Grinnell College has implemented a Virtual Private Network for faculty and staff who wish to maintain a secure connection with the college resources when not physically located on campus. Virtual Private Networking (VPN) creates a secure "tunnel" using your existing dial-up or broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP) connection. In order to take advantage of VPN technology, you need to install the VPN client on your computer. These instructions will walk you through the installation of the VPN client on Windows-based PCs.

Alternatively, you can install the software from a CD. If you are installing from a CD, copy the folder Windows2k-XP to your desktop. Skip to step 2 below.

1. If you are located off-campus, your first action is to connect to the Internet via your ISP. Open Internet Explorer. In the Address bar, type: ftpserver.grinnell.edu and press the Enter key. You will be prompted for your username and password (as shown below):

Once you are logged on to ftpserver, double-click Administrative. Navigate to Antivirus-VPN Client. Drag the Windows9x-XP or Windows2k-XP folder to your desktop. Double-click on the folder.

If you are on-campus, click Start-Run, then type:

\\storage2\win2000\vpn

and click OK. Drag the folder for your operating system to your desktop. Double-click on the folder for your operating system.

2. Double-click on the vpnclient_setup.exe icon. You may encounter a warning:

If you receive this error, click Yes to continue the installation.

3. The VPN Client install will begin. On the Welcome screen, click Next. On the Client Agreement screen, click "I accept the license agreement" (setup will not continue if you do not do this). On the Destination folder screen, leave the default location and click Next.

4. Click Next on the Ready to Install screen. The installer will place the VPN client files on your PC.

5. Once the files have been copied to your computer, you will receive a notice that your computer is updating Network Settings. IF you are running Windows XP, you may receive a Hardware Installation notice. Click Continue Anyway to accept the settings (note: you may need to click Continue Anyway several times).

6. When the client has finished loading, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Click Finish to complete the installation process.

7. Once your computer has rebooted, click Start-Programs-Cisco Systems VPN Client-VPN Client. The first time you use VPN, you will need to set up a connection entry. You should see a screen similar to the one below. Click the Import Button.

8. Navigate to your desktop and the Windows2k-XP folder you copied from the CD. In the folder, select GrinnellVPN.pcf and click Open.

You should receive a message similar to the one below, indicating the import was successful.

Repeat the procedure, selecting GrinnellBasic.pcf as the connection entry to import. In general, you will always use GrinnellVPN in order to connect. GrinnellBasic is a connection that is used when the VPN server is being updated.

9. To connect, double-click the GrinnellVPN connection entry. You will need to use your Grinnell network username and password - similar (but not identical) to the box shown below. The VPN dialer will authenticate you to the Grinnell domain, and you will have established your VPN connection. Once connected, you may use Outlook, Datatel UI/SmarTerm, and other network resources (as long as they have been installed and set up on your machine).

Once you have finished your work, you can disconnect from the VPN connection by clicking the VPN dialer icon (it looks like a small lock), and selecting Disconnect.

If you have questions regarding VPN, please contact David Ellis (ellisd@grinnell.edu) at x4901.