macOS Unattended Startup

[VineRider]

Does anyone know how to set up unattended startup in macOS? I have a Mac mini that i want to remotely manage via Splashtop. Everything works great until I remotely restart the computer. Splashtop won't load until someone at the machine actually logs in. I have noticed the same behavior on my MacBook Pro.

It seems that if no one logs in after a restart, the machine essentially turns itself off after a couple of minutes. I am sure there must be some setting I am overlooking.

My background is stronger with Windows (only been using a Mac for about a year) and when you restart a Windows computer, it is fully up and all startup items are running once you get the login screen (regardless if anyone is actually logged in or not). With the Mac, it seems it is not actually fully up until someone logs in.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this?

 

[Taz Mangus]

1. Create a user account with no password.
2. System Preferences->Users & Groups->Login Options, set Automatic login: to the user account with no password.

 

[VineRider]

1. Create a user account with no password.
2. System Preferences->Users & Groups->Login Options, set Automatic login: to the user account with no password.

Thanks for the suggestion Taz Mangus, but with FileVault turned on, this option is disabled. It may be that it's just not possible without disabling the security features. For me, security is more important than being able to boot the machine remotely.

 

[Taz Mangus]

From what I have been reading about FileVault, nothing else can start Running until the drive is decrypted which requires a user login to happen.

Understanding Mac boot Process - Hawkdive.com

Just like Windows and Linux, Mac also has its own boot process which goes through certain phases and each phase / sequence has different screen that appears to indicate the startup progress. From pressing the power button to get into the desktop it goes through four major boot phases /sequences…

www.hawkdive.com

 

[VineRider]

From what I have been reading about FileVault, nothing else can start Running until the drive is decrypted which requires a user login to happen.

Understanding Mac boot Process - Hawkdive.com

Just like Windows and Linux, Mac also has its own boot process which goes through certain phases and each phase / sequence has different screen that appears to indicate the startup progress. From pressing the power button to get into the desktop it goes through four major boot phases /sequences…

www.hawkdive.com

Yes, I think you are right. That's good from a security perspective, but bad from an enterprise perspective when you need to remotely reboot a machine and access without someone physically being at the console. I appreciate your research on this, and the link...good info.

 

[chrfr]

Yes, I think you are right. That's good from a security perspective, but bad from an enterprise perspective when you need to remotely reboot a machine and access without someone physically being at the console. I appreciate your research on this, and the link...good info.

If you need to reliably access a Mac remotely, you cannot use FileVault. You can manually trigger an authenticated restart, but if the computer restarts itself, it will wait for the disk to be unlocked before it boots.

 

[Taz Mangus]

It looks like there might be a way to remotely restart and auto authenticate FileVault. The linked article references Mojave but might also work for Catalina. The second linked article describes the remote restart of FileVault. It references Lion but it is the concept that is important. The command you want to investigate more:

sudo fdesetup authrestart

If that works then you use launchd to start Splashtop.

Managing macOS Mojave’s FileVault 2 with fdesetup

Since its initial release in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.x, Apple’s main tool for managing FileVault 2 encryption has been fdesetup. With the transition from managing Core Storage-based encryption on H…

derflounder.wordpress.com

How to restart a FileVault-protected Mac remotely

If necessary, you can restart a FileVault-enabled Mac and have it automatically unlock the volume and load the operating system.

www.cnet.com

How to Use Launchd to Schedule Run Scripts on Mac

Discover how to make your Mac work harder for you with automation by scheduling run scripts using launchd.

www.maketecheasier.com

 

[VineRider]

It looks like there might be a way to remotely restart and auto authenticate FileVault. The linked article references Mojave but might also work for Catalina. The command you want to investigate more:

sudo fdesetup authrestart

If that works then you use launchd to start Splashtop.

Managing macOS Mojave’s FileVault 2 with fdesetup

Since its initial release in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.x, Apple’s main tool for managing FileVault 2 encryption has been fdesetup. With the transition from managing Core Storage-based encryption on H…

derflounder.wordpress.com

How to Use Launchd to Schedule Run Scripts on Mac

Discover how to make your Mac work harder for you with automation by scheduling run scripts using launchd.

www.maketecheasier.com

Thanks - Appreciate the help!!!

 

[Taz Mangus]

I would be curious to know how that works out for you

 

[VineRider]

I would be curious to know how that works out for you

I’m going to try it tomorrow. Will update with my findings

 

[VineRider]

This command does reboot the system, but it does not solve the issue. Splashtop still will not load until someone logs in (even though in Splashtop settings i have it set to automatically start on reboot). I think the way the mac is designed, this will just not work with filevault turned on. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Taz Mangus]

This command does reboot the system, but it does not solve the issue. Splashtop still will not load until someone logs in (even though in Splashtop settings i have it set to automatically start on reboot). I think the way the mac is designed, this will just not work with filevault turned on. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Did you look at launchd to create a daemon that would start Splashtop running at startup? You need to create a launchd script and after the FileVault authentication completes the launchd daemon for Splashtop would execute. This way you won’t need to login to start Splashtop running.

 

[VineRider]

I'll look at that. I did not do the daemon.