Connecting to the University's VPN server (Windows)

9.     Enter the hostname of the VPN server "Remoteaccess.tamiu.edu".

VPN Connections in Mac OS X v. 10.3

Mac OS X version 10.3 includes a built-in PPTP (point-to-point tunneling protocal) client, which allows you to use an existing internet connection to create a secure, encrypted path back to the TAMIU network (This is called a "Virtual Private Network," or VPN). The PPTP client is only available in version 10.2 and higher of MacOS X. If you have an older version of OS X, and need to use VPN, currently the only solution is to upgrade your OS (which has other benefits as well).

Setting Up VPN

1. First, connect to the Internet as you normally would.
   
2. Open the application "Internet Connect." This should be installed in your Applications folder (to locate this, select "Applications" from the "Go" menu in the finder. Its icon looks like this:
   
   
3. From the "File" menu in Internet Connect, choose "New VPN Connection." You will be asked which kind of VPN you would like to configure. Choose "PPTP" and click "Continue."
   
4. "VPN (PPTP)" should now be selected in the toolbar of the Internet Connect window. Enter the following values:
   Server Address: vpn.net.yale.edu
   User Name: your TAMIU NetID (same as your email account)
   Password: the password for your TAMIU NetID
   Show VPN Status in Menu Bar: this is very handy. It adds an icon to the menu bar that allows you to quickly connect/disconnect from VPN. We recommend that you check this box
   
   A properly configured Internet Connect Window looks like this:
   
   
5. When you are ready to connect to the TAMIU VPN, click the "Connect" button, and in a short time you should be connected.
   
6. After you have connected successfully, go to the "Configuration" pop-up menu, and choose "Edit Configurations." You will be prompted to save the current configuration. Give it a descriptive name, such as "TAMIU VPN," and click the Save button. Then click "OK" to close the Configurations Pane.
   
7. When you are finished using TAMIU network resources, go back to the Internet Connect application, and click Disconnect in the VPN connection window. You can then Quit from Internet Connect.

1. If you checked the "Show VPN Status in Menu Bar" box above, you should see this icon in your menu bar:
   
   
2. If you click this icon, a menu appears which allows you to connect to the VPN service:
   
   
3. After a few seconds, the icon should change to indicate the connection status, and the amount time you have been connected will be displayed:
   
   
4. To disconnect, click the icon again, and choose "Disconnect" from the menu:
   

Solving EZProxy (Off-Campus) Login Problems   

Two Common Error Messages: "Page Cannot Be Displayed..."   :    "Incorrect Login..."

“Page Cannot be Displayed...”

Ninety-some percent of the time this is caused by a firewall somewhere between Killam Library and you. Most workplaces have firewalls set up, in which case it is unfortunately up to each user to contact their IT department to ask them to unblock port 2048 (the one required by EZProxy). Most IT departments will be hesitant to do this, but it will likely solve the problem. You might negotiate a short window of time wherein the port will be opened, you can connect and do your work, then the port will be shut down again.

If you are operating your own personal firewall it is up to you to either disable it or configure it to allow traffic through port 2048. Some virus prevention programs may also have something to say about traffic through ports other than 80, so you might want to check that as well.

NOTE: Windows XP ships with a personal firewall enabled by default. Please consult this Microsoft article for instructions on how to operate this security feature.

It's been our experience that Internet Explorer initiates this problem more often than other browsers. It might solve the problem or at least help us diagnose it if you also attempt access using another, typically more secure web browser such as Mozilla Firefox (free here), Netscape (free here), or Opera (free here). One of these free, stable browsers might already be on your computer. Mac users also tend to have fewer problems and also have a bevy of quality web browsers from which to choose.

If you're committed to Internet Explorer and only IE for some reason, another thing to do is make sure you are using the most recently-patched version (use Windows update).

If all aforementioned options have been verified or repaired, or you'd prefer to just move this along, read on.

A potential fix for this problem might be achieved by following these steps (examples are for IE, as all users who call in with this problem have reported using IE):

Go to the Tools option on the menu bar on the top of the browser screen, and then choose Internet Options (fig.1, below)

This will open a dialog box called Internet Options, and in the middle of that box, you should see buttons marked ‘Delete Cookies,’ and 'Delete Files.' (fig.2) Click both and okay both warnings.

Next, still in the Internet Options box, click on the ‘Privacy’ tab to get to the settings for your cookies. (fig.3)This will take you to privacy settings screen, where you can tell your computer which cookies to accept. Depending on the version of your browser, the box will look somewhat different than the one pictured here. (Older versions do not have the slider option we’ll be showing here, but you can do the same thing the slider does by clicking on the Advanced button.)

Move the slider down to the "Low" setting (if this works, you can later move this back up if you're concerned about privacy) or use the Advanced... button to enable the acceptance of SESSION and FIRST PARTY cookies.

Now, 'OK' your way back to the main Internet Explorer window and click the red X in the upper right to close that window. Then open up a new Internet Explorer window and go to http://library.tamiu.edu  to try to access your resource again.

If this still doesn't work, email the Systems Librarian at websrvcs@tamiu.edu. Please try to gather any information you can about your browser (which one, which version, etc.), your network (your IP address if you know it, if you're behind a firewall, your Internet Service Provider, or ISP), and your operating system (Windows XP? Mac OS X? Linux? etc.)

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“Incorrect Login...”

There are typically only two things that can cause this. One is that there was a misspelling or typo during the entry of your username/password combination into the login form. Try again, being careful to spell your name properly (dashes are okay, but other punctuation should be left out) and enter your ID# carefully. Try with alternate spellings of your name just to be safe, also make sure your keyboard is typing number characters (Num Lock).

The other, more likely possibility is that your name/ID has not been added to our files, usually due to some delay between the time you registered and when we were sent the list of registered users. If this is the case, email us here and be sure to include your CWID (the # on your OneCard), your full name, and your status at TAMIU (faculty, staff, grad/undergrad). We'll first verify you're authorized for access, then quickly thereafter get you added to our files.

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