Overview

Connecting to the file server is a 2-stage process. First you need to establish a connection to the College of Education VPN server. Once a connection to the VPN server has been established you can proceed to connect to the file server. If you have never connected to the College of Education VPN server then you will first need to install the VPN client program into your computer.

 

Step 1 - Establish a Connection to the College of Education VPN Server

 

NOTE: If you have never connected to the College of Education VPN server then you need to first install the VPN program on your computer. The College of Education VPN server is different from the UT VPN server. Click here for instructions on how to install the College of Education VPN program onto your computer.


1. First check to see if you are already connected to the College of Education VPN server. An active connection to the VPN server is indicated by a green icon for the OpenVPN Connect program. The icon should be in the top menu bar to the left of the clock.

  • If you are currently connected to the College of Education VPN server, proceed to section Step 2 - Connect to the File Server.

  • If you are not currently connected to the College of Education VPN server the OpenVPN Connect program icon will be gray as pictured in the screenshot above. Continue to Step 2 if you need to establish a connection to the College of Education VPN server.

 

2. To estalish a connection to the College of Education VPN server, locate the OpenVPN Connect program icon in the top menu bar.

NOTE: If you do not see the OpenVPN Connection program icon in the top menu bar you can manually start the program by doing the following:

Open your Applications folder

 

Locate and open the OpenVPN folder

 

Double-click on the OpenVPN Connect program icon to launch it.

 

3. After locating the OpenVPN Connect program icon in the top menu bar, click on it once and then select the Connect to connect.edb.utexas.edu menu option.

 

4. In the window that appears make sure the Server field contains the address connect.edb.utexas.edu. Then enter your EID username and password. Once you have entered your EID username and password press the Connect button.

  • NOTE: If the connection attempt fails, try entering your EID username in all lower-case letters.

 

5. A connection attempt will now be made to the College of Education VPN server. The OpenVPN Connect program icon in the top menu bar should change to a yellow color indicating a connection attempt is being made. Then the icon should change to a green color indicating a successful connection to the VPN server.

  • If you see a warning message like this, ensure the Don't ask again checkbox is checked. Then click the Yes button.

  • If you do not see the OpenVPN Connect program icon change to green or change color at all, repeat steps 2-5 to try again. If you had a typo in your EID credentials the VPN server connection attempt will fail. If you continue to have problems contact LTC Technical Support for help.

 

Step 2- Connect to the File Server

Once you have established a connection to the College of Education VPN server, you can now connect to the file server.

 

1. From the top menu bar click Go | Connect to Server...

 

2. In the window that appears specify the server address smb://files.connect.edb.utexas.edu. Then press the Connect button.

  • HINT: If you press the plus (+) button, that will save the server address so that you don't need to type it in again the next time you connect to the server.

 

3. You will then be prompted for your server username and password. Specify your EID username in the Name field and your EID password in the Password field. Then press the Connect button.

 

4. Once you successfully log into the file server you will be presented with a list of file shares. Click the file share that contains the files you want to access and then press the OK button.

 

5. You can now access the files as you would normally do with files on your computer.

 

Disconnect from the VPN Server When you are Done

When you are finished working with the file server please disconnect from the VPN server to free up resources for other users. To disconnect from the College of Education VPN server select the Disconnect option from the OpenVPN menu bar icon as shown in the screenshot below.

Last updated on September 2, 2011