Remote Management - VNC setup via UNIX?

[theeldergeek]

Is it possible to remotely set up the VNC option via a remote UNIX command/ARD?

I am trying to avoid having to visit 40 machines to manually tick the VNC option and put in the password.

I know I can control the machines using ARD, but we want to be able to VNC into them via a Windows box too, so adding the VNC option in (Sharing > Remote Management > Computer Settings) is a must.

The machines I'm trying to access are iMac's running Mac OS 10.5; the machine I am trying to access them from in a Win7 box running UltraVNC 1.0.8.2. Everything is in the same subnet on the LAN.

[powdarrmonkey]

Which distribution, and where is this box?

[nicklec]

Which distribution, and where is this box?

uh?

10.5: Start screen sharing remotely in Terminal - Mac OS X Hints should be what you need...

[powdarrmonkey]

uh?

The question made sense before the OP was edited.

[theeldergeek]

10.5: Start screen sharing remotely in Terminal - Mac OS X Hints should be what you need...

I can already access the machines remotely, so I could effectively not physically visit the machines, and simply log into each one and configure as needed - however, as you can change (for example) which time server is used via the UNIX templates in ARD for a whole group of machines at once, I was hoping there was a way to set up the VNC configuration on the machines en masse.

The idea behind all this, is to give Windows machines VNC access to remote iMac's.

I can't see how it would work with the link you (kindly) posted?

[nicklec]

ARD send unix command:

cd /Library/Preferences && echo -n enabled > com.apple.ScreenSharing.launchd

Should work

[DMcCoy]

Setting Remote Desktop's VNC Password in Terminal | mac geekery

[theeldergeek]

Setting Remote Desktop's VNC Password in Terminal | mac geekery

Deeper water than I like swim in that is (gulp!). I've got a Macbook here I'll have go with when I can unpick that a bit. Me and UNIX aren't best suited I'm afraid. I was hoping it would be something relatively straightforward (which that probably is when you are in the know!).

Thanks anyway.

[theeldergeek]

ARD send unix command:

cd /Library/Preferences && echo -n enabled > com.apple.ScreenSharing.launchd

Should work

I don't need to launch screen sharing. I can access all the machines via ARD already. What I am trying to do, is set up the VNC configuration in one hit rather than have to configure 40 machines one after the other.

[AntonioRocco]

Hi

I think possibly issuing from the command line on any mac:

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -help

Should list all your options. I think the ones you're probably interested in will be the -clientopts switch. This is the full list available in the manual page:

-setmenuextra -menuextra yes|no ## Set whether menu extra appears in menu bar
-setdirlogins -dirlogins yes|no ## Set whether directory logins are allowed
-setreqperm -reqperm yes|no ## Allow VNC guests to request permission
-setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes|no ## Allow VNC Legacy password mode
-setvncpw -vncpw mynewpw ## Set VNC Legacy PW
-setwbem -wbem yes|no ## Allow incoming WBEM requests over IP

Don't use the same password as the local admin account. I think you'll probably need the -setreqperm and -setvncpw options. For me TightVNC, UltraVNC and RealVNC have all worked in one way or another. Experiment with them all until you find one that suits. Ultimately it may have been better enabling those options as part of the NetBoot Image. Perhaps this is something you could consider when building the refresh image?

Does this help?

Antonio Rocco (ACSA)