[subego]

I’ve mentioned my dad is ending up in the hospital with more frequency.

The TikTok project I’m working on is also starting production, and the plan is to generate new content every week.

So, I need to set things up where I can remotely keep the post-production workflow going, even if I’m pinned down in the hospital.

What I need is what Screen Sharing does. I need full control of the production computer’s UI. I don’t think I can use Screen Sharing proper because that seems to require someone on the other end to accept the Screen Sharing request.

Anyone have suggestions for remote control of this type which won’t require someone at the other end? Preferably something that’s not a PITA to set up and isn’t hot garbage, unlike Apple Remote Desktop.

[andi*pandi]

Is the production computer a Mac?

[OreoCookie]

Sorry to hear about your dad, subego. :sad: You mentioned over time that you were spending more time with him, trying to do stuff together, watch movies, talk, that kind of thing. I think that counts for a lot.

[subego]

Thank you!

Luckily, so far it’s all been things he can bounce back from, but it’s inevitable the future holds that will be less and less the case.

Also luckily, in an emergency I can pare work down to a couple hours a week, and hopefully get a remote solution going.

@Andi, it is indeed a Mac. A 2015 iMac running Monterey. Since TikTok is only 1080, I don’t need a lot of horsepower.

Edit: and my laptop is a 2017 MBP, also Monterey.

[ghporter]

On a local network, Screen Sharing gives you TOTAL control of the remote Mac. I haven’t bothered to migrate a bunch of apps from my older MBP to the new one because I just remote in and use the apps on the older machine.

I do not know how to set things up to use Mac Screen Sharing to remote in from outside the LAN, but I imagine it’s possible…

For a number of reasons, I use RealVNC to remote into my Linux machine. It works great, gives pretty much total control of the remote machine, and is built for remote access from outside the remote machine’s LAN. It consists of a “server” (installed on the machine you want to remotely control) and a “viewer” installed on the machine you have with you. There are both server and viewer apps for most platforms, including MacOS. I have a “personal” license, which lets me use the software for non-commercial purposes. I think “sitting in a hospital with your dad” is a personal, non-commercial purpose.

Here’s a link to RealVNC “Lite”.

[subego]

I use Screen Sharing for local, but remote requires someone on the other machine to accept the sharing request. Apple Remote Desktop is the official remote option.

With that, the big issue is I have a double NAT from using my own router. I have to pop a hole in it somewhere for ARD to work.

Decided to drop $20 on Screens 4, available from the App Store. Same issue with that, but at least it walks you through the possible solutions: bridge mode, PPPoE, DMZ, or port forwarding.

It also uses your Screens account to make the network connection, so no messing with DynDNS. That smells like a security issue, but I’m willing to risk it.

Not that anyone would come after me, but this is a 100% commercial endeavor.

[subego]

Went bridge mode. Here’s hoping nothing blows up.

[subego]

Didn’t blow anything up, but I had to reboot my entire network.

Tried to remote in from my dad’s. Didn’t work, which was disheartening. Wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed.

To my surprise, when I got home, Screens told me what to do. I apparently need to mess with port forwarding on my modem/router.

[subego]

The good news is I got it to work.

The bad news is I opted for the easy route, and put my production computer in my router’s DMZ. I don’t like that idea. I’ll turn off the DMZ for now and see if I can get it working with port forwarding. What’s irritating is any tests mean a walk to the cafe.

The other bad news is it was unusably slow. I might need to procure a big, fuck-off hotspot to make this work.

[subego]

Here’s some screenception. Laptop at the cafe controlling the production computer, which is in turn controlling one of my Mac Mini render nodes, dutifully waiting for a render… in the wrong folder.




Also got the port forwarding sorted. Port 22 on my production computer is now open to the Internet-at-large. Not thrilled with that, but I imagine it’s an improvement over having it sit in the DMZ.

[OreoCookie]

If you want a tad more security, you can open a non-standard port from the outside and forward it internally to port 22. I'm not sure how much extra security that give you this day and age, but I have done that successfully in the past.

[subego]

That was actually the earlier issue I was having with the port forwarding. The instructions from Screens works under the assumption that’s what you want and should do.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t think my modem/router allows that. I can forward a port to a specific device, but not remap it to another port.

[Waragainstsleep]

I now use an app called Jump Desktop Connect. I paid $30 for it and I can remote control as many Mac and Windows boxes as I want.

https://www.jumpdesktop.com

[subego]

Definitely going to need a mobile hotspot. Was in the ER again, and their network blocked my connection.

At least I wasn’t in for my dad, and we got out in about four hours.