In this blog post, we will learn the steps to Enable Screen sharing on macOS devices using the Intune admin center. Screen Sharing in Mac allows users of other computers to view and control your computer remotely.
Once you Enable Screen sharing on macOS devices, the Administrator can connect via the Remote Screen Sharing App. While your screen is being shared, the user on the other computer can see what’s on your screen and can open, move, and close files and windows, open apps, and even restart your Mac.
You can manually Enable Screen sharing on a macOS device by Navigating to Apple logo > System settings > General > Sharing. After you are there, you will find the Screen Sharing option, which will be switched off by default. You can use the toggle switch to turn it on.
You will also notice another setting called Remote Management on the same screen. This setting allows other users to access this computer using an Apple Remote desktop. Please also note that Remote Management cannot be turned on if you enable the screen-sharing option.
You can easily turn on Enable sharing on Intune-managed and Enrolled macOS devices using a Shell script provided by Microsoft. Download enableScreenSharing.sh file and use the steps in the blog post: How to Deploy Shell Scripts on macOS using Intune.
For demonstration purposes, I have also provided the steps in the next sections of this blog post.
Table of Contents
Step 1 – Download Shell script from Microsoft Github Repo
The first step is to download the Shell script, which we will use to Enable Screen sharing. You can click the link: Download enableScreenSharing.sh to download the shell script file on your computer.
Step 2 – Enable Screen Sharing on macOS devices using Intune
To enable Screen sharing on macOS devices using the Intune admin center, follow the below steps:
- Sign in to the Intune admin center.
- Go to Devices > macOS and select Shell scripts.
- Click on + Add to start creating the deployment.
Basics Tab
Enter the Name and Description and click on Next.
For Example:
- Name: Enable Screen sharing
- Description: This shell script deployment enables Screen sharing on targeted macOS devices.
Script Settings
We will upload the shell script and configure script settings on the Script settings tab. Let’s check the settings below:
- Run script as signed-in user – Select No to run the script using root-level privileges similar to running the script as an administrator. The default value of this setting is Yes; change it to No.
- Hide script notifications on devices – Users will get a Script notification by default. Select Hide to hide script notifications.
- Script frequency – You can configure how often you want the script to execute on the device. By default, it will be executed only once.
- Max number of times to retry if script fails – Select how many times you want the script to be re-executed on failure. When you choose Not Configured, a retry of script execution on failure will not occur. Available values are Not Configured, 1, 2, and 3.
Assignments Tab
You can now assign this script to an Entra security group containing macOS devices. If the Script deployment is more aligned with Users, you can choose a group containing Users. Our Example shell script will enable Screen sharing on macOS devices; therefore, targeting devices for our demonstration is more appropriate.
Review + add
You can review the Summary of your deployment and Click on the Add button to Start the deployment process.
Sync Intune Policies
The device check-in process might not begin immediately. If you’re testing this policy on a test device, you can manually kickstart Intune sync from the device itself or remotely through the Intune admin center.
Alternatively, you can use PowerShell to force the Intune sync on Windows devices. Restarting the device is another way to trigger the Intune device check-in process.
Monitor Deployment Progress
To monitor app deployment, access the Intune admin center. Navigate to Devices > macOS > Shell scripts. Click on a shell script to check its status, then go to the Overview page to view the shell script deployment status.
To check the deployment status on a per-device or per-user basis, select Device status or User status under the “Monitor” section.
End-user Experience
After successfully applying the policy, you can navigate to Apple logo > System settings > General > Sharing. There, you will find the Screen Sharing option. This should be enabled now, and a green circle should be shown under the name.
If you click on the (i) symbol next to the Screen Sharing option, you will find that by default, it only enables Screen sharing for Administrators.
