How to start VNC remotely on a Mac OS X

Posted by Martin Perron on May 27, 2009 in HowTo - Mac OS X • No comments
Once you get SSH’d in you can change the VNC password and start the VNC service using the following command:

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate -configure -clientopts -setvnclegacy -vnclegacy yes -setvncpw -vncpw VNCPASSWORDHERE -restart -agent

So have fun remoting your box!  Btw to VNC over SSH just type something like: “ssh -L 5903:localhost:5900 example.com “.  You can then VNC to your local machine on port 5903 or “display” 3.
Edit: Hmm when I did this my VNC service’s cpu usage went through the roof.  Not sure if this will happen for everyone but just in case, restarting it fixed it:

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -restart -agent

From: http://ericboehs.com/blog/?p=18

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