Mac Remote Access

[mswscco]

I am running FM7 over a network in the office on OS 10.3.4. What do I need in order to access the host file from home? I need to be able to edit records as well as design layouts. Have been reading about VPN and VNC but really have no clue what those are and how they work. Any help would be appreciated.

[Will]

VNC is a program that allows you to remotely connect to the desktop of your Mac from any other Mac (or PC). It is free. There are other options such as Timbuktu and Apple's remote desktop that offer more features and better security. http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/

With the above products you install a part of the software on the computer you wish to connect to and on the computer you will connect from. So you could connect to the office computer from home and actually "take over" the office computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

If you have a firewall at your office network then it may need to be configured to allow you to connect with the products described above.

You can access files at your office from home directly with FileMaker although the performance might not be great depending on your network connection - the above options are more responsive. And you may have firewall issues as well.

If your data is of a sensitive nature (medical, financial etc.) then you might consider paying someone to help you get this configured.

Will

[Lynn Johnson]

I just log in using the host computer URL and Open Remote. Of course I have to enter my Account and Password as well.

Lynn

[epicrecipe]

I use Chicken of the VNC as my client-side VNC app for remote access.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/

You can also configure VNC on the server side to allow connectivity through a web browser. Years ago, I used Timbuktu, but I've transitioned to VNC because it's free, stable and works on multiple platforms.

I use separate SSH and SFTP apps.

Best,

Shannon

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[mswscco]

I just log in using the host computer URL and Open Remote. Of course I have to enter my Account and Password as well.

Lynn

Does the host maching have to be running FM server in order for this to work? OSX Server? Both? Thanks for the responses thus far.

[Lynn Johnson]

Nope. We just run OS X 10.3.4 and FMP7. The users have OS access privileges and FM accounts and passwords. All the hosted files are in the Shared folder on the host machine. The FM db has sharing set up using the FileMaker Network protocol. Users must use Open Remote from FM to open the files. Double clicking on the file or an alias does not work. (FM states that this is required as a security issue). We have created an Opener file with scripts that simplify ? ? the remote opening process. It may not be simpler for the developer, but the users find it faster and easier. There are some subtle password and access issues, such as having the host open the files with a different privilege set from that assigned to any of the users to prevent the file from opening without asking for an account and password.

Lynn