The Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client gives remote users a secure and encrypted VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to the UIS campus network. It runs on Microsoft Windows (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Mobile and MAC OS X operating systems. Users who access their email remotely (other than by Outlook Web Access – webmail.uis.edu) or who access their campus computers remotely will want to install and use the AnyConnect VPN client.
See below for instructions using the VPN client with Linux
Obtaining the AnyConnect Installer
To install the AnyConnect Client on your computer go to https://vpn.uis.edu, once on the page select a GROUP then login with your NetID and Password. The 2nd Password field is for two-factor authentication (2FA). In this field you will type the option below that aligns with how you authenticate with Duo Mobile for 2FA.
2nd Password / Duo Passcode or type 'push', 'sms', or 'phone' options:
[Type the word in bold in the 2nd Password field for how you would like to authenticate with 2FA.]
Push - This option will send a push request to the Duo Mobile App on your mobile device.
SMS - This option will send a text message to your primary phone number that receives text messages.
GROUP Options:
SPLIT_TUNNEL – This group is used when needing resources from the UIS Campus only. So, Internet traffic destined for UIS will go through the VPN and all other Internet traffic will go out through your normal Internet Connection. Example of this is when trying to login to an office computer for Remote Desktop Connection or when trying to access a Computer Science virtual machine.
TUNNEL_ALL – This group will send all Internet traffic to the UIS campus to then go out to the destination on the Internet. This traffic is logged for security purposes. This group is to be used when access to University of Illinois System resources are needed. Example of this is when trying to access the TEM System or for licensing software through the University of Illinois Webstore.
Once you have logged in the page will auto detect your operating system and provide a download link to the appropriate client. Download the client installation file and then run i following the onscreen prompts.
Once the client has completed installation open the client and verify that the address it is connecting to is vpn.uis.edu then click Connect. You will then login with your NetID, Password, and 2nd Password which was detailed in the first step then let it complete the connection process.
When you are finally connected you will have access to services that require an on-campus connection.
Please Contact the ITS Client Service Help Desk at (217) 206-6000 or email them at techsupport@uis.edu if you are experiencing problems with the VPN.
Installing the VPN Client on a Linux Computer
On Redhat/Centos/Fedora based Systems:
- sudo yum install openvpn openconnect
- sudo openconnect https://vpn.uis.edu
- Username: UIS_NETID
- Password: UIS_PASSWORD
On Debian based Linux Systems (Ubuntu):
- sudo apt-get install openvpn openconnect
- sudo openconnect https://vpn.uis.edu
- Username: UIS_NETID
- Password: UIS_PASSWORD
Troubleshooting Linux Issues:
- Please note that once you are connected, the client doesn’t go into the background. You should open another terminal to work in.
- While any DTLS errors are harmless, they can be avoided by passing the ‘–no-dtls’ argument to openconnect.
- Once you have connected to the UIS VPN, you may need to stop your iptables firewall if you have trouble connecting to internal UIS sites.
- For example: service iptables stop