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Connect to a macOS device

Learn how to access a macOS computer over Meshnet from Windows, macOS, or Linux.
To log in to your macOS computer remotely over Meshnet, you need to set up remote access on your macOS system and use a remote desktop client on the device from which you are connecting.

Before you begin

  • Ensure that your remote PC and the device you want to use to access it are linked over Meshnet.
  • Look up the Nord name or Meshnet IP address of the computer you're connecting to in your NordVPN app.
    The macOS device's Nord name is hovered over to display the copy option in the NordVPN app

Enable remote access on your Mac

To set up your Mac to accept remote connections, you need to enable the built-in Screen Sharing service, which uses the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) technology.
Note
For this procedure, macOS Big Sur 11.0 is used as an example.
Set up your remote Mac to accept connections:
  1. 1.
    Select the Apple menu
     > System preferences and click Sharing.
  2. 2.
    Select the Screen sharing checkbox.
    Selecting the Screen sharing checkbox
    ​
    If you need to perform more advanced remote access tasks, such as installing software, select Remote management instead.
Tip
Have ready the name and password for the account you're using on your Mac. You can find this information by going to the Apple
 menu > System preferences > Users & groups.

Connect to your remote PC

Below are the steps to connect to a remote Mac computer.
From macOS
From Linux
From Windows
From iOS
From Android
Once you have enabled screen sharing, go to the macOS device from which you are connecting.
  1. 1.
    Open Finder
    .
  2. 2.
    In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Go and select Connect to server.
    The Connect to server menu item is selected
    ​
  3. 3.
    Type vnc:// followed by the Nord name or Meshnet IP of the PC you want to access, as shown: vnc://100.94.97.211 or vnc://secret.raccoon-atlas.nord
    Entering the Meshnet IP of the PC you want to access
  4. 4.
    When prompted, enter the name and password of your account on the Mac you're trying to access.
  5. 5.
    Click Connect.
You should now be able to access and control your macOS device remotely.
Once you have enabled remote access and have your remote desktop credentials, you can connect to your Mac using a remote desktop client.
​

Install the Remmina Remote Desktop Client

You can use Remmina to work with macOS resources, apps, and desktops from a remote location. Remmina is a free remote desktop client for Linux, available in the default repositories of many Linux distributions.
​
Note
The instructions below apply primarily to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS or above, but if you use a different distribution of Linux, the procedure should remain similar.
​
If you don't have Remmina installed on your system, install it using one of the methods described below.

Method 1: Install Remmina from the terminal

  1. 1.
    Open the terminal.
  2. 2.
    Update the package manager's list of available packages by running the following command:
    sudo apt update
    ​
  3. 3.
    Install Remmina by entering this command:
    sudo apt install remmina remmina-plugin-vnc
    ​

Method 2: Install Remmina from Ubuntu Software

  1. 1.
    Open the Ubuntu Software app.
  2. 2.
    In the search bar, enter remmina and select the matching result.
    Typing Remmina in the search bar
    ​
  3. 3.
    Click Install.

Set up a remote connection

  1. 1.
    Open the Remmina app by going to Show applications and searching for remmina.
  2. 2.
    Click the New connection profile
     button in the upper-left corner of the application window.
  3. 3.
    Select Remmina VNC plugin from the Protocol dropdown list.
    Selecting Remmina VNC plugin from the Protocol dropdown list.
    ​
  4. 4.
    Under Basic, enter the information to create a reusable connection.
    • Server: the Nord name or Meshnet IP of the PC you want to access.
    • Username: your remote PC account name.
    • User password: the password for the specified username.
      Filling in the Server, Username, and User password boxes
      ​
  5. 5.
    Click Save.
The new connection will appear in the Remmina window. You can double-click it whenever you want to initiate a remote desktop session.
Since macOS does not support the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) natively, the Microsoft Remote Desktop client cannot be used to establish a connection between a Windows device and a Mac computer.
Nevertheless, you can consider alternative options, including the following ones:

Choose a VNC client

You can choose from a range of VNC clients, with some popular ones being VNC® Viewer and UltraVNC Viewer, to name a few.
For the purposes of this tutorial, VNC® Viewer is used as an example.

Connect to your remote computer

  1. 1.
    Install VNC® Viewer.
  2. 2.
    Open VNC Viewer and go to File > New connection.
  3. 3.
    Under General, in the VNC server field, enter either the Nord name or Meshnet IP of the computer you want to access.
    Entering the Nord name of the remote Mac into the VNC Server field
  4. 4.
    Optionally, you can give a nickname to your connection in the Name field.
  5. 5.
    Click OK.
​

Access your remote Mac

  1. 1.
    Double-click the connection that you added.
    Remote Mac added in the VNC Viewer application
    ​
  2. 2.
    You may receive a security warning caused by connecting to the Apple Screen Sharing service. Proceed with the connection by tapping Connect.
  3. 3.
    If you don't want to see this dialog in the future, select the Don't warn me about this again checkbox.
  4. 4.
    Enter your remote desktop credentials and click OK.
    • Username: your remote Mac account name
    • Password: the password you use to log in to your Mac
You should now be able to access and control your Mac remotely.
To connect to your Mac from an iOS device, you will need a VNC viewer client.

Download the Remote Desktop client

You can download the VNC® Viewer iOS app, available for free from the App Store.
​

Set up a remote connection

  1. 1.
    Open VNC Viewer.
  2. 2.
    Tap the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines in the upper-left corner) and select Address book.
  3. 3.
    Tap the plus (+) button.
  4. 4.
    In the Address field, enter either the Nord name or Meshnet IP of the computer you want to access.
    The Nord name of the remote computer is entered in the Address
  5. 5.
    Optionally, provide a name for your connection in the Name field.
  6. 6.
    Tap Save.

Access your remote Mac

  1. 1.
    From the main screen, select the saved connection that you added.
  2. 2.
    You may receive a security warning caused by connecting to the Apple Screen Sharing service. Proceed with the connection by tapping Connect.
  3. 3.
    If you don't want to see this dialog in the future, disable the Warn me every time toggle.
  4. 4.
    Enter your remote desktop credentials and tap Continue.
    • Username: your remote Mac account name
    • Password: the password you use to log in to your Mac
You should now be able to access and control your Mac remotely.
To connect to your Mac from an iOS device, you will need a VNC viewer client.
You may choose from a range of VNC viewer applications, such as VNC® Viewer and MultiVNC, depending on your preference or device version. For this example, the MultiVNC application will be used.
​

Download the Remote Desktop client

You can download the MultiVNC app, available for free from Google Play.
​

Set up a remote connection

  1. 1.
    Open MultiVNC.
  2. 2.
    In the Address field, enter either the Nord name or Meshnet IP of the computer you want to access.
    The Nord name of the remote computer is entered in the Address
  3. 3.
    Enter your remote desktop credentials.
    • Username: your remote Mac account name
    • Password: the password you use to log in to your Mac
  4. 4.
    Tap Connect.
You should now be able to access and control your Mac remotely.

See also

Previous
Connect to a Windows device
Next
Connect to a Linux device
Last modified 8d ago
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