Introduction

Many resources on the Amherst network require a VPN connection in order to access them from off-campus. This article explains how to set up VPN on your Mac or Windows computer.

Note: If you are residing in a juristiction that blocks Internet traffic to services such as Amherst College Gmail, send an email to askit@amherst.edu requesting to be put into the Full Tunnel VPN Group. For members of this group, ALL of your Internet traffic will flow through the VPN tunnel.

 

Instructions

Important Note: For Macs, the following instructions for GlobalProtect VPN will work only if you are running MacOS 10.15.x (Catalina) or newer. If you are running an older version of MacOS (10.14 or older), you must upgrade your OS .

  1. Before you begin, please disconnect from any other Amherst College VPN service if applicable.
  2. Download the VPN client from the following location:
    https://vpn.remote.amherst.edu
  3. Choose the 64-bit client. If you get a message that your computer can't support the 64-bit client, then use the 32-bit one.
  4. Once you install the client and launch it, enter the following for the Portal address:
    vpn.remote.amherst.edu
  5. Click Connect.
  6. The VPN service uses the college's single-sign on (SSO) system, so you'll be redirected to the familiar purple login screen. Login as prompted with your username and password. Also, complete the Duo two-factor authentication if prompted.
  7. When you are finished using VPN, click on the GlobalProtect globe icon (found in the upper-right corner of the screen on a Mac; and lower-right corner of the screen on Windows near the date and time) and click Disconnect.
    If you can't find the GlobalProtect icon on Windows or Mac, use the computer Search option to find GlobalProtect.

Audience

students
faculty
staff
five college

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