ShareTool 1.2.3: Securely access all your Bonjour services anywhere
Posted by Dave Merten 
Oct 5, 2008 at 1:30pm
Yazsoft has released ShareTool. Developed for Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, ShareTool lets you access all of the Bonjour services on your home or office network from anywhere in the world securely over a 100% SSH encrypted connection. This includes iTunes Music Sharing, Screen Sharing, File Sharing, printing, and much more. No configuration. No complication. No server or technical skills required. Just a mouse click.
What is ShareTool and why should I care?
Scenario: You’ve just purchased a brand new iMac and MacBook and are simply loving it. You’ve set up your home or office network exactly the way you want it. You have file sharing between the two machines and can transfer your documents easily between them; you can listen to your iMac’s iTunes Library from the MacBook and view your MacBook’s iPhoto Library from your iMac. Everything on your network works exactly as you want it to and life is beautiful.
What happens when you have to leave (i.e. work or travel) the comfort of your new custom configured network? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that with one mouse click you will be able to access almost everything you’ve just setup from anywhere in the world securely? Before ShareTool, this was simply not possible without an extremely (if at all possible) complicated setup even for those in the know. Not anymore! With ShareTool, that complex procedure is reduced to a simple mouse click and as a result, yes, you can be at two places at the same time!
ShareTool lets you access all of the Bonjour services on your home network from anywhere in the world. This includes iTunes Music Sharing, Screen Sharing, File Sharing, printing, and more.
With ShareTool, you can listen to your entire iTunes music library at work, control the screen of any of your home computers, or grab that important file you forgot to bring with you. And this is simply the tip of the iceberg. With ShareTool, it’s as if you’ve never left your own network.
Some Key New Features in ShareTool:
• Simple Setup: ShareTool automatically configures routers supporting NAT-PMP or UPnP
• Easy Access: Remote services automatically appear in Finder, iTunes, and other applications
• Compatibility: ShareTool enables remote access for any application or service that advertises itself using Bonjour and runs over TCP/IP
• Security: All network traffic is strongly encrypted. Access to your services requires your Mac OS X username and password
• Dynamic domain name support
• On the fly compression: Transfer large files quickly
• Secure web browsing: surf the internet using your own browser securely
• and much more
What’s New in version 1.2.3:
• New: More major interface tweaking to accomodate for an enhanced feature set and simplified usage.
• New: ShareTool checks if Remote Login is enabled on your Mac before enabling the sharing.
• New: Sharing: Added Info tab to display network IP and port number.
• New: Sharing: Added Bonjour tab to enable choosing which Bonjour services are available to network users.
• New: Sharing: Added Users tab that keeps a log of all remote connections to the ShareTool network (IP, Username, and Time).
• New: User is asked to confirm the server fingerprint at least once a day.
• New: Connecting: ShareTool displays the IP of the ShareTool network that you are connected to.
• New: Connecting: Automatic Refresh enabled to detect changes from the remote ShareTool network.
• New: Connecting: Manual Refresh button available to force a refresh.
• New: ShareTool validates the network connection info before the login info.
• New: Password is no longer required when a private key is present.
• New: ShareTool can now automatically connect to many types of services.
• New: * New Log window.
• New: Added better handling of SSH Public Key Exchanges.
• New: Overhaul to the preferences for simplified use.
• New: Much improved error handling.
• Other: Tons of internal tweaks for increased performance and security.
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Dave Merten
Dave was one of the founding guides at ‘The Mining Company,’ now known as About.com, in February 1998. Dave was their ‘Focus on Mac Support’ guide. In 2004 he started ‘G5 Owners Support Group,’ and in 2005, renamed it ‘Mac Owners Support Group.’ In 2006, he started the ‘MacOSG Support Corner’ column here at Macsimum News.
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