A VPN is a virtual private network which allows you to access most Monash services off-site when you're using a laptop. These services include SAP, Callista, Employee Self Service (ESS), some Library modules, and internally published web pages that can't otherwise be accessed through the internet.
The Monash VPN, Cisco AnyConnect, can be installed on the following systems:
- Windows: 8.1, and current Microsoft-supported versions of Windows 10 x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit)
- macOS: 10.14, 10.15, and 11.2 (or later) (all 64-bit)
- Linux: Red Hat 7 and 8, and Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS), 18.04 (LTS), and 20.04 (LTS) (all 64-bit).
Virtualised environments such as VMWare and Parallels are not supported. More information is available at Cisco.
Install the VPN
- Go to CISCO SSL VPN Service.
Sign in using your Monash username and password (use your username, not your email).
Click Login. - You'll need to authenticate your login:
- If you use Okta Verify, type 2 and click Continue. Then approve the sign in on your mobile phone.
- If you use Google Authenticator, enter your authentication passcode, then click Continue.
- When the window with terms and conditions appears, click Continue to accept the VPN conditions.
- Download and install:
- On Windows computers, the Download & Install page will appear. Click Download for Windows.
- On macOS computers, click AnyConnect VPN and it will install. You can skip the remaining steps in this section.
- Click Keep if you see a message that the file you're downloading may be harmful to your computer.
Once the file has downloaded, run the installation file. - Follow the instructions in the Setup Wizard.
- Once the installation is complete, the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client will appear in the applications menu.
How to connect
- Start the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client after it has been installed (e.g. in Windows, select Start, All Programs, Cisco then Cisco AnyConnect VPN client).
- If a manual installation was performed, enter the address vpn.monash.edu in the Connect to box. For automatic installations, the address should already be filled in.
- Select the appropriate group (for most users, this will be 1-Monash_Authcate).
- Enter your Monash account username and password, then press Connect.
- When you've finished using the VPN service, simply disconnect.
- Find and launch the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client application.
- When the application starts, enter "vpn.monash.edu" in the text box, then click Connect.
Next time you launch the application, the text box will be pre-populated with the address above.
- Sign in using your Monash username (not your email) and password.
Click OK.
- You'll need to authenticate your login:
- If you use Okta Verify, click Send Push and then approve the sign in on your mobile phone.
- If you use Google Authenticator, enter your authentication passcode, then click Verify.
- When the window with terms and conditions appears, click Accept (to accept the VPN conditions).
- When you've successfully connected, you'll see a message that says "Connected to vpn.monash.edu." in the application popup.
When you've finished using the Monash VPN, click Disconnect.