Remote Access

Topics

Access CoB Applications (via VMware View) (top)

Remote access to College of Business applications is provided by our VMware Horizon View virtual desktop system. You can connect to different "pools" of virtual machines, based on your needs and entitlements, from any internet connected computer. By default, all CoB faculty and staff are entitled to connect to the Faculty-Staff VM Pool and the current Lab Pool (see screen shots below).

Installation Instructions

Navigate to cob-view.coba.unt.edu to download and install the latest version of the VMware Horizon View client appropriate to your system.

Windows users
  1. Logon as an administrator before installing.
  2. Run the downloaded .exe file to start the installarion.
  3. Follow the installation wizard to complete installation.
  4. When prompted to enter a connection server, enter https://cob-view.coba.unt.edu.
  5. Run the client.
Mac OSX users
  1. Open the downloaded disk image.
  2. Follow the installation instructions, and when prompted, drag the VMware icon into your Applications folder.
  3. Eject the disk image from Finder.
  4. Run the client.

Note- Mac users may have to disable verification for server identity certificates.

To run the client simply double-click the VMware View Client desktop icon (on Mac, in your Applications folder):

Set the Connection server to cob-view.coba.unt.edu

Log in, making sure you change the Domain to UNT for faculty/staff.
Note: that students use the STUDENTS domain if you are instructing your students how to log in.

You should then see a selection dialog similar to the following:

You can set the display settings by right-clicking on the pool. If you have a multiple display setup, you can set the VM to fill one or both screens, or show a smaller windowed view. We suggest you change the display to Window if you plan to switch between VMware and your home/local machine a lot.

Select the appropriate pool for your current needs (you may only see one or two pools, depending on your entitlement). Double-click the icon and the View Client will then open in a new window to the virtual machine.

When finished with your session on the Faculty/Staff pool, it is best to log off of the virtual windows machine rather than close the View Client window. When working on a different pool however, closing the window is just fine.

Disclaimer: Although the Faculty/Staff pool machines are persistent, it is best not to rely on them as your only source for storage when working on VMware. Make sure you save files you want to keep to the H: drive or to a USB drive. The Student Lab, Classroom, and Graphics pools are not persistent, when using these pools the virtual machine will be wiped when you log off.

Disabling Certificate Verification- Mac only(top)

If while using a Mac you encounter an error regarding the server certificate and are unable to access VMWare, you will need to do the following

  • Navigate to the VMware Horizon Client menu in the upper left hand of the screen, and click on “preferences”.
  • Navigate to the “Security” tab and select the check button that says “Do not verify server identity certificates”. Hit apply and then retry your connection.

Connecting a USB storage device to VMware (top)

  1. Make sure your USB device is plugged in.
  2. Click on Connect USB Device at the top of the VMware window.
  3. Select your USB device from the list.

Access your email (top)

Access email from your home/laptop computer

To setup Microsoft Outlook on your personal computer please follow the instuctions on the CAS IT Services website.

Access email from the web

To access your Exchange email account from any web browser visit http://webmail.unt.edu and you can connect to your email from anywhere in the world. Your webmail login is your euid and password. Be sure that in the Doman\user name: field to preface your euid with a unt\ as shown below.

Access your network files (top)

Remote access to your files via the web can be accessed at vpn.unt.edu. Log in using your EUID and password and leave the Group set to General.

Click Continue on the disclosure page. Once logged in you will see several menu items on the left side of the page. Click on Browse Networks.

To the right of the menu you will see an Address bar. Make sure the drop down is set to cifs://.

To access your network H: drive enter cob-home2/home/yourhomedirectory in the Address Bar.

Most home directories are in the form of First seven letters of last name + First letter of first name. For you "old-timers", your home directory is the same as your old Novell login name, last name only in most cases. If you are new to CoB since May 2014, the directory will be your euid. If none of these formats work for you please contact CoB Support for help.

For example, using the first format, a user named John Doe would have a home directory named doej and their Address bar would look as follows.

Click the Browse button to the right of the Address bar and you will be prompted for a login using your EUID and password. Once logged on your home directory will be visible.

To upload files from your current computer to your home directory click on the Upload File icon seen below.

Connect to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) - Windows (top)

To use UNT VPN software, navigate to vpn.unt.edu in any browser.

Log in with your EUID and password

Read and accept the EULA

Select Anyconnect on the left menu bar then click Start Anyconnect in the middle window pane.

At this step it will have you download and install the Anyconnect client.

Run the anyconnect software and put in vpn.unt.edu or vpn2.unt.edu and click connect.

Fill in the EUID and Password the same as the first step.

Click ok to connect.

Click accept after reading the EULA

When finished open Anyconnect from the system tray on the bottom right of your computer screen and choose disconnect.

Access Your physical work computer (via RDP) (top)

Note: If you are off campus, then you must connect to the VPN by following the instructions above before you can connect to your computer through RDP.

To use RDP:

Click on the start menu in the bottom left of your computer screen.

Click on Start -> All programs -> Accessories -> Remote Desktop Connection

In the box that pops up please enter your computer’s name (FQDN) or IP address.
Example: blb100a.unt.ad.unt.edu

To obtain this information:

  1. Click on Start -> All programs -> Accessories -> Command prompt

  2. When the command prompt opens type in hostname and then enter to get find hostname. Then type in nslookup <hostname> and then enter, where <hostname> is the output from the first command. In the output "Name" is your FQDN, and "Address" is your IP.

Enter your credentials under “use other credentials” using unt\EUID and your UNT password.

Click OK and it will connect you to your desktop on your computer on campus.

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