Comments on: Remote Control Tiger: How do I remote into a 10.4 box from Windows?

Question: Remote Control Tiger: How do I remote into a 10.4 box from Windows?

GS1977 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:04:08 -0800

What is the best way to remote desktop into OS X 10.4 from a Windows Server 2003 AD environment?

We are running workstations with Vista Business on a LAN with Win Server 2003 and ActiveDirectory. I have a G5 running 10.4 Server on the domain, but now I'd like to know the best way to remote control the G5. Our goal is to keep it in the server room as a test machine and possibly a web server. I need to be able to fully administer it from my desk.

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:08:54 -0800

Get VNC viewer for the windows machine and Vine server for the Mac (formerly OSXVNC, I believe).

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:40:10 -0800

Seconding VNC.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:41:26 -0800

Make sure you use SSH tunneling with Vine Server.

By: GS1977

GS1977 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:44:01 -0800

Thanks, guys. Do I need to use SSH even though we're on a LAN behind a corp firewall?

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:49:21 -0800

It's always a good idea to use SSH when handling server administration tasks, as a matter of general practice: what if there is a compromised machine behind the firewall?

By: GS1977

GS1977 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:59:09 -0800

Gotcha. Thanks again!

By: GS1977

GS1977 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:22:02 -0800

Damn. Seems the only way it will work with the apps Cat Pie Hurts recommended is unencrypted/without SSH. If I have "Require Remote Login (SSH)" enabled in Vine Server, I get connection refused.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:06:21 -0800

SSH tunneling can be confusing. You may not be doing it correctly. One of the common methods involves forwarding your local port to the server. So, in the VNC client, you would no longer connect to the remote machine's IP address, you would connect to your local machine's address and specify the port that you have tunneled to the server.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:21:29 -0800

I wrote the instructions I sent you. These instructions are split into two sections: server and client.

You can use the server instructions to set up Vine Server with SSH on the Mac OS X Server box.

The client instructions in this document are for Mac OS X clients, but if you read them, you'll notice that you need to use its Terminal application to set up the tunnel from the client end. You can do something very similar in Windows, albeit with a different application.

For Windows, you can use PuTTY to make the SSH tunnel; it's free and works fine.

The instructions for PuTTY that I link to refer to connecting to the MySQL service, not VNC.

In your case, you will be connecting to the VNC service running on the Mac OS X Server box. VNC runs on ports 5900 and higher. It's usually sufficient to specify 5900 because you will probably only manage one window. Just replace 3306 with 5900 in the instructions and you should be okay.

Also make sure that you have SSH access enabled on the Mac OS X Server's firewall. The easiest way to test this is simply SSH over to the OS X Server box from another host. If this fails, go into the Server Admin tool on OS X Server and make the necessary adjustment to the server firewall.

Once you have the tunnel established, open a VNC client on your Windows Server and visit 127.0.0.1. While this is "localhost", the traffic actually goes over the network through the SSH tunnel and hits the OS X Server box.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:03:13 -0800

OS X comes with a VNC server built in. You do not need to install anything on your mac server. Simply enable Apple Remote Desktop in the Sharing Preference pane, click the Access Privileges button, enable "VNC viewers may control screen with password" option, and then set a password. Then use your favorite VNC client to connect from Windows.

By: GS1977

GS1977 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:57:08 -0800

I give up. I can't for the life of me get VNC over SSH working. I am able to SSH from Windows to the OS X terminal no problem, so I doubt it's a firewall issue. Is anything supposed to happen onscreen when I click 'Open' in PuTTY?

Much thanks to Blazecock for the instructions.