Appendix A 163 164

Renaming Computers Synchronizing Computer Time Setting Computer Audio Volume Repairing File Permissions Adding Items to the Dock Changing Energy Saver Preferences Changing Sharing Preferences for Remote Login Setting Printer Preferences Managing Computers Opening Files and Folders Opening Applications Quitting Applications Without Logging Out the User Putting a Computer to Sleep Waking Up a Computer Locking a Computer Screen Displaying a Custom Picture on a Locked Screen Unlocking a Computer Screen Disabling a Computer Screen Logging In a User at the Login Window Logging Out the Current User Restarting a Computer Shutting Down a Computer UNIX Shell Commands Send UNIX Command Templates Executing a Single UNIX Command Executing Scripts Using Send UNIX Command Built-in Command-Line Tools Automating Functions Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy Creating a Template Data Reporting Policy Designating the Task Server and Setting the Report Data Collection Location Scheduled Tasks Using AppleScript with Remote Desktop Using Automator with Remote Desktop Icon and Port Reference Client Status Icons Apple Remote Desktop Status Icons List Menu Icons Task Status Icons System Status Icons (Basic) System Status Icons (Detailed) TCP and UDP Port Reference

Appendix B

180 182
Report Field Definitions Reference System Overview Report Storage Report USB Devices Report FireWire Devices Report Memory Report PCI Cards Report Network Interfaces Report Network Test Report Administration Settings Report Application Usage Report User History Report AppleScript Remote Desktop Suite Classes and Commands for the Remote Desktop Application. PostgreSQL Schema Sample
Appendix C Appendix D Index
What Is Apple Remote Desktop?
Apple Remote Desktop is easy-to-use, powerful, open standards-based, desktop management software for all your networked Macs. IT professionals can remotely control and configure systems, install software, offer interactive online help to end users, and assemble detailed software and hardware reports for an entire Mac network. You can use Apple Remote Desktop to: Manage client computers and maintain, update, and distribute software Collect more than 200 system-information attributes for any Mac on your network Store the results in an SQL database and view the information using any of several hardware or software reports Control and manage multiple computer systems simultaneously, making shutdown, restart, and sending UNIX commands fast and easy Provide help and remote assistance to users when they encounter problems Interact with users by sending text messages, observing and controlling users screens, and sharing their screens with other client users You can use Apple Remote Desktop to manage your client systems. IT administrators use Remote Desktop in education and business to simplify and empower the management of their organizations computer assets. For system administrators, Apple Remote Desktop can be used to administer large numbers of servers, like a virtual Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) sharing unit. In computer administration environments, its the ideal solution for managing remote systems, reducing administration costs, and increasing productivity. Apple Remote Desktop can also be used by educators to facilitate instruction in computer labs or one-on-one learning initiatives. Used in a classroom, Apple Remote Desktop enhances the learning experience and allows teachers to monitor and control students computers.

Housekeeping

Apple Remote Desktop provides several ways to remotely control client computers for housekeeping activities, which you can conduct using one or more Apple Remote Desktop windows.
Restart/ shutdown/sleep Empty Trash Remote screen control Execute UNIX shell script Send text notification
Managing Power State Use Apple Remote Desktop to control the power state of client computers. For example, you may need to have all computers turned off during maintenance of a power generation unit or during a holiday shutdown. You can send an Apple Remote Desktop text message reminding users to shut down their computers at a particular time. Any computers still running when you need to start maintenance can be detected and shut down remotely with Apple Remote Desktop.
Locking Computer Screens You can lock the screens of client computers for specified durations when you dont want the computers to be used. For example, you may need to perform network maintenance and want to make sure computers dont use the network for a few hours. You can display custom pictures or text messages on locked computer screens to let users know when the computers are available again. Reclaiming Disk Space Periodically empty the Trash on client computers to conserve disk space. Automating Periodic Maintenance Use AppleScript and UNIX shell scripts to automate periodic maintenance, such as checking permissions or deleting log files. Controlling Screens Use Apple Remote Desktops remote screen control to perform activities on the desktop of Xserve computers, or use graphical applications on them. Apple Remote Desktop replaces the need for KVM (keyboard-video-mouse) switches for accessing Xserve computers without a monitor attached. You can also remotely control a users computer to help determine reasons for slow performance or other problems. Changing Startup Disks Change the startup disk of a client computer to perform diagnostic or troubleshooting activities. For example, start up a computer using a server-based NetBoot image thats been set up for troubleshooting. When youre finished, reset the startup disk to the original boot volume. Managing Shared Computers On computers that are shared among users, check for files that need to be deleted, close applications, log users off, or perform other activities needed to prepare computers for the next users.

Client use reporting

page 114
To learn more about Housekeeping tasks
See information for Deleting items Emptying the Trash Setting startup volumes Renaming computers Sleeping and waking Locking screens Logging users out Restart and shutdown Configuring data gathering Scheduling tasks Using UNIX shell scripts
Starting on page page 127

Automating tasks

page 152
Additional information can be obtained at several Apple websites: For information about NetBoot and Network Install, download the system imaging administration guide at: www.apple.com/server/documentation You can find PackageMakers documentation at Apples Developer Connection: http://developer.apple.com/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/ SoftwareDistribution/index.html?
Getting to Know Remote Desktop
Remote Desktop is the administrator application for Apple Remote Desktop. Its attractive interface is powerful, yet simple to use. Remote Desktops interface is customizable, allowing you to get the information you want quickly, the way you want it.
This chapter contains screenshots and short descriptions of Remote Desktops interface, as well as detailed instructions for customizing the appearance and preferences of the application. You will learn about: Remote Desktop Human Interface Guide on page 28 Configuring Remote Desktop on page 36 Interface Tips and Shortcuts on page 37
Remote Desktop Human Interface Guide
The following sections give basic information about the human interface of Remote Desktop, Apple Remote Desktops administrator application. Remote Desktop Main Window on page 29 Task Dialogs on page 31 Control and Observe Window on page 32 Multiple-Client Observe Window on page 33 Report Window on page 34 Changing Report Layout on page 35
Remote Desktop Main Window
The main window of Remote Desktop has a customizable toolbar, groups of lists, tasks, and scanners on the left, and the main window area to the right. List Menu Icons on page 162 contains icons seen in the list menu of the main window.

A B C D E F G I

J A All Computers list: The All Computers list is a list of all client computers that you plan to administer. It includes all the clients you have authenticated to, as well as the client computers that you plan to authenticate to. Computers need to be in the All Computers list before you can command or administer them. If you have a 10-client license, the All Computers list can contain only 10 computers. Apple Remote Desktop computer lists: A list of computers you create to group computers in ways that are convenient for you. Any list is a subset of the client computers in the All Computers list. If you add a computer directly to a computer list, it is added automatically to the All Computers list as well. Smart computer lists: A smart computer list is a list of computers which is a subset of the client computers in the All Computers list that meet a predetermined criteria. Smart Computer lists update themselves based on your criteria compared to the contents of the All Computers list. Group folders: Groups are tools to help you organize all your possible lists, tasks, and scanners. Groups look like folders, and can be collapsed to hide the group contents. Saved tasks: Saved tasks are listed in the left portion of the main window. They have the icon of the type of task and have a user-changeable name.

In Remote Desktop preferences, you can select options that affect how the administrator application interacts with client computers. To open the Preferences window: Choose Remote Desktop > Preferences. In the General pane, you can set: What double-clicking a client computer does (Get Info, Control, Observe, Text Chat) Whether to show the client idle time What warnings may appear when quitting the application A new serial number A new Remote Desktop application password In the Control & Observe pane, you can set: Whether a remote screen is shown in a window or a full screen Whether control of the mouse and keyboard is shared with the client computer when the client is controlled Whether a remote screen is shown at its actual size in a window or if it shrinks to fit the window In the Task Server pane, you can set: Whether Remote desktop is using another computer as a Task Server, or whether this copy of Remote Desktop is being used as a Task Server
Whether other Apple Remote Desktop administrators can access your local Task Server Whether clients collect user and application tracking data A saved template for scheduling client reporting policies In the Labels pane, you can set: Label colors and text for labeling computers In the Tasks pane, you can set: Whether to automatically change focus to the active task Whether to execute a notification script on task completion Limits on task history list contents and time until removed In the Security pane, you can set: Whether to accept messages from client users Whether to allow control of the computer while Remote Desktop is active The default encryption preference for control and observe sessions The default encryption preference for Copy Items and Install Packages tasks Which features of Remote Desktop are available to nonadministrator users See Apple Remote Desktop Nonadministrator Access on page 66.
Interface Tips and Shortcuts
There are a number of features of the Remote Desktop interface which make it particularly flexible and powerful. The following lists a few built-in shortcuts to features which can make using Remote Desktop more productive. Computers can be selected from any window Any computer in any windowreport windows, task windows, computer lists, observe windowscan be a target for some task. For example, if you are observing 10 computer screens and need to send a text message to one, select the screen with a single click and then choose Interact > Send Text Message. Likewise, if you get a software report on 50 computers and notice that one of the computers is missing some vital piece of software, you can drop that software onto the selected computer within the report window. Treating all windows as possible computer selection lists for tasks may save you lots of time switching between the Remote Desktop window and other windows as you accomplish your work.
Drag and drop works on configuration dialogs Configuration dialogs accept dragged items. Computer lists in the dialogs accept dragged computers. The Copy Items dialog accepts dragged files to copy, without having to browse the file system for them. Save yourself time and effort by dragging available items to dialogs rather than browsing for them. Making lists from reports or other lists You may need to make a list based on the outcome of some report, but you dont know which computers will need to be included. After getting a report and sorting on the desired column, you can select the computers and make a new list from the selection. If you double-click the list icon, you open another window containing the computers in the list. This is useful for comparing lists, or for using the new window as a source from which to drag computers to other lists. Saved Tasks and Task Templates save you time You may spend a lot of time coming up with the perfect software search to find exactly what you need. You shouldnt recreate that search every time you need it. Save your tasks, and duplicate them. With a little editing, you can have a number of similar saved tasks for specific uses. Alternatively, you can use task templates to save settings across task dialogs, applying the same settings through various tasks.

Installing Apple Remote Desktop
To use Apple Remote Desktop, install the administration software on the administrator computer first, and then install and enable the client software on the computers you want to manage. Youll need your install disc, the serial number, and either the printed Welcome instructions, or these instructions.
This chapter describes how to install Apple Remote Desktop for system administration and user interaction and gives complete setup instructions. You can learn about: System Requirements for Apple Remote Desktop on page 39 Installing the Remote Desktop Administrator Software on page 40 Setting Up an Apple Remote Desktop Client Computer for the First Time on page 41 Upgrading the Remote Desktop Administrator Software on page 41 Upgrading the Client Software on page 42 Creating a Custom Client Installer on page 44 Considerations for Managed Clients on page 46 Removing or Disabling Apple Remote Desktop on page 46
System Requirements for Apple Remote Desktop
Administrator and client computers: Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server version 10.3.9 or later (Mac OS X version 10.4 or later is required for some features). Mac OS Extended (HFS+) formatted hard disk. For observing and controlling other platforms: a system running VNC-compatible server software. NetBoot and Network Install (optional) Mac OS X Server version 10.3 or 10.4 with NetBoot and Network Install services enabled

Network Requirements

Ethernet (recommended), AirPort, FireWire, or other network connection See Setting Up the Network on page 71 for more information.
Installing the Remote Desktop Administrator Software
To set up Apple Remote Desktop on administrator computers, you install the software on the computer you plan to use to administer remote computers. Then, you open the application setup assistant, and add to the main list of computers. To install Apple Remote Desktop on an administrator computer: 1 Insert the Apple Remote Desktop installation disc. 2 Double-click the Remote Desktop installer package and follow the onscreen instructions. The Remote Desktop application will be installed in the Applications folder. 3 Launch Remote Desktop (in the Applications folder). The Remote Desktop Setup Assistant appears. 4 Enter the serial number. The serial number can be found on the Apple Remote Desktop Welcome document that came with your software. Optionally, enter a registration name and organization. 5 Click Continue. 6 Enter a Remote Desktop application password and verify it. The Remote Desktop application password is used to encrypt names and passwords of client computers for Apple Remote Desktop. You can store this password in your keychain for convenience, or you can require that the password be entered each time you open Remote Desktop. 7 If you have another unlimited-licensed copy of Apple Remote Desktop acting as a Task Server (a dedicated computer running Remote Desktop for report data collection and delegated install tasks), enter the server address and click Continue. 8 Set the default data collection scope and time for newly administered computers. These settings will be stored as the default upload schedule, which can be applied to computers when you add them for administration. For more detailed information, see Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy on page 152. 9 Click Done. The main application window appears.

Chapter 6 Setting Up the Network and Maintaining Security
Wireless networks also are not suited for multicast traffic. However Apple Remote Desktops multi-observe feature is different because it doesnt use multicast traffic. Display shared screens in black and white rather than in color. Configure your AirPort Base Station with a station density of High and increase the multicast rate to 11 Mbps using AirPort Admin Utility. Using the base station density and multicast rate settings limits the range of each AirPort Base Stations network, requiring client computers to be fewer than 50 meters from a base station.
Getting the Best Performance
To get the best performance when using the Share Screen, Observe, and Control commands: Use the fastest network possible. This means favoring Ethernet over AirPort, 1000Base-T over 100Base-T, and 100Base-T over 10Base-T. If youre using AirPort, adjust the multicast speed higher. Dont mix network speeds if possible. Reduce the use of animation on remote computers. For example, you can simplify Dock preference settings by turning off animation, automatic hiding and showing, and magnification effects. View the clients screen in a smaller window when using the fit to window option. View the clients screen with fewer colors. Use a solid color for the desktop of the screen youre sharing. Share screens only on local networks. If you share a screen with a computer connected across a router, screen updates happen more slowly. Set the Control and Observe image quality to the lowest acceptable for the given circumstance.

Maintaining Security

Remote Desktop can be a powerful tool for teaching, demonstrating, and performing maintenance tasks. For convenience, the administrator name and password used to access Remote Desktop can be stored in a keychain or can be required to be typed each time you open the application. However, the administrator name and password for each client computer are stored in the administrators preferences and are strongly encrypted.
Administrator Application Security Make use of user mode to limit what nonadministrator users can do with Remote Desktop. See Apple Remote Desktop Nonadministrator Access on page 66. If you leave the Remote Desktop password in your keychain, be sure to lock your keychain when you are not at your administrator computer. Consider limiting user accounts to prevent the use of Remote Desktop. Either in a Managed Client for Mac OS X (MCX) environment, or using the Accounts pane in System Preferences, you can make sure only the users you designate can use Remote Desktop. Check to see if the administrator computer is currently being observed or controlled before launching Remote Desktop (and stop it if it is). Remote Desktop prevents users from controlling a client with a copy of Remote Desktop already running on it at connection time, but does not disconnect existing observe or control sessions to the administrator computer when being launched. Although this functionality is helpful if you want to interact with a remote LAN which is behind a NAT gateway, it is possible to exploit this feature to get secretly get information about the administrator, administrators computer, and its associated client computers. User Privileges and Permissions Security To disable or limit an administrators access to an Apple Remote Desktop client, open System Preferences on the client computer and make changes to settings in the Remote Desktop pane in the Sharing pane of System Preferences. The changes take effect after the current Apple Remote Desktop session with the client computer ends. Remember that Apple Remote Desktop keeps working on client computers as long as the session remains open, even if the password used to administer the computer is changed. Dont use a user name for an Apple Remote Desktop access name and password. Make dummy accounts specifically for Apple Remote Desktop password access and limit their GUI and remote login privileges. Password Access Security Never give the Remote Desktop password to anyone. Never give the administrator name or password to anyone. Use cryptographically sound passwords (no words found in a dictionary; eight characters or more, including letters, numbers and punctuation with no repeating patterns). Regularly test your password files against dictionary attack to find weak passwords.

Quit the Remote Desktop application when you have finished using it. If you have not stored the Remote Desktop password in your keychain, the application prompts you to enter the administrator name and password when you open it again. Physical Access Security If you have stored the Remote Desktop password in your keychain, make sure the keychain is secured and the application isnt running while you are away from the Remote Desktop window. If you want to leave the Remote Desktop application open but need to be away from the computer, use a password-protected screen saver and select a hot corner so you can instantly activate the screen saver.
Remote Desktop Authentication and Data Transport Encryption
Authentication to Apple Remote Desktop clients uses an authentication method based on a Diffie-Hellman Key agreement protocol that creates a shared 128-bit key. This shared key is used to encrypt both the name and password using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol used in Remote Desktop 3 is very similar to the one used in personal file sharing, with both of them using a 512-bit prime for the shared key calculation. With Remote Desktop 3, keystrokes and mouse events are encrypted when you control Mac OS X client computers. Additionally, all tasks except Control and Observe screen data, and files copied via Copy Items and Install Packages are encrypted for transit (though you may choose to encrypt these as well by changing your application preferences). This information is encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with the 128-bit shared key that was derived during authentication.
Encrypting Observe and Control Network Data
Although Remote Desktop sends authentication information, keystrokes, and management commands encrypted by default, you may want additional security. You can choose to encrypt all Observe and Control traffic, at a certain performance cost. Encryption is done using an SSH tunnel between the participating computers. In order to use encryption for Observe and Control tasks, the target computers must have SSH enabled (Remote Login in the computers Sharing Preference pane). Additionally, firewalls between the participating computers must be configured to pass traffic on TCP port 22 (SSH well known port). If the you are trying to control a VNC server which is not Remote Desktop, it will not support Remote Desktop keystroke encryption. If you try to control that VNC server, you will get a warning that the keystrokes arent encrypted which you will have to acknowledge before you can control the VNC server. If you chose to encrypt all network data, then you will not be able to control the VNC server because Remote Desktop is not able to open the necessary SSH tunnel to the VNC server.
To enable Observe and Control transport encryption: 1 Choose Remote Desktop > Preferences. 2 Click the Security button. 3 In the Controlling computers section, select Encrypt all network data.

You do this using the Get Info window of any client computer or the clients own Apple Remote Desktop preferences. See Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy on page 152 and Creating a Template Data Reporting Policy on page 153.
Report Database Recommendations and Bandwidth Usage
You can have a single Apple Remote Desktop data collection database for any number of clients. However, avoid having all the clients upload their report information at the same time. As the number of clients grows, the network usage from the clients as they upload their report data could come in bursts over a short period of time overwhelming the network buffer on the Task Server. In such a case, you will probably give yourself your own denial-of-service attack. Increasing the number of Task Server computers can divide the network and computing load among several computers for better performance and better network citizenship. However, since there is no way to aggregate report data across several collectors and display it on one administrator computer, you would need multiple administrators to balance your network load in this manner. If you use a single database for a large number of clients, it is recommended that you stagger the generation of report caches over the time between which you want to run reports. For example, if you normally run a report every week, then set 1/7th of your clients to rebuild caches on day one, another 1/7th for the next day and so on. Additionally, they should stagger the cache rebuild over the course of the day as well. It is recommended that you keep in a given list the minimum number of computers necessary for your purposes. When a list is selected, the clients in the list send status updates at a minimum of every 20 seconds. If you have a large number of clients in a list (for example, 1000), this makes about 50 updates a second. Creating more lists doesnt create more resource overhead for Remote Desktop, and can allow you to quickly and easily administer the clients you want with a minimum wait. Depending on your network and list sizes, you may find that smaller lists may result in more productive and reliable administration. What Bandwidth Does the Default System Overview Report Use on a LAN? The average System Overview Report cache is about 20 KB. While reporting, the admin and clients will always try to use all available bandwidth (most IP-based client/server applications work this way). Therefore, on a 10Mbit/sec. network, the report data collection for a single client may use 100% of the bandwidth for a period of 0.016 seconds. Assuming a list of 1000 computers, all trying to report at the same time, this may use 100% of the bandwidth for 16 seconds. Naturally, faster networks will perform better, and networks with a slow bottleneck like a DSL or modem line perform worse.

System Report Size The file system data which is uploaded to the report database (labeled File Search data in the Scheduling sheet of the Task Server preference pane) contains a significant amount of data. For a client with 10 GB of files on the hard disk, the report data uploaded can easily reach 5 MB in size. With hundreds or thousands of clients, this amount can add up quickly and might tax network resources. In addition, by choosing to upload user accounting data and application usage data, you are further increasing the size of the uploaded data for any one client. Since you may not want to store all the possible information for a given client computer, you can customize which type of data is collected, as desired.
Auditing Client Usage Information
With Apple Remote Desktop, you can get detailed information about who has been using the client computers and how. There are two reports that help you audit information about how the clients are being used: the User History report the Application Usage report Generating a User History Report The User History report is used to track who has logged in to a computer, when they logged in and out, and how they accessed the computer. The client stores 30 days of accumulated data, so the requested time cant be more than the last 30 days. The report shows the following information: computer name users short name access type (login window, tty, SSH) login time logout time remote login host (originating host to the login session: localhost, or some remote computer) Note: Multiple users logged in via Fast User Switching can lead to confusing or conflicting reports. When a second or third user logs in to a computer, there is no way of knowing which user is the active user. Session length may not reflect actual usage, and login and logout times overlap. User History report information is collected by default if you are installing Remote Desktop for the first time. If you have upgraded an older version of Remote Desktop, you need to enable its collection explicitly in the clients reporting policy. See Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy on page 152 for instructions.
To generate a User History report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > User History. 4 Select the time frame for the user history information. 5 Click Generate Report. The newly generated report window appears. Generating an Application Usage Report The Application Usage report shows which applications have been running on a given client, their launch and quit time, and who launched them. The client stores 30 days of accumulated data, so the requested time cant be more than the last 30 days. The following fields are shown by default in the report: Computer name Name of application Launch date Total running time Time as frontmost application User name of process owner Current state of application Application Usage report information is collected by default if you are installing Remote Desktop for the first time. If you have upgraded an older version of Remote Desktop, you need to enable its collection explicitly in the clients reporting policy. See Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy on page 152 for instructions. To generate an Application Usage report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > Application Usage. 4 Select the time frame for application usage. 5 Click Generate Report. The newly generated report window appears.

Getting Serial Numbers Although there is no specific serial number report for Apple Remote Desktop, the serial number of any client is in the Computer section of the System Overview Report. In addition to using Apple Remote Desktop to retrieve a computers serial number, you could use the command-line tool systemprofiler with Apple Remote Desktops Send UNIX Command feature. To generate a serial number report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > System Overview. 4 Select Serial Number from the Computer section. 5 Select or deselect other items as desired. 6 To search using new data, check Rebuild Data For Report. 7 Click Get Report. The newly generated report window appears. Getting Storage Information The Storage report collects information about the client computers internal hard disks. It can get information about the hardware itself, the volumes on the disk, file system information, and journaling information for the disk. For a complete listing of Storage report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. Basic information about hard disk volumes and size can also be found in the storage section of the System Overview report. To generate a Storage report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > Storage. 4 Select the hard disk information desired. 5 To search using new data, select Rebuild Data For Report. 6 Click Get Report. The newly generated report window appears.
Getting FireWire Device Information The FireWire Devices report gets information about FireWire devices connected to the client computer. It can get the following information from a device: Manufacturer Model Device speed Software version Firmware revision For more information about FireWire Devices report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. The number of attached FireWire devices can also be found in the Devices section of System Overview report. To generate a FireWire Devices report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > FireWire Devices. 4 Select the FireWire information desired. 5 To search using new data, select Rebuild Data For Report. 6 Click Get Report. The newly generated report window appears. Getting USB Device Information The USB Devices report gets information on Universal Serial Bus devices (scanners, keyboards, mice, and so forth) connected to the client computer. It can get the following information from a device: Product name and ID Vendor name and ID Device speed Bus power amps For more information about the USB Devices report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. Basic information about attached USB devices can also be found in the Devices section of the System Overview report.

To generate a USB Devices report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > USB Devices. 4 Select the USB device information desired. 5 To search using new data, select Rebuild Data For Report. 6 Click Get Report. The newly generated report window appears. Getting Network Interface Information The Network Interfaces report gets information for all network interfaces, including inactive interfaces. It also gets detailed network, output, and Ethernet statistics from client computers. The Network Interfaces report can be used to find network errors or faulty network equipment, troubleshoot network performance, and query the network settings of the client computers. All detailed statistics are refreshed when the client restarts, and address information may change if your client uses DHCP to get a network address. For a complete listing of Network Interfaces report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. Basic information about network settings can also be found in the Network and AirPort section of the System Overview report. To generate a Network Interfaces report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > Network Interfaces. 4 Select the interface information desired. 5 To search using new data, select Rebuild Data For Report. 6 Click Generate Report. The newly generated report window appears.
Getting Memory Information The Memory report gets specific information about the installed memory in a client computer. In addition to reporting how much memory the client has, it shows information about each memory module, including the modules: Slot identifier Size, type, and speed Memory reports can be used for managing computer resources, hardware troubleshooting, or deciding which client computer can handle a memory-intensive application or task. For more information about the Memory report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. Basic information about system memory can also be found in the Computer section of the System Overview report. To generate a Memory report: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose Report > Memory. 4 Select the module information desired. 5 To search using new data, select Rebuild Data For Report. 6 Click Get Report. The newly generated report window appears. Getting PCI Card Information The PCI Cards report gets information about the PCI cards installed in a client computer. It shows information about each PCI card, including each cards: Slot name Card name, type, memory, and revision Vendor and device IDs ROM revision For more information about the PCI Cards report options, see Report Field Definitions Reference on page 165. Basic information about a clients PCI cards can also be found in the Computer section of the System Overview report.

Automating Functions

You can automate any command or function in Remote Desktop. Additionally, Remote Desktop supports scripting (either UNIX or AppleScript) to help automate their client management.
Setting the Clients Data Reporting Policy
To speed up reporting and allow reporting from offline clients, Apple Remote Desktop uses saved client system and file information. You can automate the collection of this information by setting the data reporting policy. This schedule determines how often the client updates its system and file information for reports. In accordance with the collection schedule you set, each client computer connects to a central reporting database and uploads the information you designate. There are certain trade-offs to the frequency of these updates. If you require all the clients to update their information too often, you run the risk of added network traffic and slower client performance during updates. If you dont require the clients to update often enough, the report data that you receive may be out of date. You should take care to balance your reporting needs and your network and client performance needs. The collection policy includes four kinds of information: system data, file data, user accounting data, and application usage data. System data includes all possible reported information for the following reports: System Overview Storage USB Devices FireWire Devices Memory PCI Cards Network Interfaces The file data includes all possible reported information for the following reports: File Search Software Version Software Difference
The user accounting data includes all possible reported information for the following report: User History The application usage data includes all possible reported information for the following report: Application Usage To set a clients data reporting policy: 1 Select a computer list in the Remote Desktop window. 2 Select one or more computers in the selected computer list. 3 Choose File > Get Info. 4 If you have selected only one computer, select the Data Settings tab, and click the Edit button. If you have selected more than one computer, this tab is already selected. 5 Select Upload on a schedule. To disable a clients automatic data collection, deselect Upload on a schedule. 6 If you have already made a default schedule, you can use it by clicking Use default schedule to automatically fill in the appropriate information and click Done. Otherwise, choose the day or days the data collection should occur. For more information about setting a default schedule, see Creating a Template Data Reporting Policy on page 153. 7 Set the time at which the collection occurs. 8 Choose which data types to upload: System Data, File Search Data, Application Usage Data or User Accounting Data, or any combination. 9 In order to upload Application Usage Data and User Accounting Data, you need to specify collection of that data. Choose Collect Application Usage Data to tell a client computer to save report information for the Application Usage Report. Choose User Accounting Data to tell a client computer to save report information for the User History Report. 10 Click Apply.

Appendix D PostgreSQL Schema Sample
aborting a task 98 access changing privileges 69 group-based 62 via local account 61 Access Privileges 59 adding Dock items 131 administrator announce 92 Apple keyboard keys 79 Apple Remote Desktop menu icon 94, 95 application use report 115 asset tracking application use 115 FireWire devices 121 hardware 119 management 118 memory 123 PCI cards 123 software 118 software changes 118 USB devices 121
computer sharing names 129 Control/Observe preferences 36 controlling a client 78 control window 32 buttons 7982 Copy and Open 108 copying items data encryption 107 overview 106 UNIX permissions 107 copying to relative locations 107 Copy Items options 107 CPU serial number, accessing 120 Create Custom Installer 43, 44 curtain mode 81, 140 customizing reports 35
basic file copy 108 best practices networking 71 reporting 113114 security 73
Dashboard observe 91 deleting files 128 demonstration mode 93 designated data collector 112 directory services 62 drag and drop copies 109 installation 104
chat 92 cleaning up hard disks 128 client data upload policy 152 clipboard sharing 82 computer audio volume 130 computer list making a new 54 removing 54 smart 54 computer lists 49 description of 53
enabling SSH on clients 133 encryption one-time use 76 scheme description 75 setting defaults 75 Ethernet address tracking 122
file mirroring 110 file system maintenance 131 finding free disk space 120 firewall settings 49 full screen display 81
General preferences 36 group-based authorization 65 guest access 65
offline installation 103 Open Directory 62
hard disk maintenance 131 hardware asset management 119 Help Desk Mode. See sharing control human interface customizing 36 icons 29 tips and shortcuts 37
package installation 101, 105 preferences 36 preference standardization 133 printer setup 133 Property List Editor tool 62 putting wired clients to sleep 137
quitting applications 137
installation, Remote Desktop 40 Install Packages options 107
keyboard shortcut exceptions 78 kickstart tool 147, 151
launching remote applications 136 limiting access privileges 66 limiting features to administrators 66 logging in remote users 140 logging out users 141
main window 29 Managed Client settings 46 mcx_setting attribute 62, 64 metadata search 116 mirroring a folder 110 moving computer lists 5657 multi-observe 85, 91 window 33 muting a computer 130
reclaiming hard disk space 127 Remote 42 removing client software 47, 48 removing files 127 removing Remote Desktop 46 renaming copied items 108 multiple computers 129 repairing UNIX permissions 131 replacing copied items 108 report access privileges 69 Application Usage 115 File Search 117 Software Difference 118 Software Version 118 System Overview 119 User History 114 report data sources 111 reporting best practices 113114 reporting policy template 153 report window 34 restarting client computers 141 reusing tasks 99, 100

Apple Remote Desktop 3
Technology Overview November 2006
Technology Overview Apple Remote Desktop 3

Contents

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Introduction Desktop Management Made Easy Whats New in Apple Remote Desktop 3 Setting Up Apple Remote Desktop 3 Getting Started Setting Up Client Computers Discovering and Organizing Computers Software Distribution Network Copy Performance Installing Software Asset Management Remote Spotlight Search Usage Reports Hardware Reports Reporting Using Task Server Software Reports Remote Administration Remote Shell Scripts Remote Boot Disk Selection Remote Assistance Observe and Control Multi-Observe with System Status Indicators Screen Sharing and Text Messaging Automation Product Details Technical Specications

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Introduction

Managed Unmanaged
$0 $1000 $2000 $3000 $4000 $5000 $6000 Hardware and software Operations Administration End-user IT costs Downtime
Desktop Management Made Easy
Every Mac computer is easy to use and simple to maintainthanks to advanced Mac OS X features like Software Update, powerful preferences, and built-in networking. Now with Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can enjoy the same ease of use when youre managing more than one Mac. Whether youre responsible for a small business with a few computers, a midsize creative group, or an educational institution with a network of thousands, Apple Remote Desktop 3 enables you to manage all these computers all from your own Mac. Apple Remote Desktop 3 is a suite of integrated desktop management tools that facilitate a wide range of IT tasks. Using a single aordable product, you can distribute software, control and congure computers, oer live online help and training, run detailed reports, and implement security policies. Because Apple Remote Desktop allows you to work remotely and eciently, you can accomplish more in less timewithout ever needing to leave your desk and often without interrupting your users. Software distribution. Apple Remote Desktop 3 makes it easy to install or copy software across a network of Mac computers, including remote systems. You can ensure that all systems in your organization are running the most current version of Mac OS X or running the same applications, fonts, and templates. Asset management. Using the Spotlight technology in Mac OS X Tiger, Apple Remote Desktop 3 can perform detailed searches on all your Mac OS X systems. You can quickly generate comprehensive user histories and application usage reports, as well as hardware and software inventories about servers, desktop systems, and portable computers. Remote administration. Apple Remote Desktop 3 gives you the tools to perform administration tasks from the comfort of your own oce. Congure systems, run applications, empty the Trash, log out current users, set the startup disk, and lock screensfrom anywhere on the network. Remote assistance. Apple Remote Desktop 3 enables you to observe or control any number of remote Mac or Virtual Network Computing (VNC)enabled computers. New features for managing Mac computers include easy drag and drop of les, remote copy and paste of text and images, and Curtain Mode for concealing sensitive information from users. And thanks to innovative screen sharing, you can provide help and training to users without leaving your desk. Apple integrates these essential IT management capabilities in an accessible interface designed for rst-time usersmaking it easy to discover and manage computers on your network and to perform multiple management commands in sequence. For anyone managing a group of Mac computers, Apple Remote Desktop 3 is an innovative application that streamlines your workow while reducing support costs, improving system management, and increasing security.
Managed computers have 40 percent lower total cost of ownership.
Source: Summary TCO Analysis for Windows XP. Table 1 and Table 3, Use Best Practices to Reduce Desktop PC TCO, 20052006 Update, 8 December 2005, Michael A. Silver, Federica Troni, Gartner, Inc.

Whats New in Apple Remote Desktop 3
Built to leverage the powerful capabilities in Mac OS X Tiger, the worlds most advanced operating system, Apple Remote Desktop 3 oers more than 50 new features for managing networked Mac OS X systems. These include: Remote Spotlight search. With the revolutionary Spotlight technology in Mac OS X Tiger, you can perform lightning-fast searches on remote systems. Summary results for each client are updated instantly as results are returned. Administrators can view details or rene searches further using additional qualiers on dierent types of metadata. Results can be viewed on remote client systems, copied back to the administrator system, or deleted. Remote Desktop widget. This new Dashboard widget provides you with instantaneous, at-a-glance views of remote computers in your system. The Remote Desktop widget is fully integrated with the computer lists that youve dened in Apple Remote Desktop. Automator actions. Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes more than 30 Automator actions. Administrators can chain actions together to create powerful system administration workows. Save your Automator workows as plug-ins to provide an easy, customized interface to Apple Remote Desktop capabilities. Remote Drag and Drop. Transfer les between two computers easily by dropping a le or folder from your computer onto a remotely controlled computeror from a remote computer onto your own. Remote Copy and Paste. Copy and paste information between your local computer and a remote computer. AutoInstall. With automatic, policy-based installation of software packages, you can stage software to install on remote, mobile, or oine systems. AutoInstall is ideal for distributing software to mobile computers. Power Copy. A new le copy engine uses multicast technology and supports 64-bit le sizes, network bandwidth limits, and optional encryption of data streams. A new permissions editor can specify the user and group ownership permissions of a copied le on a remote computer.
Curtain Mode. When controlling a remote computer, administrators can now choose to block the remote users view of the desktop with a virtual curtain. User History report. Administrators can nd out which users have logged in to which computers on their network, making it easy to monitor networks for unauthorized computer use. Application Usage report. Administrators can view details on which applications have been used on remote systems, ensuring compliance with software licenses. Task Templates. Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to save task settings as templates for later use. The Task Template menu comes populated with more than 30 sample UNIX scripts. Its also easy to add your own favorites to the list for convenient access.

Setting Up Apple Remote Desktop 3
Apple Remote Desktop 3 gives you all of the tools you need to manage the Mac computers on your networkwhether youre distributing software, providing online assistance, or collecting information about hardware and software assets. You can manage computers individually or multiple computers at the same time.

Getting Started

To get started with Apple Remote Desktop, install the administration software on the system you will use to manage remote Mac computers. Client software is built into Mac OS X version 10.3 Panther and later, so its easy to implement Apple Remote Desktop 3 across your organization. Apple Remote Desktop 3 is available in two versions: a 10 Managed Systems edition for small workgroups and an Unlimited Managed Systems edition for managing more than 10 clients.
Client authentication To manage a Mac OS X system using Apple Remote Desktop, administrators need to authenticate and receive authorization from the Apple Remote Desktop Client softwareensuring that only authorized users can control a computer or perform specied administrative tasks. Apple Remote Desktop can perform authentication and authorization against your organizations directory server. Or for organizations that rely on the local computer for authentication, Apple Remote Desktop supports authentication against one or more local accounts.
Security and encryption Apple Remote Desktop 3 uses 128-bit AES encryption to ensure that all remote communications are secure, even over the Internet, with client computers running Mac OS X v10.3 or later. For screen control and le copy tasks, where encrypting large amounts of data may signicantly degrade performance, administrators can choose encryption for improved security or leave encryption o for better performance. Using a Task Server A Task Server can collect reporting data on a scheduled basis or execute the new AutoInstall feature in Apple Remote Desktop 3, ideal for updating software on mobile systems whenever they connect to the network. By assigning a Task Server to perform these tasks, you can free up the administrator computer for handling critical management demands.1 User mode If you wish to allow non-administrator users to implement specic features of Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can enable or disable features in the Apple Remote Desktop Security preference pane. This can be useful for classroom teachers or less technical users who need to perform a limited set of desktop management tasks without reliance on the administrator.

Security Preference Pane

1 Security options for le copy and package installation. Specify whether network data should be encrypted when copying les or installing packages. 2 Security options for controlling computers. Specify whether all network data should be encrypted during a control session or just passwords and keystrokes.
3 Toggle user mode. Allow non-administrator users full or partial access to the feature set of Apple Remote Desktop 3. 4 Specify features. Specify which Apple Remote Desktop features non-administrator users can access.
Setting Up Client Computers
After installing the administration software, you need to install and enable the Apple Remote Desktop Client software on the computers you wish to manage. If you are installing the client software for the rst time, you can use Setup Assistant in the administration application to create a custom install package. If the client systems already have Apple Remote Desktop Client version 1.2 or later,2 you can upgrade them from the administration application. Setup Assistant makes it easy to centrally upgrade the client software and update the client settings on one or multiple Mac systems.
Main Apple Remote Desktop Window with Scanner Selected 11 12
1 All Computers list. As you add computers to individual computer lists, the All Computers list is updated. 2 Group. Use groups to organize your computer lists and tasks. 3 Computer lists. To help you organize computers, you can create as many computer lists as you need. For example, you can have a computer list for each location and each department in your organization. 4 Smart Computer Lists. Similar to Smart Playlists in iTunes, this feature lets you dynamically create a computer list that matches the rules and conditions youve specied. Use one or more of the following attributes to construct your smart lists: Name, IP Address, DNS Name, Label, Apple Remote Desktop Version, Boot Volume, Installed RAM, CPU Information, Machine Model, Mac OS Version, and Computer is in List.
Congurable toolbar. Customize the toolbar with the commands that you use frequently. Change the appearance of the toolbar and how the icons and text are displayed.
10 Filter. Enter text to lter the results displayed in the computer list details. 11 Network scanner types. Network scanners operate in one of four modes: local network; network address range; network address or DNS computer name lookup; or importing a list of computer names or network addresses from a le. Scans work across all available network interfaces, such as built-in Ethernet, AirPort, and IP over FireWire. 12 Customizable list views. Customize which attributes are displayed for each computer: Name, Current Application, Current User, IP Address, DNS Name, Label, Apple Remote Desktop Version, Ethernet ID, Mac OS Version, Computer Info Fields 14, Machine Model, CPU Information, Lights Out Management (LOM) status, Installed RAM, and Startup Disk. 13 Labels. To easily identify computers and organize them into your own custom categories, you can label computers using one of seven colors. 14 Detailed view. View details on network devices: whether the computer is already included in a computer list, if the computer has the Apple Remote Desktop Client software congured (and its version), or if the computer is VNC enabled (and its network address).

Task lists Apple Remote Desktop tasks can be executed immediately, scheduled to run at a specied date and time, or saved for future execution. To streamline the administration of Mac OS X systems, Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to view lists of running, queued, and completed tasks. You can also create new tasks by running saved tasks with dierent parameters.
Task Progress with Software Installation
1 Active Tasks list. View all current and queued tasks. 2 Task progress. View the overall status of the task. 3 Stop button. Halt the execution of the task. 4 Detailed view. View detailed information on the progress and status of the task.
5 Summary information. View a dynamic summary of the task: its progress and how many computers succeeded or failed in executing the task. 6 History list. Icons provide an at-a-glance overview of the success or failure of completed tasks.
Task History Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to view a list of your previously executed tasks, as far back as you choose. Past tasks are organized by day, so administrators can review them quickly. Administrators can also choose to reapply or reuse any of the tasks that they have previously executed.

Task History Window

1 History. View a list of each day that tasks were executed, specifying how many days the list will display. 2 Summary. View a list of tasks executed during that day. Double-click a task to redo.
3 Task summary. View a summary of a specied executed task. 4 Detailed task. View details on which computers executed the task and the status of the task for each computer.

Software Distribution

Apple Remote Desktop 3 is an ideal solution for installing or upgrading software across multiple Mac systems. Whether its a new version of Mac OS X or a suite of applications, its easy to keep all of your computers up to datewithout interrupting your users or requiring any user interaction. Users dont even need to be logged in. And with the new AutoInstall feature, administrators can initiate a software installation and let Apple Remote Desktop 3 take care of the rest.

Network Copy Performance

Custom install packages Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes the Apple Package Maker utility, making it easy to create custom install packages for installation of organization-specic software. Once youve created the package, you can copy and install the software to a specied location using Apple Remote Desktop.
Apple Remote Desktop 3 performs copy operations up to 11 times faster than its predecessor, Apple Remote Desktop 2.2, with best performance over a Gigabit Ethernet network. Network copy performance: 1000BASE-T

5 Ownership settings. Once the copy is complete, specify ownership settings from the following options: inherit from destination folder, preserve current owner, set to current logged-in user, or specify a user and group. 6 Open items. Specify whether items should be opened on remote computers after being copied.

Asset Management

As an administrator or support professional, you need to keep track of the conguration of Mac systems in your organization. Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to collect information on more than 200 hardware and software attributes, including memory, CPU, the version of the operating system, and hard disk size. This critical data can help you assess your organizations readiness for operating system or application updates and determine whether any additional software or hardware is needed for the migration. Its also valuable for help desk professionals to have conguration details on systems that are experiencing problems. With the new Spotlight search capability, you can quickly search remote computers and copy the results back to the administrator computeror delete them entirely. Also new are User History and Application Usage reports that provide specic information to help you monitor software compliance and the security of your systems.

Remote Spotlight Search

Apple Remote Desktop 3 extends the revolutionary Spotlight technology in Mac OS X Tiger, so administrators can perform comprehensive, lightning-fast searches not only on their own computer, but on any Mac on the network. Whether youre looking for a le, application, or image, Spotlight can nd it. Results are returned instantlyfrom the rst letter you typeand updated continuously with no lag times or slowdowns. You can rene searches using dierent metadata types or additional qualifying lters. With Apple Remote Desktop 3, administrators can display the search results on remote systems, copy results back to their own computer, or simply delete them.

Usage Reports

SQL database All of the data for hardware reports is stored in the included SQL database for fast and easy retrieval. System administrators can tap into this database using any number of third-party SQL-aware tools to generate custom reports.
The new User History report gives detailed information on who is using a computer, when they logged in and out, and how they accessed the computer. The Application Usage report details which applications have been used on remote systems, including the number of launches of an application, the duration of the launch, and who executed the launch. Administrators can use this report to ensure compliance with their software license agreements and to discover any unauthorized use of applications.

File Search with File Search Result
1 Attribute selector. Choose from 16 le system search attributes: name, parent path, full path, extension, date modied, date created, actual size, size on disk, kind, visibility, version number, version string, owner, group, permissions, and lock status. 2 Attribute qualier. This pop-up list provides choices that can help narrow your search; when searching for names, you can use qualiers such as includes or begins with. 3 Search term. Provide values to search that will be used in conjunction with the attribute qualier to perform the search. 4 View options. Select which le attributes should be displayed in the search results window.
8 Save task. Save the task with the current conguration and target computers for later use. 9 Task Template. Save settings for this task for later use, or apply settings from a previously saved task. 10 Print. You can print the report or save it as a PDF le. 11 Export. You can export the contents of your report to a comma- or tab-delimited text le, which can then be imported into another program such as a spreadsheet. 12 Open selected items. Open les on remote computers by selecting them and clicking this button. 13 Copy to this computer. Copy the les from remote computers to your computer by selecting them and clicking this button. 14 Delete selected items. Delete les on remote computers by selecting them and clicking this button. 15 Results. Information about the requested system attributes is displayed, with each row containing information about one computer. Click the columns to sort the data.
5 Cached report settings. Specify whether to generate a report from cache or collect fresh data. 6 Target computer list. Provides a list of computers and computer lists that will be searched. You can drag additional computers and computer lists from the main Apple Remote Desktop window or remove computers from the list.
7 Schedule task. Schedule the task for a future date and time, or choose a frequency for repeating the task.

Remote Administration

New in Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can save task settings as templates in the Task Template menu, making it easy to apply them at a later time. For the Send UNIX task, the Task Template menu comes populated with more than 30 sample scriptsjust add your favorites to the list for convenient access. You can use more than a dozen commands securely on one or more remote Mac OS X client systems, including: Sleep, wake, restart, and shut down Power on computers that feature Lights Out Management Log out users Open les and applications Empty Trash Lock and unlock screens with a custom or default image Rename computers, with the option of adding unique numbers Set startup disk Send and execute remote shell scripts or UNIX commands With all Apple Remote Desktop commands, you can schedule tasks for a future date and time, choose a frequency for repeating the tasks, or save themcomplete with current conguration and target computersfor later use.

Remote Shell Scripts

Thanks to the UNIX-based foundation of Mac OS X and a rich set of command-line tools, Apple Remote Desktop enables you to execute UNIX shell scripts and commands on multiple remote client systems and get feedback on their success or failure. This powerful capability gives you unlimited exibility to accomplish system maintenance taskseven if there is no explicit Apple Remote Desktop command for the task. Whats more, Apple Remote Desktop includes two command-line toolssystemsetup and networksetupthat can set the Network, Energy Saver, and Date & Time system preferences. The Remote Shell Scripts command also benets from the new Task Template feature in Apple Remote Desktop 3.
Send UNIX Command Task with Send UNIX Command Result 9 8
1 Task Template. Save task settings for later use, or apply settings from a previously saved task. The Task Template menu includes more than 30 sample scripts and UNIX commands. 2 UNIX shell scripts or commands. Enter one or more UNIX commands or a UNIX shell script to be executed on target computers. You can use the two included tools, systemsetup and networksetup, to congure the Network, Energy Saver, and Date & Time system preferences. 3 Specify user. Use the current logged-in user or specify a dierent user, such as the administrator, to run the task. 4 Toggle display output. Specify whether all results should be displayed or just the last line of output.
6 Schedule task. Schedule the task for a future date and time, or choose a frequency for repeating the task. 7 Save task. Save the task with the current conguration and target computers for later use. 8 Print. Print the report or save it as a PDF le. 9 Export. Export the contents of your report to a commaor tab-delimited text le, which can then be imported into another program, such as a spreadsheet. 10 Summary view. View summary results of Send UNIX Command, including whether the commands succeeded or failed and the last line of output. 11 Detailed view. View detailed results of Send UNIX Command. Selecting a computer in the detailed view will automatically scroll to the location of the output for that computer.
5 Target computer list. Select the computers and computer lists to execute the UNIX commands. You can drag additional computers and computer lists from the main Apple Remote Desktop window or remove computers from the list.
NetBoot and Network Install services Mac OS X Server includes system imaging tools that streamline the support of Mac clients and reduce system administration costs. Administrators can use NetBoot to host a single operating system and application conguration on all desktop systems. Network Install is an ideal solution for installing and upgrading software on Mac OS X desktop and portable systems.

Remote Boot Disk Selection
Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to designate the startup disk of client systems from your own computer. This feature enables you to set any number of Mac computers to start up from a NetBoot or Network Install image or from a specic partition on the local hard driveespecially useful for deploying a standard desktop conguration across multiple systems, whether in classrooms, computer labs, kiosks, or compute clusters. After selecting the boot disk, you set the systems to restart immediately or at a later date and time. Theres no need to travel from location to location conguring each system individually.

Set Startup Disk

1 Select startup disk. Choose from a list of available network volumes; specify server and image name; or select a local drive or partition to be the startup disk. 2 Restart computers. You can choose to have the computers restart immediately after the startup disk setting has been changed. 3 Target computer list. Select the computers and computer lists for setting their startup disk. You can drag additional computers and computer lists from the main Apple Remote Desktop window or remove computers from the list.
4 Schedule task. Schedule the task for a future date and time or choose a frequency for repeating the task. 5 Save task. Save the task with the current conguration and target computers for later use. 6 Task Template. Save task settings for later use, or apply settings from a previously saved task. The Task Template menu includes over 30 sample scripts and UNIX commands.

Remote Assistance

With powerful screen-sharing and text-messaging capabilities, Apple Remote Desktop 3 makes it easy to provide thorough technical assistance to the computer users in your organization. Observe and control one or many remote Mac OS X systems. Apple Remote Desktop 3 uses the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) standardwhich means its also possible to observe and control VNC-enabled Windows, Linux, and UNIX systems. New remote assistance capabilities, such as drag and drop and copy and paste, make interacting with client computers even easier. And when youre conguring sensitive information on remote systems, Curtain Mode provides an added degree of privacy.

Observe and Control

Quartz 2D graphics Apple Remote Desktop leverages the Quartz 2D library, including the use of optimized CoreGraphics libraries, to boost the performance of its screen-sharing capabilities.
Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to observe and control remote Mac OS X systems from anywhere on the network. Each observe and control window includes a toolbar for adjusting the color depth of the remote screen; a screen capture button allows you to take snapshots of the remote screen. Toggle buttons let you switch between observe and control modes, sharing control and taking complete control of the mouse and keyboard, and t-in-window and full-screen modes. With the t-in-window mode, you can scale your view of the remote screen to t your control window. Resizing the screen in your window also resizes the client screen. By scaling down the screenand, as a result, transmitting less datayou can achieve better performance over slower network connections. Apple Remote Desktop 3 also lets you control computers that have multiple displays attached. You can choose to view all the displays in one virtual window or to view only one display at a time. Remote Drag and Drop Now its easy to transfer les and folders between two computers. With the new Remote Drag and Drop feature, you can simply drag and drop a le or folder from your computer to a remotely controlled computeror from a remote computer to your own. Remote Copy and Paste You can move text or images easily by copying and pasting them from your local computer to a remote computer. Curtain Mode Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to block the remote users view of the desktop with a virtual curtain. This gives administrators additional security when conguring sensitive information.

Multi-Observe Window 4

1 Remote screens. View multiple remote screens in a single window. Screens can be those of any Mac OS X or VNCenabled computers. Your screen updates in real time. 2 Page forward and backward. When you are observing more computers than are visible in one window, use the arrows to page forward and backward between groups of screens. 3 Perform tasks. Select a screen to perform a task on the corresponding computer. For instance, you can select a screen and initiate a full-control sessionor select all screens and copy les to all those computers.
View options. Adjust the number of screens that are visible in the window, from one computer to up to 50. Adjust the observation time when you have more computers selected than are visible. Adjust the color depth of the viewed screens using one of four modes: millions of colors, thousands of colors, grayscale, or black and white. Specify an optional caption to be displayed under each screen: name, IP address, host name, and computer status. Scale window. Scale the window to the size you like. Individual screens automatically scale to t.
Screen Sharing and Text Messaging
Guest Access The Guest Access option allows computer users to accept or refuse an administrators request to control or observe their systems and can be enabled or disabled based on the policies of your organization.
Apple Remote Desktop 3 enables you to select one or multiple Mac screens and share them with other Mac OS X systems. This feature is useful for demonstrating specic tasks or for training a group of computer users. Two-way text messaging allows you to broadcast text messages to one or more Mac OS X systems or to initiate private, real-time computer-to-computer text chat. With text messaging enabled, client users can also initiate text communications to request assistance from their administrator or help desk.

Automation

Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes more than 30 Automator actions, making it quick and easy to accomplish time-consuming, repetitive manual tasks.

Automator Workflows

With Automator and Apple Remote Desktop 3, its easy to create custom administration workows by chaining together individual actions. You can save these workows as self-running applications, droplets, or plug-ins that can be accessed in an instant through Script Menuwhenever you need them. For example, you may need to congure a new batch of systems all at once: setting a corporate desktop, turning on remote access, setting Finder preferences such as Energy Saver settings, changing the time zone, and syncing the time to the corporate time server. By creating and saving a plug-in that accomplishes all these tasks in exactly the same way every time, you can streamline the process of conguring any new system. Once youve created a desktop management workow, you can easily share it with less technical people in your organization. Teachers can use Automator actions and plug-ins to manage their classroom systemsfor example, adjusting the volume on a computer or locking a screenwithout needing to know anything about Apple Remote Desktop. This allows you to extend the power of Apple Remote Desktop and ensure consistent system administration standards across your organization.

Storage: Hardware: Drive Manufacturer, Drive Model, Drive Revision, Drive Protocol, Removable, Serial Number, Logical Unit Number, Detachable Volume: Creation Date, Disk Name, File Count, Folder Count, Total Disk Space, Free Space, Startup Disk, UNIX Mount Point File system: Disk Format, Owner, Group, Permission Modes, Permissions, Write Access, Modication Date, Case Sensitive, Preserves Case Backup: Journaling Capable, Journaled, Last Backup Date, Last Check Date FireWire devices: Manufacturer, Model, Device Speed, Software Version, Firmware Version Network Interfaces: Network overview: Name, Active, Primary, Congured With, Hardware Address, Interface Name, Flags Active interface: Domain, Router Address, IP Address, Broadcast Address, DNS Server, Subnet Mask, IP Addresses, Broadcast Addresses, DNS Servers, Subnet Masks Network statistics: Network Collisions, Network Input Errors, Network Input Packets, Network Output Errors, Network Output Packets Output statistics: Output Queue Capacity, Output Queue Size, Output Queue Peak Size, Output Queue Drop Count, Output Queue Output Count, Output Queue Retry Count, Output Queue Stall Count Ethernet statistics: Ethernet Alignment Errors, Ethernet FCS Errors, Ethernet Single Collision Frames, Ethernet Multiple Collision Frames, Ethernet SQE Test Errors, Ethernet Deferred Transmissions, Ethernet Late Collisions, Ethernet Excessive Collisions, Ethernet Internal MAC Transmit Errors, Ethernet Carrier Sense Errors, Ethernet Frames Too Long, Ethernet Internal MAC Receive Errors, Ethernet Chip Set, Ethernet Missed Frames, Ethernet Receiver Overruns, Ethernet Receiver Watchdog Timeouts, Ethernet Receiver Frames Too Short, Ethernet Receiver Collision Errors, Ethernet Receiver PHY Errors, Ethernet Receiver Timeouts, Ethernet Receiver Interrupts, Ethernet Receiver Resets, Ethernet Receiver Resource Errors, Ethernet Transmitter Underruns, Ethernet Transmitter Jabber Events, Ethernet Transmitter PHY Errors, Ethernet Transmitter Timeouts, Ethernet Transmitter Interrupts, Ethernet Transmitter Resets, Ethernet Transmitter Resource Errors, Ethernet Collision Frequencies PCI cards: Card Name, Card Type, Card Memory, Card Revision, Vendor ID, Device ID, ROM Revision, Slot Name Memory: Slot Identier, Module Size, Module Type, Module Speed USB devices: Product Name, Vendor Name, Device Speed, Product ID, Vendor ID, Bus Power Amps Reporting capabilities Schedule reports for a specic date and time Set Mac OS X computers to rebuild and send data on their hardware and software settings on a regular schedule or only as needed Store data for hardware reports in the included SQL database for fast and easy retrieval

Create powerful system administration workows by combining Apple Remote Desktop actions Create end-to-end solutions by combining actions with other applications actions Save Automator workows as plug-ins Includes over 30 actions

For More Information

For more information about Apple Remote Desktop 3, visit www.apple.com/ remotedesktop. For more information on Automator, visit www.apple.com/macosx/features/automator. For technical articles about product issues, usage, and implementation, visit www.apple.com/support/remotedesktop.
1Each Task Server requires its own copy of Apple Remote Desktop 3. 2Apple Remote Desktop Client software version 1.2 or later
is installed automatically when you install Mac OS X v10.3 or later on a client computer. 2006 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, AirPort, AppleScript, AppleTalk, FireWire, iTunes, Mac, the Mac logo, Macintosh, Mac OS, Panther, Power Mac, Quartz, and Xserve are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Apple Remote Desktop, Bonjour, Finder, Spotlight, and Tiger are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. AppleCare and Apple Store are service marks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corp. in the U.S. and other countries. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Product specications are subject to change without notice. This material is provided for information purposes only; Apple assumes no liability related to its use. November 2006 L314877B