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How to enable Remote View and Remote Control for macOS devices
The Remote View and Remote Control feature of Hexnode UEM is a monitoring tool that helps administrators remotely connect to an endpoint’s display in real time. By starting a remote view session, you can actively diagnose device-end issues and detect device incidents. Using the Remote Control feature, administrators can access and control remote devices to troubleshoot and fix errors on their remote devices in real time.
- Minimum system requirements –
- macOS 10.12+
- Hexnode UEM app v7.0.0+
- Hexnode Remote Assist app v4.1.0+
- On macOS 10.15+, Screen Recording permission and Accessibility permission must be enabled for the Hexnode Remote Assist app.
- For Remote View, users with Admin roles may manually grant permission to the Hexnode Remote Assist app from System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Screen Recording.
- For Remote Control, the admin may manually grant permission to the Hexnode Remote Assist app from System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Accessibility.
Configuring Remote View and Remote Control settings on Hexnode
To get started, you need to ensure you’ve enabled the Hexnode Remote View widget from the Admin settings.
- Go to the Admin tab and open the General Settings sub-tab.
- Scroll down to find the Remote View & Control Settings section.
- Select the checkbox corresponding to Enable Remote View and Enable Remote Control.
- Save the settings.
Starting the Remote View session
You must install the Hexnode Remote Assist app on the system before proceeding. To check if the app is already installed on the device, navigate to Manage > Devices and select your device. Under the Device Summary sub-tab, find the Enrollment Details section and check if Hexnode Remote Assist app is installed on the device.
If it says ‘No’, you may click on the update icon to initiate a fresh installation of the app on the device.
It might take some time to download and install the app on the device. If you’ve already installed the app, initiate the Scan Device action to refresh the status.
To start a remote view session for your macOS system,
- Navigate to the Manage tab and select your device from the Devices list.
- Find the Remote View widget under the Device Summary sub-tab.
- Verify the requirements stated and click on Start Session.
The Start Session button may appear greyed and unclickable if any of the requirements are not satisfied. The button will also be disabled if Remote View is disabled from the Admin settings.
While connecting to the device, you may see the following statuses on the remote view window,
- “Connecting to device” – Hexnode is attempting to connect to the display or is waiting for the user to grant screen sharing permission.
- “Permission granted” – The request to connect to the device has been granted, and you’ll shortly be able to view the device screen.
- “Session expired” – The connection request has timed out. Please reattempt by clicking on Restart.
Click on the expand icon to enter into full-screen view.
Starting the Remote Control session
The remote view session must be started before you can request control for the device.
To start a Remote Control session for your macOS device,
- In the Remote View widget, ensure that there is already an ongoing remote view session.
- Click on Request Control.
- To stop the Remote Control session, click on Stop Remote Control.
What happens at the device end?
When you initiate the remote view session from the Hexnode console, the device should receive a prompt to grant screen-sharing permission. Click Accept to grant permission.
When you initiate the Remote Control session, the device should receive a prompt to grant screen control permission. Click Accept to grant permission.
On the permission alert window, selecting Don’t show again and clicking Accept will grant permission for all corresponding sessions on the device.
Next time, when you initiate a remote view or control session on this device, you’ll be directly connected to the device screen and the user will be notified as – “Your administrator has initiated the remote session.” or “Your administrator has initiated the remote control.”.
You can also use the Hexnode Remote Assist app to grant permission or select an alternate display screen for devices connected to multiple displays. Once a remote session request has been initiated from the Hexnode console, the app will start automatically, and the app icon will appear on the system menu bar. Click on the icon and select Open Hexnode Remote Assist to open the app.
To grant permissions from the Hexnode Remote Assist app, open the app and select Grant Permission for Remote View and Remote Control respectively.
Once you’ve granted permission, you may select an alternate screen to cast. Click on Select Screen, choose the display and click on Done.
Terminating the remote view session
To terminate the remote view session, click on the Stop button. On the end device, the user will be notified as – “Your administrator has terminated the remote session.”
The user may also manually terminate the remote view session from the Hexnode Remote Assist app by clicking Revoke Permission.
You must keep the following ports open to enable Remote View –
- Port 80: HTTP communication port for web client-based communications. Used during installation of the client application and initiating remote commands.
- Port 443: TCP communication port for streaming the screen recording in real time.
- Port 3478: The TCP/UDP communication port to initiate the remote session.
- Port 5349: The TLS communication port to initiate the remote session.
