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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Vnc
bcharna - Oct 2, 2005 - 10:17 pm
How do I help my sister using VNC if she is not on our network?
JFG - Oct 2, 2005 - 11:17 pm
Hello Brad,
I will try to assist you but I need a little more detail.
I suppose that you want to connect to your sister's machine over the Internet. To do that, you need the following:
- a running OSXvnc server on her machine; she gets to choose a password that she will have to tell you
- knowledge of her IP address, which changes every time she connects to the Internet; she can find out the current address by visiting whatismyip.com
- a VNC client on your machine (I'm sure you have one already), where you open a session to her machine by typing the IP address instead of the machine name that you were using locally, and the password she chose.
Now this may still fail if she connects to the Internet via a router providing firewall service and/or connection sharing with NAT. If this is your case, we will have to delve a little deeper into networking strategies...
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.
JFG
I will try to assist you but I need a little more detail.
I suppose that you want to connect to your sister's machine over the Internet. To do that, you need the following:
- a running OSXvnc server on her machine; she gets to choose a password that she will have to tell you
- knowledge of her IP address, which changes every time she connects to the Internet; she can find out the current address by visiting whatismyip.com
- a VNC client on your machine (I'm sure you have one already), where you open a session to her machine by typing the IP address instead of the machine name that you were using locally, and the password she chose.
Now this may still fail if she connects to the Internet via a router providing firewall service and/or connection sharing with NAT. If this is your case, we will have to delve a little deeper into networking strategies...
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.
JFG
bcharna - Oct 3, 2005 - 4:13 pm
Thanks, Im using OSXvnc for my VNC client and Im using Chicken of the VNC for the viewer. It doesnt seem to work, I went to the OSXvnc support site and found out how to do port mapping or something. I have an AirPort, If you can just reply to this with step by step instructions
What I tried:
going to whatismyip.com entering it into the chicken app after i turned on the server in OSXvnc. I tried some port mapping stuff but It just doesnt work!
What I tried:
going to whatismyip.com entering it into the chicken app after i turned on the server in OSXvnc. I tried some port mapping stuff but It just doesnt work!
bcharna - Oct 3, 2005 - 4:13 pm
Oh yea; also, I want you to show me how to do it using help.app with VNC!
JFG - Oct 3, 2005 - 4:23 pm
Hello again,
As we seem to be online together, we could try going through Help.app now. You need both Help.app and OSXvnc installed in your /Applications folder. Launch Help.app, login to your macosx.com account, then go to the "Remote" tab, click the "Start Screen Sharing" button and report to me the displayed hostname, port number and password. Then I can connect to your machine from here and try to fix your issue. On your screen, you'll see whatever I do on the machine so don't worry about security.
Let me know when you're ready, I'm staying in front of my machine.
Also, you said you tried "going to whatismyip.com entering it into the chicken app after i turned on the server in OSXvnc." but you need to find out the remote machine's IP address, not yours.
See you online in a while,
JFG
As we seem to be online together, we could try going through Help.app now. You need both Help.app and OSXvnc installed in your /Applications folder. Launch Help.app, login to your macosx.com account, then go to the "Remote" tab, click the "Start Screen Sharing" button and report to me the displayed hostname, port number and password. Then I can connect to your machine from here and try to fix your issue. On your screen, you'll see whatever I do on the machine so don't worry about security.
Let me know when you're ready, I'm staying in front of my machine.
Also, you said you tried "going to whatismyip.com entering it into the chicken app after i turned on the server in OSXvnc." but you need to find out the remote machine's IP address, not yours.
See you online in a while,
JFG
JFG - Oct 3, 2005 - 5:04 pm
Sorry Brad, I'm going to sleep now. If you still want to go through Help.app and OSXvnc with me, please tell me what time would be convenient for you tomorrow. My time zone is Paris GMT+1 DST.
Regards,
JFG
Regards,
JFG
bcharna - Oct 4, 2005 - 2:14 pm
Sorry about yesterday, My DSL line was being fixed, are you avalible now? (reply back please)
JFG - Oct 4, 2005 - 3:38 pm
Hi Brad,
I'm online now, are you still there?
JFG
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Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
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I'm online now, are you still there?
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
bcharna - Oct 4, 2005 - 8:24 pm
This whole help.app thing is stupid! Anyway, Can you please give me step by step instructions on how to do it? Let me give you ALL the info. I have 1 PowerBook. I have 1 iBook. They are sitting next to each other. I have an AirPort base station. I want to be able to access my PB's screen from the iBook. However, I know how to access the PB if the iBook and the PB are on the same network. You just have to enter the PB's local IP address. That works just fine. I want to go to school which is a different network and be able to access the PB's screen (I will have the iBook). Please give me detailed answers on how to do this, keep in mind that I have an AirPort and i may have to allow some ports or what ever. Doing it at home using the external IP is for practice so that I know how to do it at school. Thank you so much. P.S. Tell those developers to make that application better. (ex. Make it so that when they submit it there are volunteers on so that it will kind of be like you wait 15 minutes or so and then they say we're ready and then begin. Other wise its just stupid! Not your fault. Thanks!!
JFG - Oct 5, 2005 - 2:32 am
Hello Brad,
I'm a bit frustrated too with Help.app, but it's just the very first beta release, and it's been very helpful with some novice users. I'm sure it will get better in due course. Hey, you get what you pay for!
Back to your problem, thanks for the details, it's easier to understand exactly what went wrong now. You're almost there.
1) Launch the OSXvnc server on your PowerBook, choose a password and make a note of your current external IP address via whatismyip.com.
2) Configure your Airport base station to forward incoming packets on ports 5900-5909 to the PowerBook (you seem knowledgeable enough to do that, otherwise ask again)
3) Go to a friend's place with your iBook and open a VNC client session to the IP address that you wrote down. It should work.
The reason it doesn't work when you try it at home is because the NAT router inside the Airport base station does not allow packets coming from inside your home network to pretend they come back from outside, i.e. from the external IP address. Therefore all VNC traffic is blocked by the Airport. If the same packets really come from the outside (and you have forwarded the ports I mentioned), they will go through.
There is still a potential issue that will bite you later. If your ISP changes your home IP address while you're away, you won't be able to connect again. Here in Europe, most broadband accesses get disconnected once a day to refresh the IP space. If this is your case, you can use a dynamic DNS service such as dyndns.org to assign a name to your home IP address and have the pointer updated automatically every time your home address gets changed behind your back. Visit dyndns.org, open a free account, and install DNSUpdate on your PowerBook to do the housekeeping (get it from dnsupdate.org).
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
I'm a bit frustrated too with Help.app, but it's just the very first beta release, and it's been very helpful with some novice users. I'm sure it will get better in due course. Hey, you get what you pay for!
Back to your problem, thanks for the details, it's easier to understand exactly what went wrong now. You're almost there.
1) Launch the OSXvnc server on your PowerBook, choose a password and make a note of your current external IP address via whatismyip.com.
2) Configure your Airport base station to forward incoming packets on ports 5900-5909 to the PowerBook (you seem knowledgeable enough to do that, otherwise ask again)
3) Go to a friend's place with your iBook and open a VNC client session to the IP address that you wrote down. It should work.
The reason it doesn't work when you try it at home is because the NAT router inside the Airport base station does not allow packets coming from inside your home network to pretend they come back from outside, i.e. from the external IP address. Therefore all VNC traffic is blocked by the Airport. If the same packets really come from the outside (and you have forwarded the ports I mentioned), they will go through.
There is still a potential issue that will bite you later. If your ISP changes your home IP address while you're away, you won't be able to connect again. Here in Europe, most broadband accesses get disconnected once a day to refresh the IP space. If this is your case, you can use a dynamic DNS service such as dyndns.org to assign a name to your home IP address and have the pointer updated automatically every time your home address gets changed behind your back. Visit dyndns.org, open a free account, and install DNSUpdate on your PowerBook to do the housekeeping (get it from dnsupdate.org).
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
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bcharna - Oct 5, 2005 - 4:50 pm
I made two of my friends try the ip address that whatsmyip.com said. It didn't work. When yo say port forwarding i went to airport admin and clicked on port mapping. i clicked add and then typed 5900 for the public and private ports i clicked add 9 times to do all of the ports! I got the info on how to do it by this It told me what to do and i did it. I dont know. But what i did do is run the vnc server using osxvnc and display number 0 and set a password and my friends used chicken of the vnc. I gave them the ex. IP. What should i do from here. I think im close but i dont know! Thanks (please reply back to this message.
JFG - Oct 6, 2005 - 2:10 am
Hi again Brad,
Bummer. You've done the right thing and your setup is fine. Now the reason thta your friends cannot connect to your IP address is certainly that the packets get blocked somewhere before reaching your machine, i.e. by the school's network filters ot firewalls. Two things you can do now:
- Get a friend to try a "traceroute" command on your IP address from the outside. This will display the lsit of routers between them and you and show where the packets get blocked. (However it is still possible that traceroute packets go through but VNC packets are blocked...)
- Contact your school's network/IT department and ask them why they vlock incoming ports 5900-5909 and whether they would accept to change this policy. Unlike P2P which is often frowned upon, VNC is a legitimate use of the campus network and they should allow that.
Good luck!
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
Bummer. You've done the right thing and your setup is fine. Now the reason thta your friends cannot connect to your IP address is certainly that the packets get blocked somewhere before reaching your machine, i.e. by the school's network filters ot firewalls. Two things you can do now:
- Get a friend to try a "traceroute" command on your IP address from the outside. This will display the lsit of routers between them and you and show where the packets get blocked. (However it is still possible that traceroute packets go through but VNC packets are blocked...)
- Contact your school's network/IT department and ask them why they vlock incoming ports 5900-5909 and whether they would accept to change this policy. Unlike P2P which is often frowned upon, VNC is a legitimate use of the campus network and they should allow that.
Good luck!
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
JFG - Oct 6, 2005 - 4:09 am
Hello Brad,
I was a bit confused this morning and now realize that your VNC server is not at school but at home, so you have no IT department to complain to...
My advice on running a "traceroute" command on your IP address from the outside is still valid, it may tell you where the incoming packets get blocked. God, these network protocols are more trouble than they should be, right? ;-)
Another thing to check is whether your port mapping rules on the AirPort will send the packets to the correct computer on your home network. It may well be that the AirPort lets packets come in but forward them to another machine inside, not the one running VNC server, and they get lost. So, please double-check the local IP address of your server machine and make sure this is the IP address you entered in the port mapping configuration. When you run a server from home (VNC, Web, FTP, SSH, whatever), it's best to setup you server with a fixed IP address, so the router can be confident in forwarding packets to the right machine. In your Network Preferences, change the IPv4 setting from "DHCP" to "DHCP with fixed IP" and choose an IP address manually, in the range that is provided by your AirPort base station, i.e 192.168.2.100.
For tests, it's enough to forward port number 5900 (that's the first one VNC will try -- further ports are used if you run multiple VNC sessions on the same machine). Also, here's a useful service to test your setup without disturbing your friends all the time: gotomyvnc.com will try to connect to your VNC server from the outside and tell you if it can go through. Once you pass this test, you can call a friend and be pretty sure he can connect.
Good luck,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
I was a bit confused this morning and now realize that your VNC server is not at school but at home, so you have no IT department to complain to...
My advice on running a "traceroute" command on your IP address from the outside is still valid, it may tell you where the incoming packets get blocked. God, these network protocols are more trouble than they should be, right? ;-)
Another thing to check is whether your port mapping rules on the AirPort will send the packets to the correct computer on your home network. It may well be that the AirPort lets packets come in but forward them to another machine inside, not the one running VNC server, and they get lost. So, please double-check the local IP address of your server machine and make sure this is the IP address you entered in the port mapping configuration. When you run a server from home (VNC, Web, FTP, SSH, whatever), it's best to setup you server with a fixed IP address, so the router can be confident in forwarding packets to the right machine. In your Network Preferences, change the IPv4 setting from "DHCP" to "DHCP with fixed IP" and choose an IP address manually, in the range that is provided by your AirPort base station, i.e 192.168.2.100.
For tests, it's enough to forward port number 5900 (that's the first one VNC will try -- further ports are used if you run multiple VNC sessions on the same machine). Also, here's a useful service to test your setup without disturbing your friends all the time: gotomyvnc.com will try to connect to your VNC server from the outside and tell you if it can go through. Once you pass this test, you can call a friend and be pretty sure he can connect.
Good luck,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
bcharna - Oct 6, 2005 - 7:01 pm
It worked!! But there still is one problem; I want to use that dyndns.org site so i set up an account and did the dynamic IP so i went to ****.dyndns.org and it doesnt work is my browser i want it to tell me it from that page. How do i do this? I enabled "wildcard" whatever that means. Please tell me how to do this. By the way, thank you so much for all of your help!!
JFG - Oct 6, 2005 - 7:24 pm
See, I told you we would tame the network ;-)
All right, about DynDNS now. Funny, I was just creating a new alias there a few minutes ago. Let me recap where you are:
- You created an account on dyndns.org
- You created a Dynamic DNS record there for your computer, and called it whatever.dyndns.org
- The reported IP address is not correct and you cannot access whatever.dyndns.org from the outside.
You're missing one piece: a program that will constantly monitor your dynamic IP address and send an update message to the DynDNS service whenever it changes. Download DNSUpdate from dnsupdate.org and follow the easy installation instructions, then let it run in the background and forget about it. DNSUpdate is smart enough to detect you're behind an AirPort and report your externally visible IP address to dyndns.org.
The wildcard option is not useful for you. If you enable it, you can also access your computer under any name of the form ***.whatever.dyndns.org.
Almost there, Brad, gee I bet your sister will be happy!
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
All right, about DynDNS now. Funny, I was just creating a new alias there a few minutes ago. Let me recap where you are:
- You created an account on dyndns.org
- You created a Dynamic DNS record there for your computer, and called it whatever.dyndns.org
- The reported IP address is not correct and you cannot access whatever.dyndns.org from the outside.
You're missing one piece: a program that will constantly monitor your dynamic IP address and send an update message to the DynDNS service whenever it changes. Download DNSUpdate from dnsupdate.org and follow the easy installation instructions, then let it run in the background and forget about it. DNSUpdate is smart enough to detect you're behind an AirPort and report your externally visible IP address to dyndns.org.
The wildcard option is not useful for you. If you enable it, you can also access your computer under any name of the form ***.whatever.dyndns.org.
Almost there, Brad, gee I bet your sister will be happy!
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
bcharna - Oct 7, 2005 - 1:39 pm
Hey, I actually did download that app prior to your reply. It worked fine and the dyndns site had the proper URL. My problem is that when i go to *****.dyndns.org and Safari cant load the page nor does Firefox. Please help. Thanks so much. If your curious the WHOLE problem it that i did not set up the thing to route to my on my AirPort for the VNC
. Well please tell me what you can! Thanks again!!
. Well please tell me what you can! Thanks again!!
JFG - Oct 8, 2005 - 4:59 pm
Hi Brad,
Sorry for the late response, I've been traveling.
You wrote:
> My problem is that when i go to *****.dyndns.org and
> Safari cant load the page nor does Firefox
If you connect to your home machine with Safari or Firefox, does that mean you want to run a Web server from home? In that case, you need to forward port 80 on the AirPort to your computer's internal address.
I thought you just wanted to connect to your VNC server with a VNC client on port 5900, and this should work by now. You said it works with the IP address, so if the DNSUpdate is running and properly configured for an "External" setup, it should work with your whatever.dyndns.org name too. Are you there yet?
But if you want to access the VNC server THROUGH a web browser, you need to connect on port 5800, so you must forward port 5800. VNC server includes a small Web server that starts a Java app on the client browser. This is a rather computer-intensive setup and I do not recommend it. Stick to port 5900 and a dedicated VNC client.
Hope this makes sense,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
Sorry for the late response, I've been traveling.
You wrote:
> My problem is that when i go to *****.dyndns.org and
> Safari cant load the page nor does Firefox
If you connect to your home machine with Safari or Firefox, does that mean you want to run a Web server from home? In that case, you need to forward port 80 on the AirPort to your computer's internal address.
I thought you just wanted to connect to your VNC server with a VNC client on port 5900, and this should work by now. You said it works with the IP address, so if the DNSUpdate is running and properly configured for an "External" setup, it should work with your whatever.dyndns.org name too. Are you there yet?
But if you want to access the VNC server THROUGH a web browser, you need to connect on port 5800, so you must forward port 5800. VNC server includes a small Web server that starts a Java app on the client browser. This is a rather computer-intensive setup and I do not recommend it. Stick to port 5900 and a dedicated VNC client.
Hope this makes sense,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
bcharna - Oct 10, 2005 - 3:37 pm
Sorry for my confusing reply. Now that I have setup VNC, I want to be able to access my computer using Finder. i.e. i enter my IP in Go>Connect to Server and I would be able to access my whole computer even if im on a different network. How would I do this? (ive already done that forward to port 80 thing with AirPort.) Thanks!
JFG - Oct 12, 2005 - 4:12 am
Hi again Brad,
Sorry for the late reply, I've been traveling.
So now you want to access your files from a remote computer? You can't do that with VNC, but it can be done in a similar way to what you've done so far.
First, you must run the Apple File Sharing server on your home machine. If you can connect to it from your home network, that means it's already running, otherwise go to your Sharing Preferences to turn it on.
Second, to reach your file server from the outside, you need to forward the relevant ports on your AirPort router. They are port numbers 548 and 427. As with the VNC ports, you must forward them to the correct machine in your local network.
Third, make sure that your home server does not block these ports itself with its built-in firewall. You can check that in the Sharing Preferences, under the Firewall tab.
It should work. And now you probably can figure how to run a Web server too ;-)
Cheers,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
Sorry for the late reply, I've been traveling.
So now you want to access your files from a remote computer? You can't do that with VNC, but it can be done in a similar way to what you've done so far.
First, you must run the Apple File Sharing server on your home machine. If you can connect to it from your home network, that means it's already running, otherwise go to your Sharing Preferences to turn it on.
Second, to reach your file server from the outside, you need to forward the relevant ports on your AirPort router. They are port numbers 548 and 427. As with the VNC ports, you must forward them to the correct machine in your local network.
Third, make sure that your home server does not block these ports itself with its built-in firewall. You can check that in the Sharing Preferences, under the Firewall tab.
It should work. And now you probably can figure how to run a Web server too ;-)
Cheers,
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
JFG - Oct 18, 2005 - 4:28 am
Hello Brad,
It's been a while. Can I consider your question resolved now? Please let me know.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
It's been a while. Can I consider your question resolved now? Please let me know.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
bcharna - Oct 22, 2005 - 12:36 pm
Sorry for the REALLY LATE reply. Everything works just how I want it to!! Thanks so much for your great help!
bcharna - Oct 22, 2005 - 4:43 pm
But there is one prob. I dont think other people can type in go connect to server my ****.dyndns.org thing. It works on my other mac at home but my friend says it doesnt for him on a different network. Although, for him, my ip address works good.
JFG - Oct 23, 2005 - 12:52 am
Hello Brad,
Nice to read that everything works like you wanted !
About your dyndns.org problem, you should make sure that the DNSUpdate daemon is running on your server (check that in DNSUpdate preferences), so that it can update the IP address as seen by the outside world under this ***.dyndns.org name.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
Nice to read that everything works like you wanted !
About your dyndns.org problem, you should make sure that the DNSUpdate daemon is running on your server (check that in DNSUpdate preferences), so that it can update the IP address as seen by the outside world under this ***.dyndns.org name.
JFG
--------
Service note: Please reply to this message even if your problem is solved, so that we can consider the matter closed. Thank you!
--------
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