University at Albany provides remote access service via a VPN (Virtual Private Network)— Palo Alto GlobalProtect is the current service being used, at uavpn.albany.edu—for faculty, staff, and students. When connected to the VPN, information is securely transmitted to the campus network. This service allows faculty, staff, and students to access University resources from off-campus connections.

GlobalProtect Client Installation and Connection Instructions

Palo Alto Instructions From Vendor and Compatibility Matrix

Mac

Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN Client Installation (Mac)

Windows

Linux

The only officially supported Linux distributions are official flavors of Ubuntu, CentOS, and RedHat Enterprise Linux. Users of Debian and non-official Ubuntu derivatives may be able to install the client using the Debian/Ubuntu instructions but must make note of the special instructions. Linux users may also use OpenConnect (version 8.00+) if it is available for your distribution.

Mobile Clients

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to connect to the VPN using the GlobalProtect client, see Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN Troubleshooting.

Services Requiring VPN Connection

As of 2024, all services by default require a VPN connection unless an exception is requested and approved. Examples of services that require the VPN are:

Network Drives, including U: and V: drives, UAReports, and research drives: see File Storage - Mapping Network Drives, Accessing S: Drive with SFTP
OpenText/RedDot: see Web Site Management - askIT Archive
Group Access Manager: see Group Access Manager Documentation
Remote Desktop: see How to Use Remote Desktop through the GlobalProtect VPN Client
Research Computing, including Jupyterhub, RStudio, SSH tunneling
Academic Virtual Machines
IAS Report Repository
Cisco phone services and applications, including Cisco Self Care Portal, Finesse (ACD access) and Intelligence (Reports): see Telephone Services
SFTP connections to web servers: see Accessing Personal Web Pages or Faculty or Departmental Web Content