University VPN

1. Please go to student.vpn.port.ac.uk
2. Sign in with your student username and password
3. You will be asked to enter a One-Time Authentication Code. This will be sent by default to the email address you provided when you registered with the University
4. Type in this code and click Next
5. You will be presented with download options, pick the one that matches your operating system, download and install it.
6. Open the VPN from the icon tray, clicking the up arrow and selecting the globe icon.
7. When you first open the VPN you will be asked to enter a portal address. Enter student.vpn.port.ac.uk
8. Go to Connect to the VPN.

Watch our video guide

1. When you open the VPN for the first time after installing you will be asked to enter a portal address. Enter student.vpn.port.ac.uk
2. By default the VPN will open when the computer starts up. You can find it by clicking the up (^) arrow in your task bar and clicking the global protect icon. If not already in the taskbar the program might be closed, you can find it from the start menu by typing GlobalProtect.
3. Click Connect.
4. A web browser will open prompting you to log in. Use your University username and password e.g. up1234567.
5. You will be prompted for an one time authentication code, which by default will be sent to the personal email address you provided us when you registered with us. You can add additional ways to receive the code (e.g. text message) by logging into secure.port.ac.uk.
6. Enter the code and click Next
7. You will then see an authentication message, and the VPN will show as connected. You can disconnect from the same Icon in the taskbar.

The first time you connect, this window will close and you can confirm that you have connected successfully from the globe icon in the icon tray. The next time you connect, the authentication screen will open with your default browser. There may be additional checks to allow the browser to work with the VPN. Please accept/allow these browser requests. If the connection appears to be slow, click the 'click here' link in the web browser that shows Authentication complete.

Watch our video guide

Compatible with macOS 14 Sonoma or higher - If using an earlier version, please run a MacOS update from the Apple menu and choose about this mac.

1. Please go to student.vpn.port.ac.uk.
2. Sign in with your student username and password.
3. You will be asked to enter a One-Time Authentication Code. This will be sent by default to the email address you provided when you registered with the University.
4. Type in this code and click Next.
5. You will be presented with download options, pick the one that matches your operating system, download and install it.
6. Open the VPN from the Finder bar, when you first open the VPN you will be asked to enter a portal address. Enter student.vpn.port.ac.uk.
7. Go to Connect to the VPN. The VPN may update itself as part of this process.

After installing for the first time or reconfiguring the VPN, you can connect:

1. Open the VPN from the Finder bar and click Connect
2. A browser window will open asking you to sign in, use your student username and password e.g. up7654321
3. You will be asked to enter a One-Time Authentication Code. This will be sent by default to the email address you provided when you registered with the University
4. Type in this code and click Next
5. The first time you connect this window will close and you can confirm that you have connected successfully from the globe icon in the Finder bar. The next time you connect the authentication screen will open with your default browser. There may be additional checks to allow the browser to work with the VPN. Please accept/allow these browser requests. If the connection appears to be slow, click the 'click here' link in the web browser that shows Authentication complete.

Watch our video guide

You will be prompted for a code when signing in, and by default your MFA code will be sent to your personal email address you provided us with when you registered. If you have any trouble with this, please contact the service desk.

Once your device is connected to the VPN, you'll be able to access internal University resources via SSH, or access the intranet in the same way as though you were on campus.

NB: It is assumed that you are familiar with using the command-line in order to set up the VPN. If you are installing GlobalProtect VPN and you are not logged in as a superuser (root), then you will need to prefix these commands with sudo. If you are using a University-issued Linux device and do not have sudo access, please log a request with the Service Desk for further assistance.

University MFA

When installing you may notice your OS asks for additional packages to be installed.  Without these, your installation won’t work.

Eg. ubuntu 20.04 asks to install libqt5webkit5

Install the packages requested and try running the installation again 

apt install libqt5webkit5

Follow these steps to install and connect to GlobalProtect on a Linux device.

Download GlobalProtect

Download the GlobalProtect VPN archive.

Extract the archive

Open a terminal and extract the downloaded file: tar -xzfv PanGPLinux-5.2.6-c18.tgz

The archive contains installation packages for different Linux distributions, including Debian/Ubuntu and Red Hat/CentOS.

Install GlobalProtect

Choose the instructions for your Linux distribution.

Debian or Ubuntu

1. Run: apt-get install -f
2. This checks for and attempts to resolve any missing or broken packages.
3. Then install GlobalProtect: dpkg -i GlobalProtect_UI_deb-5.2.6.0-18.deb

Red Hat or CentOS

1. Run: yum localinstall GlobalProtect_UI_rpm-5.2.6.0-18.rpm

Enter the VPN address

1. Once GlobalProtect is installed, open it from the icon in your menu bar.
2. When the Welcome to GlobalProtect window appears, enter: student.vpn.port.ac.uk
3. Select Connect.

Sign in

1. A browser window will open.
2. Enter your University username, for example: up1234567
3. Then follow the sign-in instructions.

Complete University MFA

1. Enter the security code you receive and select Next.
2. By default, your University MFA security code is sent to the personal email address registered with the University. You can also set up another authentication method.

Check your connection

GlobalProtect will show when you are successfully connected to the University VPN.

You may also see a GlobalProtect icon in your menu bar. This does not appear by default on some Ubuntu installations.

Browser requests

There may be additional checks to allow the browser to work with the VPN.  Please accept/allow these browser requests.  If the connection appears to be slow, select the 'click here' link in the 'Authentication Complete' browser notification.

Firefox

There is a known error with the Firefox browser. The workaround is to install and use an alternative browser. eg. Google Chrome.

1. Install google-chrome according to the relevant Linux OS distribution

Debian/Ubuntu Linux: 
wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

Redhat/CentOS Linux:
wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm
yum localinstall google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

NB: If you install google-chrome as a superuser (root), then to use the application, you will need to ensure the following is added into the config file. This is not necessary to do if you are not a superuser.

gedit /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome

find the line at the bottom of the file

exec -a “$0” “$HERE/chrome” “$@”

append that line with:

--no-sandbox

2. Select google-chrome as the default browser.

Debian/Ubuntu Linux: 
Settings > Default Applications > Web > Google Chrome

Redhat/CentOS Linux:
Settings > Details > Default Applications > Web > Google Chrome

Once installed, and selected as the default browser, you will need to tell GlobalProtect to use it, otherwise it will continue to try to use Firefox.

3. Edit the xml file. You will need to use nano to do this, as gedit and vim may pick up errors in the syntax
nano /opt/paloaltonetworks/globalprotect/pangps.xml

4. Add the line under the <Settings> section

 Do<default-browser>yes</default-browser>

5. Save the file

[CTRL+X], [y], [ENTER]

6. Reboot your PC

7. Relaunch GlobalProtect.  If this does not re-launch automatically, then you can type the following command into a terminal window.

/usr/bin/globalprotect launch-ui 

Ubuntu does not show the GlobalProtect icon in the top-right corner of the screen by default. You can add a shortcut to your desktop to make it quicker to open the VPN.

Add a GlobalProtect desktop shortcut

1. Copy the GlobalProtect shortcut file to your desktop. Replace up668466 with your own University username: cp /opt/paloaltonetworks/globalprotect/gp.desktop /home/up668466/Desktop
2. If needed, change the ownership of the shortcut so that you can launch it: chown up668466.up668466 gp.desktop
3. Open the copied gp.desktop file for editing: gedit /home/up668466/Desktop/gp.desktop
4. Find the Exec line and change it to: Exec=/usr/bin/globalprotect launch-ui %usudo
5. Add the following line to display the GlobalProtect globe icon: Icon=gnome-globe
6. Save and close the file.
7. Right-click the desktop shortcut and select Allow Launching.
8. Double-click the shortcut to open GlobalProtect.

If the shortcut opens in a text editor

If the shortcut opens as a text file instead of launching GlobalProtect, you will need to associate it with the GlobalProtect application.

1. Right-click the shortcut and select Open With Another Application.
2. Select GlobalProtect.

If GlobalProtect is not available, right-click the shortcut and select Show in Files. Right-click it again, select Open With Other Application, then select GlobalProtect.

Install GlobalProtect using the Ubuntu script

Ubuntu users can also use the installation script to automatically install GlobalProtect.

Download the Ubuntu VPN script

1. Open a terminal and change to your Downloads folder: cd ~/Downloads
2. Make the script executable: sudo chmod +x vpn-ubuntu-5.3.0-c32.sh
3. Run the script: sudo ./vpn-ubuntu-5.3.0-c32.sh
4. When the script has finished, restart your device before connecting to the VPN.

Watch the Ubuntu installation video

Still unable to connect?

If you have followed the Linux guidance and GlobalProtect is still not working, contact the Service Desk using the Linux support form.

Include screenshots of any error messages you receive to help the team investigate the problem.

1. Open the App Store on your iOS Device.
2. Search for GlobalProtect.
3. Find the GlobalProtect App and select Install. When installed, open the app.
4. Log in with the portal address student.vpn.port.ac.uk and your student username and password, e.g., UP1234567.
5. Enter your One-Time Authentication Code sent to your personal email or mobile phone.
6. There may be a prompt asking you to allow the setup of a VPN configuration. Click Allow.
7. You will now be connected to the VPN and will remain connected until you disconnect or until you turn off your device. 

You can return to the GlobalProtect App to disconnect and reconnect to the VPN. 

Below is a video version of these instructions.

Watch our video guide

1. This method requires access to the Android Play Store. Find out if your Chromebook supports Android apps.

   If you already have the Chrome OS Web Store version of GlobalProtect, please uninstall it by right-clicking or alt-clicking the application and selecting Uninstall. The logo looks slightly different from the Play Store version, please ensure you delete the app with the old logo as below:

2.  

3. Open the Play Store on your ChromeOS Device.

4. Search for Global Protect. 

5. Select the Global Protect App and select Install. When installed, open the app. 

6. For the Portal Address type: student.vpn.port.ac.uk.

7. Enter your Student username and password e.g. UP2123456.

8. Enter your One-Time Authentication Code sent to your personal email or mobile phone.

9. Note: when you connect for a second time, you will see a prompt from your browser asking you to allow the GlobalProtect app to interact with it. Allow this, as failing to do so will stop the VPN from working. 

10. You will now be connected to the VPN and will remain connected until you disconnect or until you turn off your device/put it to sleep.

You can return to the GlobalProtect App to disconnect and reconnect to the VPN.  

Below is a video version of these instructions:

Watch our video guide

This video guide will show the process of adding a new authentication method.

1. Visit secure.port.ac.uk.
2. Sign in with your student username and password and click Sign in.
3. Enter your one-time code sent to your registered email address.
4. Click Add, then select Text me a code.
5. Enter your mobile phone number and click Save.
6. You will see this option in the drop-down menu when next connecting to the VPN.

1. Visit secure.port.ac.uk
2. Sign in with your student username and password and click Sign in.
3. Enter your one-time code sent to your registered email address.
4. Click Add, then select Use an authenticator app.
5. Click the Get QR code button.
6. If you do not already have the Microsoft Authenticator app, you will need to download it from your app store.
7. Open the app and click Scan a QR code to create a new setup. If you have used this app previously, you can add a new entry by choosing the 3-dot menu at the top of the page and tapping Add account, then choose Work or school account, then Scan a QR code.
8. Scan the QR code shown on your screen using the Scan a QR code option on your device.
9. An entry called Netiq will be added; you will use this option to get your one-time code in the future. If you have biometrics (fingerprint reader) enabled, you may be asked if you would like to use this in the future.

1. Visit secure.port.ac.uk.
2. Sign in with your student username and password and click Sign in.
3. Enter your one-time code sent to your registered email address.
4. Click Add, then select Use an authenticator app.
5. Click the Get QR code button.
6. If you do not already have the Google Authenticator app, you will need to download it from your app store.
7. Open the app and click + to create a new setup.
8. Scan the QR code shown on your screen using the Scan a QR code option on your device.
9. An entry called Netiq will be added; you will use this option to get your one-time code in the future. If you have biometrics (fingerprint reader) enabled, you may be asked if you would like to use this in the future.

If you do not recognise or have access to the email address that is used for your one-time code, you will need to update your email address used in Student Records.

Click the Click here link on the Authentication Complete web page. You can also disconnect and try again.

Ensure you have the Authenticator option selected at the bottom on the screen, not the password option.

Setting IPv6 to manual sometimes fixes this issue. If you are not familiar with the network settings on macOS, contact us using the details at the top of this page.

Reboot your computer.

This can be caused by entering the code incorrectly, check the code or obtain another one. This can also happen when using an authenticator app, we are currently investigating why this occurs, let us know you have this error and use another MFA method.

You can add or delete MFA methods at secure.port.ac.uk. To delete a MFA method, click the MFA option you would like to remove and click the trash can to delete.

Only one Authenticator App can be used for MFA on the VPN at a time. You can add or remove MFA methods (see below).

All one time codes have time limits for which they are valid, obtain another code and ensure it is entered before it becomes invalid:

• Email - 2 minutes
• Authenticator app - 30 seconds
• Text message - 2 minutes