Updating MP With Apple Remote Desktop (ARD)
- Dylan Nigh
You can install MacPractice on multiple client computers at the same time with Apple Remote desktop.
The server computer will need to be updated first as described in the MacPractice Server Update chapter. You will also first need to obtain the MacPractice Client Installer file from the download site as explained in the Download the Installer from the Download Site chapter.
Before using Apple Remote Desktop (ARD), make sure your client computers can be managed remotely. On each client computer, go to System Preferences > Sharing and make sure that remote management is enabled.
You can restrict this to only Administrators if you wish by utilizing the "Allow Access For" options. Click the Options button to enable specific remote management options.
On the Administrator computer, launch the remote desktop application. Within Finder, select Scanner in the sidebar to see all computers on your local network. To run the client installer on another machine, select it individually or select multiple computers by holding down the Command key or Shift key. Drag the selected computers to the All Computers sidebar node. Enter a username and password. If you have the same administrator username and password on each computer, you will only need to enter it once. Otherwise, add the credentials to the prompt for each machine. Once the computer has been added to list, a blue dot will display in the scanner sidebar.
In the All Computers list, select the specific computers. Click the Install button, then select the Client Installation package. Click the plus button or drag the installer to the packages list. You have several options in the control, such as not allowing the computer to restart, encrypting the network data, and so on.
Click Install and the installation will run on each computer. Apple Remote Desktop let you know how far you are long this process and whether the task has succeeded or not. You can install a MacPractice client software on multiple computers at once in just a few seconds all remotely from the Administrator's computer.