If you are traveling for a short period of time, your best option may be to use the VPN to connect to your work computer and then execute activities from there. To facilitate this you will need to leave your desktop computer running with a locked screen saver. When accessing your computer remotely it will appear just as if you were sitting down and working in your office. For example you will see all of your desktop shortcuts and running programs. This can be very useful if you are running a program on your computer after hours and you wish to check it and see how it is functioning. However, you must prepare your work computer before you can continue.
Allowing Remote Desktop Connection to Your Work computer
The steps below are should be taken on a work computer. This is the computer that you will ultimately be connecting to.
- Open the "Settings" application from the Start Menu or by searching for it within the Windows search bar at the bottom of the screen.
- Click "Remote Desktop" within the "System" category to change remote access settings.
- Toggle the "Remote Desktop" setting to the "On" position.
- Make sure the checkbox labeled: "Require devices to use Network Level Authentication to connect" is checked.
- Disregard the address that appears within the "PC name" category and refer to the portion of this guide titled "Retrieving the Correct Computer Name" to obtain the proper name of your device.
Connecting to your computer remotely:
Retrieving the Correct Computer Name
- You will need to know the name of your computer you are connecting to. On the device you are connecting to, open the Start Menu, type "cmd" and open a "Command Prompt" window.
- In the window that opens type hostname. The name of your computer will be displayed.
- In the same window type ipconfig. Make note of the line that starts with Connection-specific DNS suffix.
- As shown in the example above, join the hostname (in the example above it is ggriz) and DNS suffix (in the example above it is dhe.oakland.edu) which results in ggrizz.dhe.oakland.edu to obtain your fully qualified domain name. You will need to enter this name when connecting to your work computer. See Figure 3.
- Ensure that you leave your computer powered on, however you do not need to leave the computer logged in. If you do leave your computer logged in, make sure that it is locked.
- Once you have performed these steps, you will be ready to connect to your work computer.
- On the computer you are connecting to your work computer from, open the "Remote Desktop Connection" application:
- Open the Start Menu / Windows Search Bar ⇒ Search for "Remote Desktop Connection" ⇒ Launch the application
- The Remote Desktop window will now appear. In the Computer field type in the computer name of your work computer and then press the connect button.
Connecting to a Windows Computer from a macOS Device
In order to connect to a Windows work computer from a macOS device, you will need to have the "Windows App" (formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop for macOS) installed. The official download link can be found here: Microsoft - Windows App
The following steps can be taken to add a remote PC that can be connected to:
- Open the "Windows App", click the "+" button in the upper-right corner.
- Click "Add PC"
- Enter the name of the Windows computer you are attempting to connect to. Click "Add"
Remote Connection from a MAC Computer
Connecting to a Mac Computer
Step 1: Setup Mac (that you are connecting to) to Accept Remote Connections
Access System Preferences > ‘Sharing’ ( Apple Icon > System Preferences > Sharing )
- Ensure ‘Remote Management’ is turned ‘ON’ (left side)
- With ‘Remote Management’ selected, click ‘Options’ (lower right)
- Ensure ‘Observe’ (and sub-option of ‘Control’) are selected, and click ‘OK’
- (Get IP Address of Mac using your preferred method-- ‘ifconfig’ in Terminal is one option)
Step 2: Connect to Mac (configured above) Remotely
If not on-campus, connect to the VPN (http://grizzvpn.oakland.edu)
(click on desktop) Menu bar: Go > Connect to Server (or, ⌘+K from desktop)
In the ‘Server Address’ field, enter: vnc://<IP ADDRESS OF MAC> (without <>)
- Click ‘Connect’
Connecting from a MAC
Open Sharing preferences and select the Remote Management box.
You will now be prompted to do one of the following.
- Select "all users" to let users with a account on your Mac to share your screen.
- Select "Only these users," to define which user can share your screen.