Month: April 2020

Remotely accessing your computer from outside the Heritage network

There are times, where you may need to access your desktop computer from outside the Heritage network.  If you are in a role that requires you to use a desktop computer and do not have a Heritage-provided machine at home, use the steps below to create a Remote Desktop Connection to your computer in the office.

Remote Into Your Computer

First, create a VPN tunnel between your home computer and the Heritage Network.  Follow these steps to create the secure tunnel between your computer and the Heritage network BEFORE you attempt to open a Remote Desktop Connection.  The VPN connection will automatically time out after a while, so you will need to reconnect it each time you want to remotely access your computer.

Second, use Remote Desktop to access your computer using the instructions below.

Use Remote Desktop to connect to your computer – Windows 10

  1. Open Remote Desktop Connection.  Open the Start menu and search for “Remote Desktop Connection” (the word remote will typically suffice).  Open the app.  Then click Show Options.
  2. In the Computer field type the full name of the computer you want to connect to.  The full name of your computer is the name of your computer followed by heritagecollege.local.  For example, if Stu Pendous was trying to connect to his computer the full name would be 
    spendous12b.heritagecollege.local

    To find out the name of your computer, please send a message to helpdesk@heritagecs.edu.

  3. In the User name field type in your fully qualified username, which in most cases will be your email address (the fully qualified user name for Stu Pendous would be spendous@heritagecs.edu). Press Connect or hit ENTER.  The connection will be established, this may take a moment.
  4. Enter your Heritage password.
  5. Confirm the security certificate by checking the checkbox and clicking Yes. This certificate is issued by the remote computer which is managed by the IT department at Heritage. The name in the certificate issued by the remote computer will be the name of the computer you’re connecting to.
  6. Once you press Yes in previous dialog, you should be logged in to your desktop computer that is on the Heritage network.  From there you can operate the computer as if you were sitting in front of it and you will have access to all the same resources.

Use Remote Desktop to connect to your computer – iOS and iPad OS

This tutorial will satisfy the need of users on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices.  It was tested on iOS 11 but the methodology is the same even on older versions of iOS and iPad OS.

  1. Download and install the Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the iOS App Store.
  2. Open the newly installed app (it may appear as RD Client on your homescreen).
  3. In the Remote Desktop app press the + (plus) button in the top right.  Choose Desktop from the list of choices.
  4. In the Desktop dialog enter the following settings.
    1. In the PC Name type the full name of the computer you want to connect to.  The full name of your computer is the hostname followed by heritagecollege.local.  For example, if Stu Pendous was trying to connect to his computer the full name might be 
      spendous12b.heritagecollege.local

      To find out the name of your computer, please send a message to helpdesk@heritagecs.edu.

    2. In the User Account field you can choose to enter your account information every time or to save it.  Please keep in mind who might have access to your iOS device and use that information to make a wise choice about saving your account information or not.  You will need to enter your full User Name and your Password.  For example, the User Name for Stu Pendous would be spendous@heritagecs.edu).
    3. Click Save.  This will save the remote desktop profile so can easily reuse it.
  5. Once the profile is saved simply touch on the profile to launch the remote session and access the remote computer.

Use Remote Desktop to connect to your computer – MacOS

These settings for iOS and iPad OS will also work for MacOS.  Simply install Microsoft Remote Desktop from the App Store, Add a PC configuration using the following settings, and connect.

  • PC name: The name of your desktop computer such as spendous12b.heritagecs.edu
  • User account: Use your Heritage email address and password
  • Click the Add button

Other Options

Others options to be aware of are things like copying files between your computer and the remote computer, or sharing audio or multiple displays.  To get to options click the small Show Options drop-down in the Remote Desktop Connection window.  Doing this will make five tabs appear along the top edge.  General, Display, Local Resources, Experience, and Advanced.

  • On the Display tab there are options for telling Remote Desktop how to handle multiple displays if you have multiple monitors plugged into the computer you are using to remotely access your computer at work.  You can also choose quality settings specifically.
  • The Local Resources tab is where you can affects settings related to the sharing of audio, printers, and the clipboard.  By default, the Clipboard is shared between your computer and the remote computer.  This enables you to copy and paste text between computer, and it will also allow you to copy files and folders between your computer and the remote computer (very handy).  Please note that sharing large files between computer could take a long time depending on the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection.
  • By default, audio is shared between computer, if you want to disable this go to the Local Resources tab and click on the Settings… button under Remote audio.  In the dialog box that appears choose Do not play under the Remote audio playback section and click OK.

Connecting to the Heritage Network using a VPN

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.  In this tutorial we will discuss how to create a VPN connection to the Heritage network when you are off campus.  This can be useful if you want to access resources that are only available on-site such as the file server or a desktop computer.  Establishing a VPN connection between your computer and Heritage will create a secure tunnel where data can flow securely between your computer and the Heritage network.

Creating a VPN Connection

Windows 10

  1. Open the Start menu and choose Settings.  Look for and open Network & Internet
  2. From the Network & Internet sub-menu, choose VPN
  3. Click Add a VPN connection
  4. In the VPN Provider field choose Windows (built-in)
  5. In the Connection name field type a friendly name such as Heritage VPN
  6. In Server name or address field type 
    vpn.heritagecs.edu
  7. In the VPN type field choose L2TP/IPsec with pre-shared key
  8. Enter the Pre-shared key into the Pre-shared key field.  The Pre-shared key can be found in the Heritage VPN Access email sent by a Heritage IT Admin.
  9. In the Username field type your full Heritage Username – this is likely your email address (such as anitaminute@heritagecs.edu).
  10. Type your Heritage Password into the Password field.
  11. Click Save to save the settings.
  12. The VPN connection is now configured.  To establish a VPN connection between your computer and Heritage simply choose the new connection and press Connect.

You can also access this connection extremely easily from the network icon in the Taskbar.  In the lower-right corner of the Taskbar, look for the network icon (it could be a wireless icon if you’re on Wi-Fi or a little Monitor-with-network-cable icon if you’re using a wired connection).  Click the icon.  If you completed the steps above to create a VPN connection, the new connection will be available from this menu.  Just click it a choose Connect.

iOS

Creating a VPN connection profile is easy to do on iOS and provide a secure tunnel from your device into the Heritage network.

  1. Open  the Settings app.
  2. Go to General -> VPN.  You’ll need to scroll down as its near the bottom.
  3. Choose Add VPN Configuration…
  4. In the Add Configuration screen for Type choose L2TP
  5. In the Description field type a friendly name such as Heritage VPN
  6. In Server field type 
    vpn.heritagecs.edu
  7. In the Account field type your Heritage Username – this is likely your email
  8. Type your Heritage Password into the Password field.
  9. In the Secret field, very carefully, type in the Secret code.  Contact the IT department for this code.
  10. Choose Done at the top right.
  11. The VPN connection is now configured and you will move back to the VPN screen.  To test the connection click the slider to the right of Status.  The connection will be established and the status will change to say Connected.

Additionally, now that the VPN settings are configured you can turn the connection on and off easily from the main Settings App screen.  A new entry called VPN will have appeared near the top.

MacOS

Creating a VPN connection profile is easy to do on iOS and provide a secure tunnel from your device into the Heritage network.

  1. Open  the System Preferences app
  2. Go to Network.  Click the + (plus) button in the lower left-hand corner of the Network window to add a new connection
  3. In the Interface drop-down choose VPN
  4. In the VPN Type drop-down L2TP over IPSec
  5. In the Service Name field type a friendly name such as Heritage VPN.  Click Create
  6. In Server Address field type 
    vpn.heritagecs.edu
  7. In the Account Name field type your Heritage Username – this is likely your email
  8. Click the Authentication Settings button.  Type your Heritage Password into the Password field
  9. In the Shared Secret field, very carefully, type in the Secret code.  Contact the IT department for this code.  Click OK
  10. Choose Apply in the bottom right
  11. The VPN connection is now configured.  To initiate the connection between your Mac and the Heritage campus click the Connect button.  You may also choose to enable the Show VPN status in the menu bar to provide a quick and easy place to initiate the connection.  With this enabled, you can simply click Connect Heritage VPN to make the connection.

Other Awesome Stuff

Now that you’ve established a VPN connection you can do awesome stuff like remotely access your desktop computer as if you were sitting in the office at Heritage.

If you have a Heritage-deployed laptop, after establishing the VPN connection, you should be able to access your Home drive and the Staff drive like you normally would by going through File Explorer and opening those drives.  Please note that opening those network locations will be slower over the VPN connection than when you are physically on-site.