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"




 
 

@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.

Even with tunneling via SSH I just get "Screen Sharing is not permitted on “localhost”. Disable and re-enable Screen Sharing or Remote Management in System Settings before trying again." after entering user/pass.

@torarnv this gist is 4 years old. Have you check the official documentation ?
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/connect-to-mac-instance.html

Thanks. I guess I'm hitting this:

I'm trying to enable VNC purely from SSH.