I have a Mac mini as a server here at the Automatica World HQ, and it’s downstairs, in a cabinet, running headless with no peripherals attached.

I needed to install some software that added a system extension, and was bit by the security features in macOS that prevent “synthetic” clicks from clicking on the Allow button for the system extension in the Security & Privacy System Preferences.

This manifests itself as being unable to click on the Allow button to enable the extension when you are logged in via Apple Remote Desktop or TeamViewer.

I did find a workaround however – that seems like it shouldn’t work, but it did (for me at least on macOS 10.13)

Open up the Script Editor app and paste in something like this:

tell application "System Events" to click at {1040, 570}

To find the coordinates of the button, go to take a screenshot and start in the top-left corner of the screen. Drag across and down until you’re in the middle of the button, and read out the pixel coordinates from the screenshot rectangle.

You may have to allow Script Editor to have access to System Events, which is also in the Security & Privacy System Preferences, but this you can do via Apple Remote Desktop.