Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

Enabling ARD, SSH & SNMP On Mountain Lion Server Using serveradmin

The traditional way to enable Apple Remote Desktop is using the kickstart command. But there’s a simpler way in OS X Mountain Lion Server. To do so, use the serveradmin command.

To enable ARD using the serveradmin command, use the settings option, with info:enableARD to set the payload to yes:

sudo serveradmin settings info:enableARD = yes

Once run, open System Preferences and click on Sharing. The Remote Management box is then checked and the local administrative user has access to ARD into the host.

The Server app will also have the “Enable screen sharing and remote management” option checked.

There are also a few other commands that can be used to control settings. To enable SSH for administrators:

sudo serveradmin settings info:enableSSH = yes

To enable SNMP:

sudo serveradmin settings info:enableSNMP = yes

To enable the dedication of resources to Server apps (aka Server Performance Mode):

sudo serveradmin settings info:enableServerPerformanceMode = yes