Thursday August 28 2008
Information Technology Central Services at the University of Michigan
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U-M Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Linux VPN Client and U-M VPN profiles

In order to use the U-M VPN, you must be running a version of Intel-based Linux such as Red Hat, and have a wireless ethernet card installed on your machine configured for DHCP. If you are going to use the UM Wireless VPN profile, you must also have a wireless network card installed. See the Cisco Release Notes for VPN Client for more information. Make sure your machine meets the minimum system requirements.

Cisco VPN Client

If you do not have the Cisco VPN client installed on your computer:
  • Download the Linux VPN client from this site, using the download link below. You will be asked to authenticate, use your uniqname and umich password.
  • Extract the files to your desktop.
  • In a terminal, cd to the location of the downloaded software. Use a command like tar xvzf gzcat vpnclient-linux.tar.gz to extract the files and then run the resulting script named vpn_install.
  • Reboot your computer.
  • To start the VPN client, go to /usr/local/bin, and type vpnclient connect "UM-off-campus-access" or vpnclient connect UM-on-campus-wireless.
  • Authenticate with your uniqname and umich password.
Download the Cisco VPN client and U-M VPN profiles for Linux

U-M VPN Profiles

If you have the Cisco VPN client installed on your computer but do not have the U-M VPN Remote Access or UM Wireless VPN profile you will need to download the required profile(s).

Download the UM-off-campus-access profile

Download the UM-on-campus-wireless profile