. Then a legible name, e. g. mylovelyparents.dyndns.org is mapped onto the current IP address of your parents (this usually changes, static IP addresses cost extra). You need to configure your router to use dyndns -- which is standard on all routers I've seen being sold today.

Then you need to enable port forwarding: port 22 should be opened for ssh, but if you don't want to have your datastream encrypted, then you also need to open port 5900. Probably you want to open both in the beginning until you have successfully configured to port forward, close it as soon as you can!

I would use a local port number other than 5900, there may be collisions if you want to use screen sharing yourself.

Furthermore, Leopard has a built-in vnc client, there is no need to install a separate one. You launch it by selecting Go To > Connect To in the Finder. Then you enter vnc://mylovelyparents.dyndns.org:5900 (for the connection that is not encrypted) or vnc://localhost:5901 if you use encrypteion (assuming you've changed 5900 to 5901).

If you want to use an encrypted connection via ssh, I recommend that you generate a key pair so that you don't have to log in manually each time. We can give you instructions on how to do this.

[egg]

thanks everyone! I will try the direct ssh version first (more geeky and fun i think) and then logmein.

[tightsocks]

Anyone willing to walk me through this for a remote 10.4 Mac behind an Airport?
We would prefer the connection to be encrypted and for the set-up to be GUI.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by tightsocks 

Anyone willing to walk me through this for a remote 10.4 Mac behind an Airport?
We would prefer the connection to be encrypted and for the set-up to be GUI.

No problem.

The remote Mac needs to have ssh turned on. It should get a fixed IP (from the Airport's DHCP) and the Airport it's connected to needs to forward external call to a port of your choice to port 22 (ssh) and that fixed IP.

You should also have some way of knowing what IP the aiport itself has. If your ISP has issued you a fixed IP it's simple. If not (and that's usually the case) you should register with a service like DynDNS.org. You then run a little background process on the remote Mac that makes ure it's external/WAN IP (that is the IP the Airport gets from your ISP) is always connected to a certain name like myRemoteMac.dyndns.org.

Finally you turn on VNC on the remote Mac: Sys Prefs > Sharing > Apple Remote Desktop > Access Privileges... > VNC viewers ...

After that all you have to do is open the ssh tunnel to your remote Mac and forward a certain port like 5901. You do that either by using:
ssh [email protected] -L5901:myRemoteMac.local:5900
or by adding the port forward to your your ssh config file at ~/.ssh/config:
Host myRemoteMac
User yourUserName
Hostname myRemoteMac.dyndns.org
LocalForward 5901 myRemoteMac.local:5900

Then you can take any VNC client (like this fast and free one) or Leopard's built in screen sharing tool and open a connection to localhost:5901. Done.

Let us know if you need more details or have any trouble with a certain part.

[tightsocks]

Thanks for those instructions.
I'll give it a go when I get the chance.
I may have to return to this thread with more questions...!

[turtle777]

LogMeIn FTW.

I'm in the same situation as you, administrating my parents Mac.

Over the years, I have tried and used the following:
* SSH (& VNC)
* LogMeIn
* Apple Remote Desktop
* Hamachi (& VNC)

Let me tell you my experience: *NOTHING* except LogMeIn worked consistently and w/o problems.
Even SSH got screwed up, something happened to the router etc...

LogMeIn is really plug&play, and doesn't depend on any special router or network configuration.
A simple restart of the computer will make it work if gets hung up.

-t

[Simon]

What do you mean "ssh got screwed up"? You forward an external port to 22 on a local client. Any reliable router will manage to do that for years w/o any intervention. Sounds to me more like that router sucked.

I set up ssh forwarding once and never touched it again. Works like a charm.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Simon 

What do you mean "ssh got screwed up"? You forward an external port to 22 on a local client. Any reliable router will manage to do that for years w/o any intervention. Sounds to me more like that router sucked.

Yes, something *always* happens to the router, especially if you can't control it. Ask Murphy.

The roiuter is just one variable worth eliminating.

Plus, with LogMeIn, you can log in even if the computer is connect to the internet via a open WLAN or at any location at that. That just beats all the SSH (&VNC) or ARD.

-t