How to Connect Remotely using the Remote Access VPN

This article walks the user through the steps they will need to follow when connecting to the University network for the first time from a remote location using the new Remote Access VPN. 

Table of Contents

1. Install Software
2. Register the Viscosity Client
3. Add a Client Device
4. Download and Import Client Certificate and Configuration
5. Connecting
6. Verify
7. What to do if this does not work

Instructions

Install Software

1. For University-managed macOS systems that are still on campus, the application is available through UMS Application Catalog. 

2. For University-managed Windows systems it is available through Software Center. From Start menu, open Software Center from the Software Center tile in the lower right. (You may need to scroll down to see depending on your resolution). Then search for Viscosity, click on it and then click install.

3. For others, the installation will require administrative privileges. The software is available from https://vpn.maine.edu
   On the landing page select Remote Access VPN

4. Click on the Software tab then the button to download Viscosity for Mac or PC.

5. Open the downloaded file to run the Viscosity Setup Wizard. 
6. For Windows, click OK to install the network driver when prompted.

Register the Viscosity Client

1. Open Viscosity preferences. 
   • On Windows, you can do this by opening the application from the start menu or you can go to the toolbar on the bottom right of the screen and right-click on the icon which is a circle and a lock. If you do not see this icon, you may need to click on the arrow to show additional options. 
   • On a Mac, the icon will be in your toolbar at the top of your screen. Right-click and select preferences. 
2. Select the About option on the right-hand side of the window, then select Register. Enter the license information provided on the software tab on https://vpn.maine.edu.

Add a Client Device

1. Every device you plan to use a VPN client from should have a unique entry
2. To add a device, from the Device tab, click the Add Device button
3. When adding a device, only a description meaningful to you is necessary, such as “Home PC” or “Laptop”

Download and Import Client Certificate and Configuration

1. From the Device page, once your target client device has been added, click the associated Download button to download the Viscosity configuration file
   • The “Alternative Download” link is only for use with non-Viscosity VPN clients
2. If Viscosity was installed correctly, it should recognize the file extension of this download and prompt the user to import.  Open the file and click Yes to import it into Viscosity
3. The downloaded file can safely be deleted once imported as Viscosity maintains its own copy

Connecting

1. Once a device profile has been imported into Viscosity it can be used to establish a VPN connection
2. To connect, click on the Viscosity icon found in the system notification area, typically near the volume icon and clock, and select the name of the device profile you wish to use

3. On Windows open Viscosity and look for the connection

On macOS it will look similar to screenshots below.

Verify

1. You can verify your VPN connection is working by visiting vpn.maine.edu
2. If you are connected using the VPN a confirmation message of Connected using Remote Access VPN will be displayed on the page

3. To disconnect, click on the icon again and click the name of the connection

What to do if this does not work

1. Create a USIT ticket
2. Include the following:
   • operating system
   • error messages
   • network resource user was connecting to access
   • User account experiencing the issue

Environment

• UMS Network/VPN

• Windows OS, Mac OS

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