Add Remote Desktop clients

To manage client computers using Remote Desktop, you must first add them to a computers list. The All Computer list shows all of the computers contained in all lists. When you add a computer to a list, it is also added to the All Computer list.

You can use Bonjour to discover computers on your local subnet, if your local network’s routing devices allow multicast DNS (mDNS) packets on port 5353. To find computers that aren’t on the local subnet, your local network’s routing devices must be configured to pass network pings and TCP/UDP packets on ports 3283 and 5900. If your local network’s routing devices use Network Address Translation (NAT), you must know the mapping to the client computers’ remote management and screen sharing public ports.

Add clients using Bonjour

You can use Bonjour to display a list of computers in your default Bonjour domain with Remote Desktop enabled. Typically this includes only your local subnet, but it can also include other subnets. All other client discovery methods display computers regardless of whether they have Remote Desktop enabled.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Bonjour from the pop-up menu.

  3. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  4. Authenticate by providing the user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients using a directory server

When you view the directory server scanner, you see all client computers that the Task Server knows about and that are organized in computer groups in the directory. You bind to directory servers in the Accounts pane of System Preferences.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Directory Server from the pop-up menu.

  3. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  4. Authenticate by providing the user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients by importing a file

You can add a list of computers to the All Computers list by importing a file listing the computers’ IP addresses.

The list can be in text file or spreadsheet format and must contain IP addresses or fully qualified domain names (such as foo.example.com). You can add a range of IP addresses by expressing the range in the following format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx–yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy. For example, using a text file with “192.168.0.2–192.168.2.200” scans all IP addresses in that address range.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose File Import from the pop-up menu.

  3. Browse for the file by clicking the Open File button, or drag a file into the dialog.

    Alternatively, you can enter the file’s pathname in the File field. All responding clients are listed in the Remote Desktop window.

  4. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  5. Authenticate by providing the user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients using network addresses

You can add a computer to the All Computers list by entering its IP address or fully qualified domain name.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Network Address from the pop-up menu.

  3. Enter the IP address or fully qualified domain name in the Address field.

  4. Click the Refresh button.

  5. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  6. Authenticate by providing the user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients using IP addresses

You can add a client directly to a computer list using the IP address or host name.

  1. Select a computer list, such as All Computers.

  2. Choose File > Add by Address.

  3. Enter the IP address or fully qualified domain name.

  4. Enter the user name and password.

  5. Click the Advanced Options triangle.

  6. If the client computer uses Network Address Translation (NAT), enter the public ports that are mapped to the client in the Remote Management Port and Screen Sharing Port fields.

  7. Verify the name and password before adding the computer to the computer list.

  8. Click Add.

Add clients using a local network

When you choose the local network scanner, Remote Desktop sends a subnet broadcast to computers on the same subnets as the administrator computer. All possible clients on the local subnets appear in a list on the right side of the Remote Desktop window.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Local Network from the pop-up menu.

  3. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  4. Authenticate by providing a user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients using a network range

You can query a range of IP addresses to look for clients. To locate computers by network range, you provide a beginning and ending IP address to scan, and Remote Desktop queries each IP address in that range in sequence, asking if the computer is a client computer.

This method works best when searching for clients outside the local subnet but on the local area network. Alternatively, you can use a text file that contains IP address ranges (in this format: “192.168.0.1–192.168.3.20”), and import the file to find clients.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Network Range from the pop-up menu.

  3. Enter the beginning and ending IP address.

  4. Click the Refresh button.

  5. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  6. Authenticate by providing a user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.

Add clients known by the Task Server

When you view the Task Server scanner, you see all client computers that the Task Server knows about. This list includes client computers that other Remote Desktop administrators have added.

  1. Select a scanner in the sidebar at the left of the Remote Desktop window.

  2. Choose Task Server from the pop-up menu.

  3. Drag one or more computers to a computer list, such as All Computers.

  4. Authenticate by providing a user name and password for a Remote Desktop administrator.