How do I set up a headless Mac mini with no monitor?
A headless Mac mini still has to get through Setup Assistant once, and Screen Sharing and Remote Login stay off until it does. That is why every guide starts with a borrowed monitor, keyboard and mouse.
RigValet skips all three. It runs Setup Assistant from your MacBook over one USB-C cable, turns on Screen Sharing and Remote Login, and hands you a Mac you can reach over the network.
The first boot is the hard part
Once a Mac mini is set up, running it headless is easy. You connect with Screen Sharing or SSH and never plug in a display again.
Getting there is the problem. Both services are off on a new Mac, and only someone at the Mac can turn them on. The usual answer is to carry the mini to a desk, borrow a monitor and a keyboard, click through setup and carry it back.
Setup without a monitor
RigValet doesn’t need a display on the Mac mini. It walks Setup Assistant on macOS 13 through 27 from your MacBook, over a USB-C cable.
- Connect the MacBook to the Mac mini with a USB-C data cable.
- Power the mini on where it will live.
- RigValet walks Setup Assistant and creates your account.
- It turns on Screen Sharing and Remote Login before it finishes.
Then connect the usual way. Open Screen Sharing from the MacBook, or run ssh you@your-mini.local in Terminal.
Before it goes in the closet
A few settings save a trip back to the mini later.
- Turn on Start up automatically after a power failure in System Settings, under Energy.
- Decide about FileVault. Setup leaves it off. If you turn it on, a restart waits for a password at the Mac itself before any network service starts.
- Give the mini a name you can type. You’ll use it in every connection.
RigValet