uog logo
School of Physics and Astronomy – computing
phas it logo

Contents

VPN install on MacOS

Download from https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/it/vpn/

Open the .dmg file and run the install package.

Open dmg showing AnyConnect.pkg

Installation on Catalina §

Note you need the 64-bit version for Catalina. The sequence for earlier MacOS versions is the same or similar.

After accepting the license etc. we can choose what components to install. We recommend deselecting all of these except for the VPN itself, as the current IT service setup does not configure the optional components, so they just sit there and complain.

Selection screen showing VPN only selected

When the installation is mostly complete you will get a prompt asking you to approve a System Extension, explaining what to do. Note that there may also be a separate dialog hidden behind this also prompting about the same issue, to confuse matters.

Open the Security & Privacy settings, click the lock at the bottom to unlock the controls and then Allow the extension.

Unlocked Security & Privacy settings

We recommend you allow notifications (useful if the connection decides to randomly drop or reconnect).

Choose notifications prompt

Configuration

Search for cisco in the Finder to run the client for the first time.

Finding Cisco AnyConnect client in Finder

Then in the AnyConnect window, if the drop-down list is blank (which it normally is for a fresh installation) type in gucsasa1.cent.gla.ac.uk and click Connect.

Point AnyConnect at gucsasa1.cent.gla.ac.uk

Then choose your connection profile (we normally recommend Off_Campus_Use). Note that you need to use the short form of your GUID as the username (i.e. not your email address).

AnyConnect connection profile and credentials

The connection should then be established. Note that sometimes the client disconnects and reconnects once or twice for reasons unknown.

The menu bar icon will display a small padlock when the connection is established. Click on the icon for options (including disconnect).

AnyConnect connection menu bar icon

Note that for future connections the connect list will change to GUSecure. There have been occasions where an update has gone wrong and the connection profile points to the wrong server. In this case you can enter gucsasa1.cent.gla.ac.uk manually to try and fix it.

AnyConnect showing GUSecure address

The client should start automatically on login (and hence you see the small AnyConnect icon in the menu bar and can use it to connect). If it does not then it can be run manually as previously shown.