How to create a headless server with our old Mac

What can we do with a Mac that we no longer use? Many things, apart from selling it or giving it away at home we can give it various uses. As Jose Jacas suggests on Twitter , one of the most attractive is to locate it as a virtual machine-type server . With this solution we can access it from our main computer and use it for secondary tasks or as a virtual machine.

What is a Headless server

When we talk about a headless server , that is, without a head, we are talking about a computer that does not have a monitor or screen on which to display its information , so it is necessary that we connect to it remotely to be able to use it.

In this type of server we can use both Mac and Windows computers, which opens up many possibilities. In the case of the Mac, in general, we understand that we are talking about an old computer that we want to use as a secondary device. In the case of a Windows, from the point of view of someone focused mainly on the Apple ecosystem, it can serve as a virtual machine to work or play .

The best way to describe the final result of what we are going to achieve when mounting this type of server is exactly this: a virtual machine, with the difference that this machine is not virtual itself, but is in another space of our House. Thanks to this, and unlike virtual machines, the use we give it will not affect the performance of our Mac at any time . Do I like to play demanding games only available for Windows? As easy as opening an app on your Mac and starting to play, letting the whole process happen on the server.

Having described the objective we want to achieve with this installation, we are going to specify the technical details a little more. In short, we are talking about a computer, in the case that we are dealing with a Mac, which we will leave practically always on and from which we will share the connection of the screen in our local network . Then, from any Mac, iPad or iPhone we will connect remotely using the VNC protocol and we will use it as if it were a virtual machine.

In this article we will focus on connecting to the server computer from the same local network, that is, from our office or residence. The reason is that when we begin to move the infrastructure to the network, the load and connection times change radically , without taking into account security issues, etc.

Configuration and prior preparation

Ok, let’s get started, let’s prepare our Mac to be a server, the process will be surprisingly simple. First we install the computer as if we were to use it, we connect a monitor to the Mac that we are going to use as a server if it lacks a screen, we connect it to the internet (preferably by cable), etc. An important step is that we make sure that the computer does not sleep , necessary so that we can access it at all times:

1. In the Apple menu () we choose System Preferences.
2. We enter Economizer.
3. If we use a Mac laptop type, such as the MacBook Air, we enter the Power adaptertab .
4. We set the slide to the extreme right, at Never.
5. We activate the option of * Prevent the computer from going to sleep automatically when the screen turns off.
6. We disable Put hard drives to sleep when possibleif the option appears.

With this configuration we will make sure that the server is always available, now we are going to configure it to be able to access it remotely . The steps are the following:

1. In the Apple menu () we choose System Preferences.
2. We enter Share.
3. If necessary we touch the padlock at the bottom left and unlock it with the password of our user.
4. In the left sidebar we activate Screen Sharing.

Connection and use

Now we are going to connect to it from our main Mac. To do this, we will use the tools that the operating system itself provides us , without having to install any additional software. The steps are the following.

How to connect from our Mac

The steps are very simple:

1. We open a Finderwindow .
2. In the sidebar we enter Networkor press Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + K
3. We double click on the name of the computer that we have just configured.
4. We touch Share screen.
5. We enter the username and password of our Mac server.
6. We mark Save password.
7. Click on Login.

We will automatically see that a window appears with the screen of our Mac server. From here we can interact with the server in the same way as if we did it on our Mac . When we finish we just close the window. The next time we want to connect we follow the same steps except for five and six, since the password will already be saved.

How to connect from our iPad or iPhone

What if I want to connect with an iPad or an iPhone? The process is very similar. In this case we will use a free app from the App Store called VNC Viewer . Once downloaded, the steps are as follows:

1. We open the VNC Viewerapp on our iPad or iPhone.
2. In the sidebar of the app we tap on Bonjour.
3. We touch on the name of our server.
4. We deactivate Warn me every timeand tap Continue .
5. We introduce the username and password of our Mac server.
6. We activate Remember Password.
7. We tap on Continue.

Again we will see how the window of our server appears on the iPad. The use, in this case, being a touch screen, is slightly different, but we can quickly get used to it . VNC Viewer is designed so that the entire screen works as a trackpad, so by moving your finger across the screen we will move the cursor and with one touch (two fingers to right click) we will click. When we’re done we just tap the X at the top. When we want to reconnect we will only follow steps one to three.

IN APPLESFERA

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Easy right? With these steps we can create a server in which, according to its configuration (for example with an eGPU), we can run games or carry out heavy tasks without any impact on our main Mac. And going a step further, especially if we have a Smart Keyboard cover, we can access it from our iPad. Really a configuration that can give a lot of play.