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VNC on a Mac

December 10, 2007  |  mac, software  |  not published
When you want to access a Mac remotely, VNC is a good option. Mac OS X (10.5) has a built in VNC server (on non-Leopard Macs you have to install a VNC server, like the VINE server). Open System Preferences and go to Sharing. Turn on Screen Sharing and add a password for VNC users. To access this computer you need a VNC client. On the Mac I used to prefer the Chicken of the VNC, but just now I tested an early version (alpha version) of JollyFastVNC [via]. It is actually the best VNC client I have used on the Mac so far, so even if it still is an Alpha version, I have switched. The goal of the JollyFastVNC project is to become the best VNC client on the Mac, and it is close to the goal already.

Another problem you might face is that the Macs you want to access are on a NAT network behind a router (e.g. on your home network and you want to access the Macs when traveling or at work). On most modern routers that provides NAT you will be able to forward a request on a given UDP or TCP port to a matching computer on the internal network. My set up is that a connection to port 5900 on my home router (that has a global IP address) is forwarded to port 5900 on my home iMac, and a connection to port 5901 on my home router is forwarded to port 5900 on my Mac mini. This way I can access both using VNC when I'm not at home. I've also set up similar forwarding to access my iMac using Windows RDC when it is running Windows (boot camp makes the iMac a Windows computer, too).

If you have a .Mac account, Back to My Mac is the easy way to access your home Macs. Macworld gives some more details (and more) about how Back to My Mac works. [via, includes other Leopard tips too]
Page status: draft  |   Last updated: December 10, 2007
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