Apple Remote Desktop Pc

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Juanjo Pollreisz

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Aug 3, 2024, 12:01:18 PM8/3/24

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I deleted the plist file on my dropbox, I rebooted my computer and booted off the recovery partition. I reset my ACLs on my account and also ran a permission repair in disk utility. After that, rebooted back off the main partition and launched ARD. The first time it just opened like normal. I quit it and reopened it. This time, it displayed the license agreement as if it has never been configured. After clicking next, it asked for the ARD password. Entered that and clicked next to a few more setup questions and everything was back. Even my list and all settings. I was then able to make changes and they stuck. I also noticed I did have an updated plist file in the new location. So not sure if it was the ACL reset or the permission repair, but things appear to be back to normal now. Haven't tried re-creating the dropbox sync yet with the new location of the plist. I'll try that next.

I have been trying to move my "com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist" database from an old system to a new system and found this thread that helped me find the new location, but I can't get my database to work when moved.

I also didn't figure out where they are keeping the database and ended up just using the export list option and then importing them into the new system. Guess we can't have them stay in sync anymore.

I created a test computer with Mavericks on it today. I was able to export the list of my clients and import it into the new ARD. What I'm having trouble doing now is moving my existing unix templates and history.

I followed your directions and can confirm that it was resetting the ACLs that did the trick. I tried permissions repairs both booted from the internal drive and the recovery partition many times and that didn't do it. Finally, I booted to the recovery partition, reset the ACLs on my account, rebooted and it worked perfectly. Thanks!

I also copied across the com.apple.remotedesktop.plist from /Library/Preferences for good measure then reset the ACLs using the password reset utility. It asked for the password for remote desktop when I logged back in and when I finally remembered it, all my lists were back again.

Finally. I've looking of years how to do this. I was able to replace both of the files the "Container.plist" and the "Data" folder on my new user with the previous settings and it worked perfectly! Make sure ARD is not running. THANK YOU!

Inside you will find all your custom plists and preferences for ARD. I simply loaded the application on my MacBook, opened it once, then quit the application and copied the folder from from management Mac and replaced the Remote Desktop folder in the location above on my laptop. When you launch ARD the next time, all your custom plists and prefs will show up.

I recently upgraded a Mac Mini M1 to OS Sonoma 14.3. I was using this Mac Mini without a monitor and always connected to it using apple remote desktop. However, when I connect now (from a Macbook Pro M2, Sonoma 14.2, latest version of ARD) the mac mini immediately shows a locked screen (see screenshot attached) which I can't unlock via ARD.

When I hook up the Mac Mini to a monitor, when connecting via ARD, I can see the Mac Mini disconnects from the monitor (which says no signal, as if I where to unplug the HDMI cable). As soon as I break the ARD connection, the monitor receives signal again.

I've tried a couple of things such as removing remote management and turning it back on again, trying with the screen sharing setting on & off, ran a reset screensharing command on the cli, rebooting both host & client a couple of times.

I checked the settings of some of my other devices and found that those that had High Performance ticked all suffered the same problem. I changed the Screen Sharing Type to Standard and that sorted it.

I have similar issue with screen sharing... where do I find this setting? Do I need to cancel screen sharing and re-add it? Thanks. Also, here's a screen shot of the sharing window showing that the mac mini is "locked".

The bummer is that high performance is a good thing. On the controller's end, you have much better resolution and response. It very much felt like a wireless docking over wi-fi. All the more troublesome that each time I went fulls-screen on the MacStudio's 30" monitor, I couldn't get out of the remote MBAir's desktop. There was no obvious way to get out of full screen.

Peter, the easiest way is just to quite ARD and it will release the locked remote mac. Clearly a bug that Apple has yet to fix, but the "High Performance" setting is profoundly better than the "Standard." The M3 MBAir that I'm accessing (from my ethernetted MacStudio) sits wireLESSly on a fast wifi. It's amazing how well I can work on it to the point where I didn't even realize I was no longer on the MacStudio's desktop!

Yeah, it's buggy and Apple needs to hire more than one scraggly old vet to work on ARD development and fix these bugs, but for me, the benefits of significantly "High(er) Performance" outweigh even the bugs.

Wondering if anyone has instructions or experience with setting up remote desktop admin to discover macs over WAN -- eg if I am using my MacBook Pro I can add computers to a list that uses individualized public DNS addresses (Since I have multiple machines on my home network and would like to choose which one I can access remotely). Secondly, in reverse order if I am using my iMac at home I would like to be able to connect to any of my other machines... I guess what I am getting at is how can I assign each one of my machines a IP/DNS to be used for remote controlling regardless of where it is located or what machine I am running the ARD admin app from...

Also, I noticed that in ARD you can set a remote management and screen sharing port for each machine... would I able to use different ports for different machines on my home network so that I can access them when I am away --eg myip:portofmachine corresponding specifically to each individual machine? Maybe so that I can open each respective port on each machines local ip?

For firewalls with embedded VPN servers, I've used ZyXEL ZYWALL USG firewalls and these are quite capable boxes, though they do assume some familiarity with networking terms and VPN concepts. There are other options.

if you want a more detailed discussion of the options and mechanisms, searching for VPN and ARD, and similar searches, should turn up quite a few discussions. Here are a few of the discussions I've participated, and each of these with links to more discussions. (I should probably roll all this into a user tip, but that's fodder for another day.)

Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) is a Macintosh application produced by Apple Inc., first released on March 14, 2002, that replaced a similar product called Apple Network Assistant.[1] Aimed at computer administrators responsible for large numbers of computers and teachers who need to assist individuals or perform group demonstrations, Apple Remote Desktop allows users to remotely control or monitor other computers over a network. Mac Pro (2019), Mac mini (M1, 2020) with a 10Gb Ethernet card, and Mac Studio (2022) have Lights Out Management function[2] and are able to power-on by Apple Remote Desktop.

The original release, which used the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) on port 3283, allowed remote computers (running Mac OS 8.1 or later) to be observed or controlled from a computer running Mac OS X 10.1.[3] It also allowed remote computers to be restarted or shut down, to have their screens locked or unlocked, or be put to sleep or awakened, all remotely. Version 1 also included simple file transfer abilities that would allow administrators to install simple applications remotely; however, to install applications that required the use of an installer, the administrator would have to run the installer manually through the client system's interface.

Version 1.2 (released April 2, 2003) added a number of features that were designed to ease the administration of a large number of computers. Software could now be installed remotely on a number of machines simultaneously, without using the client system's interface. The startup disk on remote computers can also be changed, setting them to boot from a NetBoot server, a Network Install image, or a partition on their own drives. The client ARD software could also now be upgraded remotely to allow administrators to take advantage of new features without having to visit each individual computer.

On June 21, 2004, Apple announced Apple Remote Desktop 2 (released in July), which was designed to use the VNC protocol[a] instead of Apple's original ARD protocol. This allows the ARD administration software to observe and control any computer running VNC-compatible server software (such as Windows and Unix systems) not just Macs and conversely allowing standard VNC viewing software to connect to any Mac with the ARD 2 software installed and VNC access enabled. This version also uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for most functions (on ports 5900 and 5988), which is designed to be more reliable than the UDP used in ARD 1.[4] Another significant addition to ARD 2 was the Task List, that allows remote tasks to be queued and monitored, reporting their status (such as Succeeded or Failed). This release also dropped support for older versions of the Mac OS, requiring 10.2.8 or higher.

On October 11, 2004, Apple released version 2.1 which improved on a number of existing features while adding the ability to view observed or controlled computers in full-screen mode, the ability to see the displays of computers with more than one monitor and support for mouse right-click and scroll-wheels.[5]

On April 11, 2006, Apple released version 3.0 which is now a Universal Binary and features improved software upgrade functionality, Spotlight searching, as well as increased throughput and encryption for file transfers, and Automator support.