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How to Remotely Reboot a Mac Computer with FileVault Enabled Without Locking Yourself Out

How to Remotely Reboot a Mac Computer with FileVault Enabled Without Locking Yourself Out

When Filevault is enabled on an Apple/Mac Computer, such as per the UCSB Secure mandates, several additional changes are enacted. One of these changes, which unfortunately is a feature not a bug, is that when a computer is shut down or rebooted, all external inputs are disabled until such time as a FileVault enabled user signs in again. This includes wifi, wired ethernet, bluetooth, and other remote connections.

 Remote Reboot Instructions

  1. Open Terminal: Launch the Terminal application on your Mac. 

  2. Run the command on the computer to be rebooted: Type sudo fdesetup authrestart and press Enter. 

  3. Enter your password: You'll be prompted for your administrator password to execute the command.

  4. Restart: The Mac will then restart, and upon starting, it will bypass the initial FileVault login and proceed directly to the OS login window

This procedure requires you to have admin rights on the computer you wish to reboot

 If you are Already Locked Out Instructions

  1. Physically go to the machine: Unfortunately there is not a good way to solve this remotely. You may need to physically turn the computer on, or simply sign in. It is possible for a computer to be turned on but not connected to any external network.

  2. Plug in a wired keyboard and mouse: Bluetooth is disabled, so unless you are using a Logitech device with a USB dongle, (which is bluetooth to dongle and then a wired connection from dongle to computer so counts as wired), or an apple magic keyboard and mouse (charging cords double as wired connection), you will have issues.

  3. Click on an Account: non administrator accounts may not be visible if updates are pending. Non administrator accounts may still appear even if updates are pending if that was the account under which the computer first ran FileVault/Disk Encryption as those are considered “Filevault administrators”, just not full administrators.

  4. Enter your password: This will unlock the computer and allow you to connect to the network again.

  5. Log out: Remember to log out, not shutdown, reboot, or sleep. Log out will leave your computer connected to the internet and able to be logged in remotely. If you picked another option, go back to step 1.

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