Wolfgang Tichy

Steps to set up VPN access to the FAU academic network

• Obtain an FAU ID (and password). All FAU members have this, but if you are not at FAU, you can get a FAU courtesy account by sending your name, email and birth date to Wolfgang.
• Install an authenticator app like FreeOTP on your smartphone. Then scan the QR code on access.hpc.fau.edu to set up your authenticator app for connections to FAU. This will set up a One-Time-Password generator named 'Florida Atlantic University, Research Computing'. [Note, this generator is different from the one used to e.g. get into the FAU E-mail.]
• Install OpenVPN on your computer. On Debian or similar systems you can do this with

  apt install network-manager-openvpn-gnome
  

• Download the OpenVPN configuration file fau-oit-rc-vpn.ovpn and save it.
• Import fau-oit-rc-vpn.ovpn into your network manager:
  - For KDE follow these steps:
  • Go to "System Settings" and click on "Wi-Fi & Internet"
  • Click the "+" below the list showing your existing connections to 'Add new connection'.
  • In the new window that opens, scroll down to find the heading 'Other'. Select "Import VPN connection" and then click on "+ Create".
  • In the file dialog that opens, select the configuration file fau-oit-rc-vpn.ovpn that you downloaded earlier, and then click open. This creates a new connection named 'fau-oit-rc-vpn'.
  • In the connection named 'fau-oit-rc-vpn' fill in ONLY the 2 fields labeled 'Username:' and 'Password:' with your FAU ID and password. Then click "Apply".
  - The steps for other desktops will be similar. See e.g. Setting Up OpenVPN with MFA.

Using the VPN connection after it is set up

• Find 'fau-oit-rc-vpn' in your 'Networks' and click on "Connect". This will ask for a password. NOTE, on KDE and Gnome this password consists of your FAU password PLUS the 6 digit one-time password code on your phone in the One-Time-Password generator named 'Florida Atlantic University, Research Computing'. I.e. on KDE and Gnome both the FAU password and the 6 digit code need to be entered into this one field with nothing in between.
• The previous step should enable the VPN connection so that your computer can now reach FAU computers such as quark.physics.fau.edu, which has our git repos.
• Note, all these VPN steps have nothing to do with ssh or git, they are only needed to get through the FAU firewall.