Campus VPN (Virtual Private Network) Service

Rensselaer's VPN (Virtual Private Network) service, which is available to all faculty, students, and staff, provides a secure connection between an off-site user and the RPI campus network, allowing remote users access to secured campus resources. The Microsoft Exchange Server is an example.

Note: 9/20/2012 A new version of the SSL client for Windows was uploaded to the campus VPN server. If you are not at the current version when you connect, an upgrade will automatically begin. No user intervention is necessary. However be aware this update may take a few minutes and delay your connection establishment. Subsequent connections, after your client has been updated, will be unaffected.

To install this new SSL-based client, open a Web browser window and navigate to the Cisco SSL VPN Service website, then enter your RCS userID and password to authenticate to the system. Once you have logged in, the system should guide you through the various steps for installing the Cisco AnyConnect client. You must have Java installed on your computer in order to do this. You will connect to vpn.net.rpi.edu and enter your RCS credentials for authentication.

Please note that the link provided above and this particular VPN service will only work from off campus; users cannot connect from on campus.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is not compatible with the AnyConnect VPN client. If you attempt to install it, you will receive an error on the install stating "The VPN client agent was unable to create the interprocess communication depot." Turning off ICS and reinstalling will fix the error.

Please refer to Microsoft's instructions on how to disable ICS on Windows 7.

Last modified: September 21, 2012