VPN Access

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What is the Virtual Private Network (VPN)?

Kalamazoo College’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used by faculty and staff to access resources that are inaccessible from off-campus. If you are unable to access an internal resource (like those listed below) while away from the College, obtaining VPN access may help you. The VPN service allows college-owned, and even personal computers to access the following:

  • KFiles – This includes department shares as well as “M drives”
  • Ellucian Colleague
  • Remote Desktop – Note that the VPN service alone will not enable Remote Desktop connections. Additional measures need to be taken for users to access their work computer remotely. If you have questions about enabling Remote Desktop on your work computer, please contact the Help Desk.
  • Other internal resources

How to Get VPN Access

It is not possible to use K’s VPN for personal internet use. You will need to obtain a VPN token and install the client software. Below are instructions and information for using this resource. These steps must be completed in order.

  1. Request VPN access – Contact the Help Desk at HelpDesk@kzoo.edu to start a conversation about the work you need to do, so we can figure out if our VPN may be a good fit for you. VPN access is not available for students.
  2. Make sure you have Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) configured as it is used for VPN authentication.
  3. Install the OpenVPN Connect Client – Please note: you may need Help Desk assistance to install it
  4. Download and import your OpenVPN User Profile
  5. Use OpenVPN to connect

Installing the OpenVPN Connect Client

To connect to the OpenVPN service at Kalamazoo College, your computer or mobile device needs to have the OpenVPN Connect client installed. If you are planning on using a college provided laptop to access the VPN, you will need to contact the Help Desk (HelpDesk@kzoo.edu) and request assistance with installation.

If you are using a personal system, or a system that you administer yourself, you can follow the directions below to obtain the OpenVPN Connect Client. For Mobile devices such as tablets, you can download OpenVPN Connect on the App Store and the OpenVPN Connect app from Google Play for free.

  1. For both Mac and PC systems, you can go to the Kalamazoo College OpenVPN login page to download an installation file for the client.
  2. On the login page, select “Sign in with SAML”
    • Note: If you have already logged in to Microsoft 365 in your browser, you may get logged into the OpenVPN web page automatically.
  3. If you are not logged in automatically, you will be redirected to Microsoft Authentication. Enter your full Kalamazoo College email address (i.e. First.Last@kzoo.edu) and click “Next”.
  4. You will be taken to the Kalamazoo College Authentication page. Enter your user password and click “Sign in”.
  5. You will be presented with an MFA challenge. After completing it, you will be logged in to the Kalamazoo College OpenVPN page.
  6. Click the link to download the install file corresponding to your system’s operating system and install it. If this is a new install make sure you check the option to include your user profile.

The OpenVPN Connect Client will be installed on your system along with the proper configuration to connect to Kalamazoo College’s VPN.

Downloading and Importing an OpenVPN User Profile

The OpenVPN client uses User Profiles to connect to VPN servers. Your initial OpenVPN client download from Kalamazoo College’s OpenVPN server comes bundled with such a profile. There are cases where you might need to download just the connection profile and not the client software itself. If you already have the client software installed and are adding a new connection, or if you are changing from an old connection profile to a new one (such as switching from the old token authentication to the new SAML authentication) then you will want to download a new profile and install it in your OpenVPN client.

  1. For both Mac and PC systems, go to the Kalamazoo College OpenVPN login page
  2. On the login page, select “Sign in with SAML”
    • Note: If you have already logged in to Microsoft 365 in your browser, you may get logged into the OpenVPN web page automatically.
  3. If you are not logged in automatically, you will be redirected to Microsoft where you will log in with your full Kalamazoo College email address and respond to an MFA prompt.
  4. Click “Connection Profile” underneath the link for the client software to download a user connection file.
  5. Open the OpenVPN Connect Client and click the orange plus sign in the lower right or select “Import Profile” from the menu in the upper left.
  6. Click on the “Upload a File” tab and then either drag and drop the user connection file you downloaded or click “Browse” and then find and select it.
  7. Once the profile is imported, you can use it to connect to the Kalamazoo College VPN.

Connecting to OpenVPN

Windows

In order to use the Kalamazoo College VPN, you will first need an OTP token and the OpenVPN Connect Client.

To connect to the VPN,

  1. Double click the “OpenVPN Connect” icon located on your Windows taskbar or right click the OpenVPN Connect system tray icon and select “Connect to ovpn.kzoo.edu.”
  2. Your default web browser will open and redirect you to Microsoft’s authentication page. Enter your full email address (i.e. First.Last@kzoo.edu) and click Next.
  3. You will be taken to the Kalamazoo College Authentication page. Enter your user password and click “Sign in”.
  4. You will be presented with an MFA challenge. After completing it, you will be presented with an Authentication Successful page and your VPN connection will be established.
  5. When connecting for the first time, you might see a window pop up asking if you wish to allow VPN connections to kzoo.edu. Click “Yes.”

You will see a message displayed in the system tray icon when the VPN connection is established. At this point you have a Virtual Private Network connection to the main Kalamazoo College network. You can use various clients such as web browsers, File Explorer, etc. to access campus resources the same way you would if you were on campus including Colleague UI and Kfiles.

VPN connections are limited to a certain number of users at a time. In order to make sure everyone can make use of this resource, please disconnect your VPN connection when you are finished with it.

Mac

In order to use the Kalamazoo College VPN, you will first need an OTP token and the OpenVPN Connect Client.

To connect to the VPN,

  1. Launch the OpenVPN Connect app from your Applications folder, then click on the OpenVPN menu bar item in the upper right corner of the screen.
  2. From the menu displayed, select “Connect to ovpn.kzoo.edu” and the OpenVPN Connect authentication window is brought up.
  3. Your default web browser will open and redirect you to Microsoft’s authentication page. Enter your full email address (i.e. First.Last@kzoo.edu) and click Next.
  4. You will be taken to the Kalamazoo College Authentication page. Enter your user password and click “Sign in”.
  5. You will be presented with an MFA challenge. After completing it, you will be presented with an Authentication Successful page and your VPN connection will be established.
  6. The very first time you connect to the VPN, you may receive a warning asking “Allow VPN connection to kzoo.edu?” Click “Yes” and select “Don’t ask again” if you don’t want to be prompted every time you connect.

Once the client finishes connecting, you will have a Virtual Private Network connection to the main Kalamazoo College network. You can use various clients such as web browsers, file clients, etc. to access campus resources the same way you would if you were on campus including Colleague UI and Kfiles.

VPN connections are limited to a certain number of users at a time. In order to make sure everyone can make use of this resource, please disconnect your VPN connection when you are finished with it.

Disconnecting from the VPN

VPN connections are limited to a certain number of users at a time. In order to make sure everyone can make use of this resource, please disconnect your VPN connection when you are finished with it.

In order to disconnect from the VPN service when done, right click the OpenVPN icon and select “Disconnect ovpn.kzoo.edu”