• Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Xsan

    Programatic Screen Sharing

    You can remotely start ARD with kickstart, which I have previously covered at length. But Screen Sharing is a bit of a different little beast. To start up Screen Sharing, you can just use the following command: echo -n enabled > /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ScreenSharing.launchd I still prefer kickstart, but this method functions when you need something quick and easy. To then disable Screen Sharing, you can just toss the launchd item: rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ScreenSharing.launchd Once you have Screen Sharing started, you can then open the Screen Sharing application from a client by using the open command, followed by the protocol, which would be vnc and then the IP address. As with FTP you…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Kickstarting ARD

    The Command Line Fibre Channel Management and Setting up the Network Stack from the Command Line articles I did on Xsanity covered a couple of tasks that you more than likely perform on every client system you setup.  Now let’s look at another.   Whether you are deploying Xsan or managing it, assuming you have more than 1 machine to manage (and why would you use Xsan if you don’t) then a little Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) can make your life a lot easier.  You might be deploying a package to install the Final Cut Server.app or you might be installing Xsan remotely.  Or maybe you’re quitting Final Cut Pro…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Allow ARD Access into an ARD Server

    When a computer has ARD open, by default you cannot log into it using Remote Desktop from another host.  To fix this, use the following command: defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteDesktop AdminConsoleAllowsRemoteControl -bool false And then run the kickstart -restart -agent command from /System/Library/CoreServices/ARD Agent.app/Contents/Resources /System/Library/CoreServices/ARD Agent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart’ -restart -agent