Connecting to The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies Digital Resources from OFF CAMPUS

1. UCCS VPN2. Network Drives on Ponderosa Server3. UCCS OIT Desktop Finder4. Virtual Lab Computer on Juniper Server (PC, Mac, Chromebook)

Connecting from off campus is possible! In this document we will go through some of the steps required to do so, as well as some of the resources that are available to you to support GES course work from your homes or on the road.

UCCS VPN The first step to connect to GES resources is to authenticate your home computer on the UCCS network. We do this through a VPN (virtual private network). This technology should work on Windows PCs, Apple Macintosh, and Chromebooks. The steps vary but the functionality is the same.

UCCS has documentation here: https://oit.uccs.edu/services/network-and-internet/vpn. Look towards the bottom for the documentation section. There you will find the how to’s.

If you are having difficulties, please reach out to UCCS OIT. They manage this resource, not GES.

OIT Help Desk: https://oit.uccs.edu/get-help

For Chromebook support please refer to https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1282338?hl=en

For the virtual computer lab, you will need a program called Remote Desktop (already installed on a PC.

o Apple: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/remote-desktop-mac

o Chromebook: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.chromeremotedesktop

Apps – Thunder VPN

GES Digital ResourcesNext, once connected to the UCCS VPN, you can connect to the Ponderosa Network drives or the Virtual Computer lab. In the following steps we cover how to do each

How to map a network drive – if you only need access to Ponderosa server.

The GES dept will occasionally require you to work with network drives during classes or for personal/faculty collaborative research. The main network shares you may need in a GES course are the following (drive letters are mostly arbitrary):

o Drive g: \\ponderosa.uccs.edu\geostudent - Workspace for students in GEO classes, an alternative to flash drives, z drive.

o Drive h: \\ponderosa.uccs.edu\geoclasses - A repository of class datasets, labs, resources, etc.

o Drive i: \\ponderosa.uccs.edu\gisdata - A repository of curated or commonly used datasets.

Additional network shares are available but are reserved for graduate students and collaborative projects. You’ll be invited to these on an individual basis by your faculty member.

On UCCS computers the network drives will authenticate through your login. If you are mapping these on a personal computer, then you will need to “Connect using different credentials”. As follows:

User Name - Ufp\uccs_userid or uccs_emailPassword - uccs_password

Please refer to the “Map a network drive” word document provided for more details on mapping network drives.

Using UCCS OIT Desktop Finder to “remote desktop” into computers at UCCShttps://desktopfinder.uccs.edu/login.php - all searchable computers listed by OIT should have the necessary software for this class.How to use UCCS Remote Desktops

How to Remote Desktop to the GES Virtual Computer lab – will work on both Mac and PC.

1. The following instructions are for PC but settings and methods are transferable.

Make sure you are connected to the UCCS VPN on your computer before you attempt this step.

Open the Remote Desktop application. And type in the name of the virtual computer.

For GES use juniper.uccs.edu. You can add your user name in the “Show Options” dialog

If you need to connect to your local computers hard drive, printer, or computers clipboard select “Local Resources” tab before you click Connect.

Then select More at the bottom. Select the drives you want connected. IMPORTANT. Only use this to copy data back and forth from your personal computer to the virtual lab computer! Do not plan to work from a locally mapped resource. It will be to slow for GIS/RS applications.

It will then ask you to enter your credentials. Use your UCCS login and password.

Make sure you sign out (don’t just close it) of the Remote desktop to free up computer resources for other students.

2. Mac computers - follow these steps to get started with Remote Desktop on your Mac:

1. Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the Mac App Store.

2. Set up your PC to accept remote connections . (If you skip this step, you can't connect to your PC.)

3. Add a Remote Desktop connection or a remote resource. You use a connection to connect directly to a Windows PC and a remote resource to use a RemoteApp program, session-based desktop, or a virtual desktop published on-premises using RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. This feature is typically available in corporate environments.

3. Chromebook: Remote Desktop using VPN on a Chromebook Steps

Experimental. Please Reach out to Matt Gottfried (mgottfri@uccs.edu) for guidenance.

You now have a fully functional Windows Desktop computer with all the main GES software packages. You will need to map your network drives or workspaces. And you are all set.

Finally, when you are done with your work. Log out normally. Disconnect from VPN.

Good luck.