Connecting to a Work Computer Remotely

Tags VPN

The VPN connection must be used to connect remotely to your Oakland University Work PC.

Who is Eligible?

Active Faculty or Staff

Remote Connection

If you are traveling for a short period of time, you must use the VPN to connect to your work computer and 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 should be done on your work computer. This is the computer you will be connecting to remotely.

  1. In the bottom left corner of the screen, click on the Windows icon and search for “Settings” in the search bar.
  2. Within the settings window click on “System” and then click on “Remote Desktop”.
  3. When in the “Remote Desktop” category, toggle the “Remote Desktop” setting to “On”.
    • Make sure the checkbox labeled: "Require devices to use Network Level Authentication to connect" is checked. 
  4. 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. 

Retrieving the Correct Computer Name

In order to connect to your desktop remotely, you will need to know the name of the computer you are connecting to.

  1. On the device you are going to be remotely connecting to, open the start menu once again by clicking on the Windows icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  2. In the search bar type cmd and click on “Command Prompt” to open it in another window.
  3. Within this window, type in hostname and press enter on the keyboard. The name of your computer will be displayed under “hostname”.
  4. In this same window type ipconfig and press enter.
  5. Make a note of the suffix provided after “Connection-specific DNS Suffix”
    • You will combine the hostname (Ex. ggrizz) and DNS suffix (Ex. dhe.oakland.edu) which would result in ggrizz.dhe.oakland.edu to obtain your fully qualified domain name. This is only an example, not your domain name.

Connecting to Your Work Computer Remotely

  1. On the computer you will be using to connect to your work computer, click on the Windows icon in the bottom left corner and type “Remote Desktop Connection” into the search bar.
  2. In the “Computer” field, type the computer name of your work computer and click on “Connect”.
  3. You will be connected to your work computer.

Connecting to a Windows Computer From a MacOS Device

  1. 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.
  2. Open the “Windows App” and click on the “+” button in the upper right corner. 
  3. Click “Add PC”.
  4. Enter the name of the windows computer you are connecting to and click “Add”.

Allowing Remote Connection to a Mac Computer

This will explain how to set up a Mac (that you're connecting to) to accept remote connections. 

  1. In the top left corner, click on the apple icon and click on “System Settings”.
  2. In the system settings click on the “General” tab on the left and scroll down to find “Sharing”. 
  3. Once in the “sharing” tab, find the section labeled “Advanced” and within this section and make sure the “Remote Management” tab is toggled on.
  4. From here click on the “i” icon to the right of the “Remote Management” button.
  5. In this window click on the “Options…” button and turn on the “Observe” and “Control” buttons then press “OK”.
  6. Within the “System Settings” click on the search bar and type in mac address to find the IP address under “Network”.

Connecting to a Mac Remotely

  1. If not on-campus, connect to the VPN ​http://grizzvpn.oakland.edu​. 
  2. Click on your desktop screen  and press ⌘+K on your keyboard.
  3. In the “Server Address” field, enter: vnc://<IP ADDRESS OF MAC> (without <>) 
  4. 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 an account on your Mac to share your screen. 
  • Select "Only these users," to define which user can share your screen.

Additional Support

  • OU Technology Center
  • 44 Oakland Center
  • Rochester, MI 48309-4479
  • (248) 370-4357
  • Office Hours: M-F 8:00am - 5:00pm
Print Article