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Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

How to connect to a GCS office or graduate research lab computer from outside of the Concordia network

By combining the Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Remote Desktop, GCS faculty, staff and grad students can access GCS computers in their offices or labs from an off-campus device.  

Step 1: Get the GCS computer's name

Find your computer name

a) GCS Office Computer

From your campus computer, determine the full name of your office computer.

  • Click on Start and enter This PC
  • Right Click on This PC and select Properties
  • Under View basic information about your computer, scroll down to Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings (see image below)
  • Record the Full Computer Name of your computer, which you’ll need to enter on your home computer.
  • IMPORTANT: do not shut down your office computer. Please just lock the screen when you leave it.
  • Need help? Email the Service Desk or see the support page.
 

b) User Managed Host

If your on campus computer is a user managed host, please consult the following instructions:

ENCS Remote Desktop instructions

Option A. Connect to Concordia's VPN

Step 2. Connecting to the Concordia Network

  • Download the VPN FortiClient software. Once the software has been installed, enter your Concordia netname and password to establish a connection.
  • Please note: the Forticlient app may already be on your desktop. If you see the Forticlient icon on your work desktop, please continue to Step 3.
  • If you are attempting to install the FortiClient software on a Concordia-owned computer that requires admin access, contact the Service Desk.
  • Need help? Email the Service Desk or see the support page.
  • If you don't know your computer name, contact the Service Desk.

Instructions

Select the option that corresponds to your operating system for instructions on how to download and configure the installation software.

Step 3: Connecting to a GCS Office computer

  • From your home computer, open Remote Desktop Connection by navigating to the following location: Start > All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection
  • In the Computer field, enter the full computer name of your office computer (See Step 1).
  • Select Connect
Credentials
  • You will be prompted to enter your credentials. Enter your ENCS account name in the following format: ENCS\[your ENCS account name ].

    • For example if your ENCS account's user name is a_count enter: ENCS\a_count

  • In the password field, enter your ENCS account password. 
  • Select OK

  • From your home computer, open the App Store.
  • Download and install Microsoft Remote Desktop.
  • Open Microsoft Remote Desktop by navigating to Launchpad > Microsoft Remote Desktop.
  • Click Add PC.
  • In the PC name field, enter the full computer name of your office computer (from Step 1).
  • Click Add.

Double click your newly made connection.

You will be prompted to enter your credentials.

Enter your ENCS account name in the following format: ENCS\[your ENCS account name ].

For example if your ENCS account's user name is a_count enter: ENCS\a_count

In the password field, enter your ENCS account password.

These instructions describe the procedure for establishing an SSH Tunnel and how to use it to connect your client (home) computer to your GCS Office (on-campus) computer. For more details on creating ssh tunnels to the GCS network, please consult the FAQ What is an ssh tunnel and how does it work?.   

Instructions

Select the option that corresponds to your home computer's operating system.

PuTTy is an SSH and telnet client software for the Windows platform which can be used to create an SSH Tunnel. PuTTy is available for download from https://www.PuTTy.org/. Once installed, follow these steps to connect to the ENCS machine:

  • Download the latest version of PuTTy from https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/PuTTy/latest.html
  • Launch PuTTy on your home computer.
    • The PuTTy Configuration window will open. 
  • In the Category menu under Connection -> SSH-> Tunnels -> activate both of the "Local ports accept connections from other hosts" and "Remote ports do the same" check boxes.

  • In the same window under "Add new forwarded port:" fill the text boxes as follows:

    • Source port: 3391
    • Destination: hostname.encs.concordia.ca:3389

      • For example, if your GCS office PC’s hostname was hertz, enter hertz.encs.concordia.ca:3389

  • Click Add

    • An entry under "Forwarded ports:" should appear for the port you added.

  • Select Session under Category in the Left-Hand menu of the PuTTy Configuration window.
  • Enter these options for the session:
    • Host name: tunnel.encs.concordia.ca
    • Port: 22
  • To save the above settings, enter:
    • Saved Sessions: hostname_config

      • Where hostname is that of the GCS lab computer you choose in Step 1.

    • Click Save
  • Click Open to open a SSH session with tunnel.encs.concordia.ca
  • When prompted, type in your ENCS account's username and press enter.
  • Enter the account's password
Do not close the PuTTy window! You will need the SSH session to remain open in order to use Remote Desktop to connect to your office computer.
 
You may now proceed to Step 3: Connect to a GCS Office computer.
 

To create an SSH Tunnel on a MAC computer:

  • Open up a terminal on your MAC and type the following command.

    % ssh username@tunnel.encs.concordia.ca –L 3391:hostname.encs.concordia.ca:3389
    Where:
    • hostname: is the name of the computer of your GCS office computer (see Step 1)
    • username: is your ENCS account's username
  • If the “Password:” prompt is returned, enter the password for the Mac user on your home computer
  • At the "username@tunnel.encs.concordia.ca's password:" prompt, enter your ENCS password

When you see the following welcome message, you know that the SSH tunnel has been established successfully.

==========================================================================
Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University
             Unauthorized access is strictly forbidden.
For assistance: e-mail: servicedesk@encs.concordia.ca
For information:   web: https://www.concordia.ca/ginacody/
==========================================================================

Do not close the terminal window.

Proceed to Step 3: Connect to a GCS Office Computer

Step 3: Connect to a GCS Office computer

Need help? We are here to support you

For assistance you may reach the Service Desk via email at help@concordia.ca

 
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