Quil Node Mac Remote Control & Automation

Useful for those running multiple Mac based nodes (especially Mac minis in bulk). Having managed several, connecting to each of the machine (dis/re/connecting HDMI, dis/re/connecting peripherals, &c.) proves difficult.

• Use Apple's Remote Desktop app to connect to the machines remotely.

• Utilize Automator to automate node run on startup.

Purchase Apple's Remote Desktop app from the app store.

Login to your nodes, and allow Remote Management & Remote Login. Go to Settings and search for Sharing. In this page you will find Remote Management & Remote Login - enable these and add your user to the allowed access list (a popup with list of privileges to choose will appear).

NOTE: make sure your node's user password is secure.

In Remote Desktop app, your Mac will appear in the list of available desktops to connect to.

Double click on the desktop to open the Desktop Info and under Attributes tab (edit) enter the Desktop's user login details.

You can connect to your Desktop and have complete control of it or simply observe (depending on the privileges you've set for the logged in user).

Automator is useful for starting the node automatically on startup. Since you will be running your Mac machines without a monitor, it's important that this node service runs on its own as soon as the machine is ready.

To setup this automation, open Automator (in your node machine or host machine) - this requires a monitor for now.

Create a new Document and choose Application.

The fastest way to complete this setup is by recording yourself run your node i.e. opening the terminal, typing change directory, typing ./release_autorun.sh. Autorun will capture these events and recreate it.

Once you've completed your recording, export the file as .app. Ideally to a remote file storage which your node can access so it can copy and paste the .app file.

In your node machine, copy this .app file into your Downloads folder. The Downloads folder has a relaxed set of permissions therefore your system can run the automation without running into permission issues.

Next: setup your Login Items, and add the .app file to Accessibility Permissions

Login Items is located in Settings > General > Login Items

Add the .app file to the login items.

Under Privacy & Security in Settings, add the .app in your Accessibility permissions.

That's it! Your Remote Desktop & Automation is now setup for your Mac.

In case the machine resets or crashes, it's important that it restarts the node again on its own. By default your Mac will prompt the Login Page.

Allow the user to automatically login so restart process can proceed by enabling Automatic Login at Settings > Users & Groups > Automatic Login As (On)