#Use vnc through ssh tunnel password#

But make sure that the remote end is forwarded to port 5900, the VNC port. The port you choose for the local connection doesnвЂ™t matter too much. In my case, I connected to the remote Mac using a reverse SSH tunnel through a server in between my computer and it. Next, create an SSH tunnel to the remote machine. sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate -configure -access -on -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes -clientopts -setvncpw -vncpw mypasswd -restart -agent -privs -all

ItвЂ™s highly recommended that you change this.

#Use vnc through ssh tunnel password#

Warning: this sets the password to вЂњmypasswdвЂќ. The ProcessДЇirst, SSH into the destination machine and enable remote desktop.

SSH allowed me to create a tunnel straight to her machine through which I could forward a remote desktop connection. In my case, I was on my laptop at my apartment and needed to connect to my VPS and then to her. But itвЂ™s easy to do by adding the -C flag after the ssh command.) And finally, ssh allows you to forward connections over multiple hops. (We both had fast connections, so I didnвЂ™t use it. This makes your remote screen more responsive, which is what you want when doing tech support. Second, it provides compression if given the right flag. VNC (the remote desktop protocol) is unencrypted by default so wrapping it in SSH adds security.

SSH has three advantages for tunneling VNC. VNC stands for вЂњVirtual Network Computing,вЂќ and is the protocol that OSX uses for remote desktop connections. Fortunately, OSX provides access to a ton of functionality through the terminal. I used this to give me shell access to the machine. I sent her some terminal commands over iMessage which she executed to set up a reverse SSH tunnel to my VPS. I was happy to help her fix it, but I was unfortunately not able to travel the 7,500 miles to take care of the problem in person. My sister teaches in Qatar and got some browser-hijacker malware on her MacBook.