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Establishing and disconnecting a VPN connection in Windows

For:  students    employees

This user guide will help you establish and disconnect a VPN connection on your Windows device using the BIG-IP Edge Client.

Requirements

Note

If you have problems establishing a connection via the BIG-IP Edge Client, you can alternatively configure the VPN software F5 Access and connect using it.

Via BIG-IP Edge Client

  1. Open BIG-IP Edge Client – Connect
  2. Enter u:account access data, one-time password

Detailed user guide

1. Opening BIG-IP Edge Client

  1. Open the search by clicking on the search field or the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the desktop (next to the Windows icon).
  2. Search for BIG-IP Edge Client.
  3. Click on the corresponding search result to open the software.

If the login window does not appear automatically, click Connect in the software.

2. Entering u:account access data and one-time password

The VPN login window of the University of Vienna is being opened.

Enter your u:account access data and the one-time password:

With an authentication app on smartphone:

  1. Open the authentication app.
  2. On the VPN website, enter the currently valid code in the field One-time password, which is displayed in the app in the ZID Universität Wien or ZID account.
  3. Before the code expires, press Logon.

With YubiKey:

  1. Position the cursor in the One-time password field.
  2. Plug the YubiKey into a USB port on your device and then press the button on the YubiKey. The one-time password is entered in the text field.
  3. The Logon button is activated automatically.

The window of the VPN softare appears while the connection is being established and closes automatically when the connection is successful.

3. Checking connection status and disconnecting

Via the F5 logo in the Windows status bar at the bottom right, you can:

  1. Check your connection status: If the VPN connection is active, the logo is red; if the connection is disconnected, it is grey.
  2. Disconnect: Right-click on the F5 logo and select Disconnect.
  3. Enable the Auto-Connect option: This can be helpful if your internet connection (and thus also the VPN connection) is frequently interrupted. The software will automatically reconnect.

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Via the F5 Access app

If you have problems establishing a connection via the BIG-IP Edge Client, you can alternatively use the VPN software F5 Access.

1. Open VPN settings

  1. Open the search by clicking on the search field or the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left of the desktop (next to the Windows icon).
  2. Search for VPN settings.
  3. Click on the corresponding search result to open the settings.
  4. Click on Connect next to univpn or the name you have assigned to the VPN connection.

2. Entering access data and one-time password

First enter your u:account password in the bottom line and only then your u:account userID in the top line with an @ symbol after it (example: doej99@).

With an authentication app on the smartphone: 

  1. Open the authentication app.
  2. In the VPN login window enter the currently valid code immediately after the @ symbol, which is displayed in the app in the ZID Universität Wien account.
  3. Before the code expires, press OK.

With YubiKey: 

  1. Plug the YubiKey into a USB port on your device and then press the button on the YubiKey.
  2. The one-time password is entered automatically at the current position of the cursor (immediately after the @ symbol). The button OK is pressed automatically.

3. Disconnecting VPN connection

To disconnect the VPN connection, open the VPN settings again and click Disconnect.

Possible error messages

Incorrect user name and password: This may be due to the fact that a VPN connection is already active – for example in the browser:

  1. Open the VPN page of the University of Vienna with your browser.
  2. Click Abmelden (sign out) at the top right corner.
  3. Try again to connect via the VPN connection you set up previously.

RAS error message: Follow the instructions on the manufacturer’s website.

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