Manage computer lists with Remote Desktop

You can make more specific, targeted lists of computers from your All Computers list.

1. In Remote Desktop , select the All Computers list in the sidebar of the main window, then select the computers to add to the list.

2. Choose File > New List From Selection, then name the computer list.

   You can also choose File > New List to create a blank list. Then drag computers from the All Computers list, or from scanner search results, to the blank list.

You can delete Remote Desktop computer lists and scanner lists that you create.

• In Remote Desktop , select the list in the sidebar of the main window, then choose Edit > Delete. You can also press the Delete key.

• To view all the computers in a list, select the list in the sidebar. To open a computer list in a separate window, double-click the list.

• To edit a list name, click the name and type a new name.

• To change which columns you see when viewing a list, Control-click (or right-click) a column header and choose a column to show or hide it. (Columns that are shown have a checkmark.) To rearrange columns, click a column header and drag it.

You can create a Smart List, which has computers added to it automatically based on criteria you select. When you create a Smart List, any computer added to the All Computers list (or other specified list) that matches your criteria is added to the Smart List.

You can match any of the following criteria:

• Name

• IP Address

• DNS Name

• Label

• Remote Desktop version

• Startup Volume

• Installed RAM

• CPU Information

• Machine Model

• OS version

• Computer is in List

To create a Smart List that includes the computers in another list or lists (except the All Computers list), select the “Computer is in List” criterion and specify the source list.

1. In Remote Desktop , choose File > New Smart List.

   You can also click the Add button at the bottom of the sidebar, and then choose New Smart List.

2. Name the Smart List, then choose whether to match “any” or “all” criteria.

3. Specify the criteria by using the pop-up menus and text fields, click the Add button to add criteria, then click OK.

You can edit Smart Lists.

1. In Remote Desktop , select the Smart List in the sidebar of the main window.

2. Choose File > Edit Smart List, then make your changes. For information about the options you can change, see Create a Smart List.

You can create lists that contain the computers in Smart Lists and other lists. The list that’s created includes the computers from the source lists, but doesn’t indicate what list they came from.

1. In Remote Desktop , make sure you’ve already created the lists that will serve as the source for the new list.

2. Create a new Smart List by choosing File > New Smart List.

3. In the Smart List dialog, choose to match all the stated criteria.

4. For the first condition, choose “Computer is in List.”

5. Choose a source list from the pop-up menu.

6. Click the Add button to add criteria.

7. Repeat steps 4–6, adding a separate condition for each source list, then click OK.

You can copy your existing computer lists to a new administrator computer running Remote Desktop. When you export a computer list, you can choose to include the user name and password used to authenticate each computer in the list. If you choose to include those credentials, you must enter a password to encrypt the file, which has the .ardencryptedplist extension.

If you choose not to include the credentials, the file is save as a standard property list (.plist) file. Once you import an unencrypted computer list file, you’ll need to authenticate to each client computer.

You can only use these instructions to copy computer lists between administrator computers that run Remote Desktop 3.5 or later.

1. In Remote Desktop , select the list in the sidebar of the main window you want to copy.

2. Choose File > Export List, then select a name and a location for the exported list.

   The default filename is the list name. Changing the filename doesn’t change the list name.

3. Choose whether to save the credentials and if so, enter a password to protect the file, then click Save.

   A file is created in the desired location.

4. Copy the exported file to the new administrator computer.

5. On the new administrator computer, open Remote Desktop, then choose File > Import List.

6. Select the exported list, then click Open.

   If necessary, enter the password to decrypt the file.