VNC User Guide - RealVNC

Chapter 7: Making Connections Secure
Mac OS X
Under Mac OS X, system authentication is selected using the Mac password option in the Authentication
dropdown of the VNC Server - Options dialog. More on this dialog.
This means, to connect to VNC Server:
• In Service Mode, a user must supply the credentials of a member of the admin group.
• In User Mode, a user must supply the credentials of the host computer user starting VNC Server.
You can add different users or groups to the authentication list if you do not want to publish the credentials of
host computer users with administrative privileges. For more information, see Managing users and groups in
the authentication list on page 102.
Note that the credentials supplied by a user in order to connect to VNC Server determine the VNC
permissions granted to that user. VNC permissions control which RealVNC remote control features the user
is allowed to use. By default, a Full set of VNC permissions is granted. For more information on what this
means, and how to revoke VNC permissions in order to restrict access to RealVNC remote control features,
see Restricting features for particular connected users on page 114.
Once connected to VNC Server:
• In Service Mode, a user has the same privileges (that is, access rights) as the currently logged on host
computer user. If no host computer user is logged on, then the user must log on to Mac OS X in order to
continue.
• In User Mode, a user has the same privileges as the host computer user starting VNC Server.
In either case, this need not be a host computer user with administrative privileges even if the credentials of
one were supplied in order to connect to VNC Server. The opposite also holds true: a connected user has
administrative privileges on the host computer if such a user either started VNC Server (User Mode) or is
currently logged on (Service Mode).
VNC User Guide 101