Setting up VNC on Mac OS X

macos vnc

11,298

Solution 1

I think you have to enable Screen Sharing instead of Remote Management, to enable VNC access.

FYI: there's an integrated VNC viewer in OS X:

Open the Finder a
Hit cmd-K or select Connect to Server from the Go Menu in the Menubar.
Enter vnc://ip.of.remote.machine and click connect.

Solution 2

The problem is that by default, OS X expects to get a username AND password for authentication, while standard VNC clients just send a password. Connecting from the OS X Finder (/Screen Sharing util) works because that knows how to send both the username and password. If you want to connect from standard clients, you need to set a VNC compatibility password (which can be used without a username) in System Preferences -> Sharing -> Screen Sharing or Remote Management -> Computer Settings -> "VNC viewers may control screen with password:".

Side note: the "Screen Sharing" and "Remote Management" services are essentially the same thing -- the difference is that Remote Management ALSO enables Apple Remote Desktop features (e.g. report generation, file transfer, etc).

11,298

Dan Rosenstark

When I was born, I knew nothing about programming. Projects MIDI Designer Pro for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch—dream | create | play your Perfect MIDI Controller on iOS MJDJ—Desktop Java application for MIDI Morphing (transforming) Handsonic Editor—Powerful and popular editor for the Roland Handsonic HPD-15 The KBase—A multi-hierarchical text editor (.Net standalone and Web versions) Technical rambles (blog) Contact Contact me via MIDIdesigner.com

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Dan Rosenstark over 1 year

I have setup "Remote Management" on a Mac OS X system (running 10.5.8). Trying to connect with a VNC client results in messages like "No supported authentication types" (VineViewer) or "Unknown authType" (Chicken of the VNC).

It's not a firewall issue, since I opened that up. Any suggestions, ideas?

Edit Same issue happens whether I try to connect from the machine itself or from another machine that can ping it.
VxJasonxV over 13 years

Screen Sharing and Remote Management ultimately have all the same RFB options.
lajuette over 13 years

@VxJasonxV: Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that.
VxJasonxV over 13 years

@Yar: Just because I'm curious. Did you enter a username and password? Or only a username.
VxJasonxV over 13 years

Ugh. Sigh. Last question was: "Or only a password?"
Dan Rosenstark over 13 years

@VxJasonX, not sure what happened. I think I never came back to superuser, which is a huge time suck :)... anyway, the answer is... I don't remember. Sorry :)