Instructions for using VPN and accessing your files remotely Be sure that you have the latest version of JAVA installed on your computer. Go to https://sslvpn.uco.edu and sign in using your domain username and password. This is the username you use to log into your office computer. Please make sure you use https when you type in the web address, otherwise it may not work. We have two different methods to access your office computer remotely. Method 1 Net Direct 1. Your screen will look slightly different than this screenshot. You will not have as many icons to choose from. Click on the Net Direct icon in order to install the VPN utility. 2. You will then get a pop up asking you to agree to the License Agreement. Click I Agree
3. You should now see a pop up that shows NetDirect activating. 4. You will next be prompted to install the VPN Network Adapter. Click Install 5. Once the NetDirect utility is installed, you should see a pop up in the lower right hand corner saying you are connected to the VPN server. You should now be connected to the VPN Server. This means that you are now on the UCO network and you should be able to access all services as if you were in your office, such as share drives or even network printers. If you would like to remote into your office computer, please continue on to the next step.
6. Open the Remote Desktop Connection utility. You can do this by clicking on the start button and going to the Accessories folder and then clicking on the icon called Remote Desktop Connection 7. You should now get a pop up requesting the name of the computer you wish to remote into. 8. You should see a pop up telling you that you are connecting to your computer. 9. You will now be prompted to enter your login credentials.
Depending on if you have accessed a computer remotely before, it may or may not have your username already entered. If the username is wrong then click on the User Another Account button below the password box. This will prompt you to enter your username and password for your computer. You should now be able to connect to your remote computer. 10. When you are done accessing your remote computer, close out of the session by moving your mouse to the top of the monitor until you get a small drop down panel. Click on the X on the right side to close the session. 11. When you are done using the VPN service, please be sure to exit out of the NetDirect utility. Failure to do so may prevent future VPN sessions from working correctly. To exit out of the NetDirect utility, right click on the icon in the system tray located in the lower right corner of your monitor. Select Exit from the pop up menu.
Method 2 RDP Proxy If the NetDirect method does not work for you, and you need to access your office computer remotely, you should be able to use the RDP Proxy on the SSLVPN website. 1. Once you log into the sslvpn website, do not click on the Net Direct link. Instead, mouse over the yellow Advanced menu at the top of the web page and click on RDP Proxy. 2. This will take you to another page that shows a number of boxes with numbers in them. Put the name of your computer in the Remote Host box and depending on your screen size you will want to change the Screen Size from the default 800x600 to 1024x768 or even higher. The window that opens later that you use to access your computer is not resizable. You may want to experiment with the Screen Size setting until you find on that is comfortable. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and click on Open. 3. You may get a variety of pop ups asking you if it is okay to continue or okay to install something. Click on Yes and/or Continue.
4. Eventually you will get a larger pop up window that may prompt you to Run ActiveX Controls. Click on Allow if you get prompted. You should then see a Windows computer login screen. This is the login for your office computer. Sign in using your Windows login credentials. Please be aware that when you use Method 2 RDP Proxy, you are not actually on the UCO network. If you need to access a share drive from your home computer, please skip down to the Accessing Share Drives from SSLVPN section. 5. When you are done accessing your office computer, simply click on the red X in the upper right hand corner of the window to close the session. Be sure to log out of the SSLVPN website. Accessing Share Drives from SSLVPN When you are unable to access the UCO network remotely using the NetDirect utility, but you still need to be able to access a file on a share drive, you can browse the UCO network from the SSLVPN website. 1. Once you are logged into https://sslvpn.uco.edu, do not click on the NetDirect link on the web page. Instead, mouse over the yellow Files menu on the menu bar at the top of the web page and click on Specify Server.
2. You should now see another web page that is asking you to start a new file session. Type in the name of the server where the share drive is located. Leave the smb option selected and click Open. 3. You should now see folder icons representing the folders on the server you specified. Click on the folder you need to access. 4. Once you are in your share folder, you are able to interact with your files as if you were viewing them from Windows Explorer on your office computer. By clicking on a subfolder name it will take you into that folder, and you can back out to a previous folder by clocking on Up in the upper left hand corner.
5. By clicking on a file name you get a pop up window asking if you would like to open the file or save it to your computer. If you decide to open a file, be aware that changes you make to the file will not be saved on the share drive. You will need to save it to your computer and then upload the modified file back to the share drive. 6. When you need to upload file, simply click on the Upload button in the menu and you will get a pop up window asking you to select the file you wish to upload. Click on the Browse button and navigate to the file you wish to upload and then click on Start Upload.
7. When you are done using the remote file access, but sure to logout of the SSLVPN website by clicking on Logout in the upper right hand corner of the website.