Chicken of the VNC

(CotVNC) is a VNC client for use with Mac OS X. A VNC client allows one to display and interact with a remote computer's screen and to control it. You can also download Chicken of the VNC 1.3.6 from the sourceforge web site.

We installed them on the Macs on our network last weekend. They are "Mac-like" in the sense that they are easy to install, have a brushed metal interface and are simple to set up.

All we had to do for each Mac on our local network that we wanted to control (i.e. the servers) was install OSXvnc, launch it, enter the computer's Rendezvous name (i.e. mycomputer.local) in the "Display name" field and a password in the "Password" field, under the "Startup" tab press the button "Setup Startup Item" and, finally, click the "Start Server" button.

We use our PowerBook to view and control the other Macs. So we installed CotVNC on it, launched CotVNC, selected "Open" from the "Connection" menu, and for the Mac that we wanted to control we entered its Rendezvous name in the "Host" field and its password (check "Remember Password"). A window of its screen pops up on the PowerBook. The Macs running OSXvnc are perfectly (at least so far) controllable by our PowerBook. We used this software combo to update Mac OS X 10.3.1 on several computers and to install several applications, all remotely.

So far we've encountered only two glitches. If we quit and relaunch CotVNC, it forgets the passwords (even if the box to save them has been checked) but not the Rendezvous names. Second, if placed in full screen mode, it doesn't respond to the command-option-control-` key sequence command to go back to window mode--we have to press command-option-escape to quit CotVNC to get back to the Powerbook's desktop. We recommend sticking with window mode.

OSXvnc and CotVNC can be used across the internet to control a remote computer by using it's IP address rather than it's Rendezvous name. However, if the computer is behind a firewall or a router running NAT it's a bit more complicated because one has to open (forward) the ports that the software runs on.