Off-campus Access
Remote Working Portal - How to Use it
Introduction
The portal home page is displayed above. A menu down the left-hand side gives access to:
-
Home - the home page,
-
Web Applications,
-
Application Access - not available for Macintosh,
-
Telnet/SSH Servers.
At the top of the right-hand screen is an area available on all of the portal screens, with Address, <GO>, Logout, and Close options.
Beneath this is a Welcome message (which can be collapsed by clicking the minus sign), and a list of Web Bookmarks (which can also be collapsed).
Beneath this is a clickable list of Web Bookmarks giving access to Web Applications.
Note that Macintosh users may wish to use Cisco Anyconnect instead of Application Access or Telnet/SSH.
Web Applications
Access to the following web applications are available:
-
Loughborough University Home Page,
-
Loughborough University Intranet,
-
Staff E-mail Directory,
-
Staff Telephone Directory,
-
University Library - On-line Resources,
-
Agresso Corporate System - Authorise orders under £25,000 (staff only),
-
Student E-mail and Groupware,
-
Print Credit ePayments System (includes check your printer credit balance).
These applications (apart from the University Home Page) were previously available "on campus" only. You can now access them via the VPN. If there are any we have omitted, you can access them from the University Home Page.
To access any of them, either select the required option from the Home Page under Web Bookmarks (expanding by clicking the plus sign if necessary), or by selecting Web Applications and selecting from its Web Applications menu.
Once you access any of these, the portal window is replaced by the relevant web page. However, while you are accessing via the portal, the following toolbar will be available at the top right-hand corner of the web page:
 |
The first button, showing a left / right double headed arrow will toggle moving the toolbar to the top left or top right corner of the relevant web page. Use this if the toolbar is too difficult to see over the underlying web page. |
 |
The second button, an arrow on a sign-post, allows you to enter a URL. You can use this if there are any "on campus only" options we have missed. |
 |
The third button, a house, takes you back to the portal home page. |
 |
The last button, a white cross in a red button, allows you to close / disconnect / log off. |
Application Access
For staff users who need to access a desktop computer or research based Unix / Linux system, there is no longer a need to register for a specific firewall hole to be created. The Remote Working Portal allows authenticated users access to their University systems from any location, once connected through the "'Remote Working Portal".
Access to other computer systems via "Smart Tunnel" is available to Microsoft Windows users only, users of Mac OS X and Unix/Linux computers should select the Telnet/SSH Servers button on the left (see below).
Users of Internet Explorer 7 and above need initailly to follow these Steps to add https://vpn.lboro.ac.uk to the list of trusted sites.
Click the Start Smart Tunnel button and accept the Cisco prompts until your web page displays Smart Tunnel has been started.
Start the application you use to access your computer remotely, this can be either Microsoft Remote Desktop or PuTTY. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection can be found in the Start menu (see below) and PuTTY is located in University IT Services on a Standard Staff Desktop computer, or can be downloaded from the PuTTY Web Site (also see below).
The web page will need to remain open on the computer for the system to work, however feel free to minimise the window.
To use Microsoft Remote Desktop to access your Windows Computer from off-campus
If you have left your Windows computer in your office switched on and connected to the network, you can connect to it from off-campus and use it remotely (e.g. from your laptop at home, or from an Internet cafe anywhere in the world).
Initial steps
You may need help from your local IT Support Staff to find the I.P. Address of the computer and to set up permission to access via remote desktop. See How to Set Up using Remote Desktop.
To access
To access the computer remotely, on the remote computer (at home or in an Internet cafe), start Smart Tunnel as described above. Start Microsoft Remote Desktop: from your Start button select Programs then Accessories then Communications and finally Remote Desktop Connection.
Before you connect, by default the connection will be displayed full screen. We recommend that you first click the Options >> button, and then select the Display tab. The following screen will be displayed:
Use the Remote desktop size slider to reduce the size of the screen resolution to be used. Click on the General tab.
For Computer enter the I.P. Address (obtained in How to Set Up using Remote Desktop) e.g. 131.231.82.28 and enter your User name and Password, and then click Connect. If your credentials are not accepted at this stage, please try adding lunet\ in front of your username, i.e. so that the User name entry reads lunet\username.
A window will appear on your screen with the remote computer's screen displayed in it - anything that you do in this screen happens on the remote computer. If you do display the screen full-size, there is a floating tab at the top of the screen with the computer name displayed and Minimize, Restore Down, and Close buttons on the right-hand side. Use the Restore Down button to display the screen not full size.
When you have finished, Log Off from the remote computer, and then close the Remote Desktop Computer window. You can now continue using the portal, or use its Logout option to finish your session.
Using PuTTy
To access a server, on the remote computer start Smart Tunnel as described above.
Start PuTTy: from the Start menu select Programs, then University IT Services then Secure Telnet (Putty).
Enter the Host Name (or IP address) - the server manager will need to provide you with this. For Protocol select SSH (Secure Shell), and the Port number should be 22. Click Open.
Enter your Username and press ENTER. Enter your Password and press ENTER.
When you have finished, type exit and ENTER, and the PuTTY screen will close. You can now continue with more portal work, or use the portal's Logout mechanism.
Telnet / SSH Servers
For staff users who need to access a research based Unix / Linux system, there is no longer a need to register for a specific firewall hole to be created. The Remote Working Portal allows authenticated users access to their University systems from any location, once connected through the "Remote Working Portal".
If you are using a Microsoft Windows computer and would prefer to use PuTTY for SSH, select the Application Access button on the left, and use the instructions above.
Otherwise, simply type in the address of the computer running SSH (secure shell) within the space marked Address. Make sure that you select SSH:// from the drop-down menu. When you are ready, click the <GO> button.
You will need to accept pop up messages before entering your username and password in the authentication prompt.