Start VNCServer on Mac1 EC2 Instance

gistfile1.txt

# YouTube (english) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtU2_bBfSgM
# YouTube (french) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnaVBnERDU

#
# On your laptop, connect to the Mac instance with SSH (similar to Linux instances)
#
ssh -i <your private key.pem> ec2-user@<your public ip address>

#
# On the Mac
#

# Set a password for ec2-user

sudo passwd ec2-user 

# Enable VNC Server (thanks arnib@amazon.com for the feedback and tests) 

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart \
-activate -configure -access -on \
-configure -allowAccessFor -specifiedUsers \
-configure -users ec2-user \
-configure -restart -agent -privs -all

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart \
 -configure -access -on -privs -all -users ec2-user

exit

#
# On your laptop
# Create a SSH tunnel to VNC and connect from a vnc client using user ec2-user and the password you defined.
#
 
ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 -C -N -i <your private key.pem> ec2-user@<your public ip address>

# open another terminal 

open vnc://localhost 

#
# On the mac EC2 instance, resize the APFS container to match EBS volume size
# https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-mac-instances.html#mac-instance-increase-volume
#

PDISK=$(diskutil list physical external | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f1)
APFSCONT=$(diskutil list physical external | grep "Apple_APFS" | tr -s " " | cut -d" " -f8)
sudo diskutil repairDisk $PDISK
# Accept the prompt with "y", then paste this command
sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer $APFSCONT 0

#
# (optional) On the mac EC2 Instance, set screen resolution
# https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-mac-instances.html#mac-screen-resolution
#
brew tap jakehilborn/jakehilborn && brew install displayplacer
displayplacer list
displayplacer "id:<screenID> res:<width>x<height> origin:(0,0) degree:0"
RES="2560x1600"
displayplacer "id:69784AF1-CD7D-B79B-E5D4-60D937407F68 res:${RES} scaling:off origin:(0,0) degree:0"




 
 

Hi @sebsto,

Thank you very much for providing the instructions to resize the APFS container. After running the above commands, I could see the full size of EBS volume mounted on root. I really appreciate the quick response and providing the right solution.....

Regards,
Sridhar.

Thank you @sebsto for sharing this.
I'm running the terminal on a Windows 10 OS.
After I create the tunnel on port 5900 I get the message "bind [127.0.0.1]:5900: Permission denied" .
Should I worry about this ? If so, what can I do to get it right?

Then I open another terminal on Windows and try to run "open vnc://localhost" I get:
'open' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Where should I be running the open command ?

@diogocsc the first error seems to indicate the VNC server is not started on macOS. Please check that one before proceeding.
On Windows, open vnc:// ... will not work. You can use any graphical VNC client instead. Check RealVNC or TightVNC for example.

Hi @sebsto, I need your assistance. Here is the situation. I am currently using AWS Mac-mini instance for which the EBS Volume is about 90Gi. We have decided to buy a Mac-mini desktop computer for cost reasons. Is there any way I can reuse the content in EBS volume for new mac-mini by cloning it instead of configuring the new mac-mini machine from the scratch ? Thanks in advance!

Hello @Sridhar-245,
I don't know any tool able to do that.
It is possible to write such a tool using the EBS block level API https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-programmatic-access-to-ebs-snapshot-content/ but would require some programming effort

The best practice I am trying to follow is to script all my mac1 instance installation (incl XCode and the development tools), so that I can reproduce my setup on any machine, in the cloud or on my desktop.

Thank you @sebsto. I will try to go through the API mentioned above will try to find out if there is a way to recreate the configuration.

vnc is too slow. is the another way to access the mac instance from a windows machine?

@chrisgalousis : ssh is always my preferred way. Have a look at https://github.com/sebsto/amplify-ios-getting-started/tree/main/code for full instructions how to install Xcode, build and sign your applications, just using the command line

Thank you @sebsto for your prompt reply. What I am trying to do is testing Microsoft Office files in Mac iOS. When I am in the gui environment thru VNC viewer, everything is too slow... Just to drag a window from place to place it needs 5-6 seconds!!... Is there another remote way?

Not that I am aware of. VNC is natively integrated into macOS. You might try to start the EC2 instance in a region closer from where you are to reduce latency. (I personally have no such lag between Europe and us-east-2) or explore proprietary remote connection applications that allow to take control of a mac remotely, like the ones listed here https://machow2.com/rdp-for-mac/

@sebsto perfect! So, I can access the GUI with another remote software, nice!
Also, I have another question. I haven't executed the last part:

_PDISK=$(diskutil list physical external | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f1)
APFSCONT=$(diskutil list physical external | grep "Apple_APFS" | tr -s " " | cut -d" " -f8)
sudo diskutil repairDisk $PDISK

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer $APFSCONT 0_
Is that necessary? I run a Win10 laptop.
Update: I have tried the AnyDesk app and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't click anywhere just move the mouse cursor around. Is there anything to do with the vnc? Like a conflict?...

@chrisgalousis : these commands resize the file system of the mac to match the EBS volume size. They need to be executed on the mac EC2 instance. It doesn't matter if you are using Windows, Mac or Linux on your laptop.

I don't know anything about non VNC based remote desktop app, I would suggest to reach out the user community or software editor to get some support about these tools

@sebsto where should I run those commands? (the last part) on my laptop or in my Mac instance?

As explained in the message above

They need to be executed on the mac EC2 instance

And on the initial gist on the top of this page, its says On the mac

#
# On the mac, resize the APFS container to match EBS volume size
#

PDISK=$(diskutil list physical external | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f1)
APFSCONT=$(diskutil list physical external | grep "Apple_APFS" | tr -s " " | cut -d" " -f8)
sudo diskutil repairDisk $PDISK
# Accept the prompt with "y", then paste this command
sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer $APFSCONT 0

thank you @sebsto
Update: I have tried Anydesk as a remote app. I can see now a better response.

@sebsto after I followed these steps and trying to create a tunnel by command below

ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 -C -N -i ec2-user@

then I am facing an error that

bind [127.0.0.1]:5900: Address already in use
channel_setup_fwd_listener_tcpip: cannot listen to port: 5900
Could not request local forwarding

@glebsonik : this is because port 5900 on your local machine is already used. Maybe you have Screen Sharing enabled ?
You can just use a different port :

ssh -L 5555:localhost:5900 -C -N -i ec2-user@IP_ADDRESS

Then

open vnc://localhost:5555

Thanks a lot @sebsto !!! It works!!!
Cnn this access, that I provided for vnc, be disabled somehow to avoid some insecurity issues?

@glebsonik. Yes you can disable screen sharing by going to System Preferences => Sharing
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh11848/mac

or using the same command in the terminal with the option « access off »

This is fantastic and was very informative for me.

I was becoming very frustrated with not being able to get Xcode installed on AWS mac1.metal AMI for build processes and this helped to cure many headaches.

Understanding that the SSH command opens a tunnel to localhost for my RealVNC was very helpful, as well as the commands to sync up the available disk space after increasing the storage volume.

Thanks for this Gist @sebsto

You can change the screen resolution with EC2 Mac Instances now: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-mac-instances.html#mac-screen-resolution

Thank you @scottmalkie for the update

This was absolutely vital and the missing part of documentation for Github runners. Big thanks to everyone who contributed to these efforts.

@scottmalkie thanks for the great info. However, it appears displayplacer list only shows a connection after a VNC connection is established. Are you aware of an approach that provides native display capabilities (as a macOS equivalent to Xfvb) without requiring a connection to be opened? Note: we're exploring using Macs in a CI/CD context.

On a related note, I saw a comment that M1 Macs may support that out of the box.

Is there a way to run an instance with a disabled SIP?

@startergo it is not currently possible to disable SIP on EC2 Mac. Fully enabling and disabling SIP requires restarting the EC2 Mac host in Recovery mode. Unfortunately, this is not possible for EC2 Mac instances as there's no way for you to access the host once it's in Recovery Mode.