C H A R I T É - U N I V E R S I T Ä T S M E D I Z I N B E R L I NEine gemeinsame Einrichtung der Freien Universität Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

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Geschäftsbereich IT Auch

als deutsche

Version vor-

handen

OpenVPN using Windows (10, 8, 7)

The Charité VPN service is based on the OpenVPN that is available for a multitude of operating systems. The following instruc-

tions take you through the installation and start-up phase of the software system using Windows 10. Older versions of Win-

dows (i.e. Vista or XP) are no longer supported.

Downloading the Programme and InstallationAfter your VPN request has been processed, you will

receive a confirmation mail with various links to

software and documentation. Users without a Char-ité email account will first have to set a password

in the password front end (https://zugang.charite.de).

Only then can you use the VPN service.

You can not install OpenVPN by yourself on Charité’s centrally administered PCs. Call the IT

Helpdesk and request assignment of the OpenVPN

software.

At first download the OpenVPN software onto your

computer.

Use your favorite web browser (Internet Explorer,

Firefox or Chrome) to open the OpenVPN page

https://openvpn.net. From the drop down menu Com-

munity choose the link Downloads, fig 1. On the

download page you will find the most recent version

(current in Nov. 2019: OpenVPN 2.4.8). Select

and download the Windows7/8 installer or the Win-

dow10 installer – depending on your Windows ver-

sion in use, fig. 2. Click Ausführen (Run) to confirm

to continue. The installation follows directly after

downloading.

Fig. 1 OpenVPN Homepage

Fig. 2 Load OpenVPN software

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You will first receive a warning from the

Benutzerkontensteuerung (User Account Con-

trol) that is to be answered with Ja (Yes),

fig.3.

Setup Wizard is activated and will lead you through the installation steps, fig. 4. Another warning for the installation of the

device driver will pop up which you have to confirm by clicking Installieren (Install), fig. 5. Attention: by default Installieren

(Install) is not selected.

To complete the installation you have to

install the configuration file, which also

includes your personal certificate, for the

Charité connection. You received the file in

a separate email from the VPN staff. Store

the attachment on the desktop. Use the

Explorer to move the file from the desktop

into a folder already created by OpenVPN.

The path to the folder is

C:\Programme\OpenVPN\config.

Once you have dragged the file to the config

folder it should correspond to fig. 6.

OpenVPN using Windows (10, 8, 7) – Page 2/4

Geschäftsbereich IT

Fig. 3 User account control warning

Fig. 5 Warning for TAP device driver installation

Fig. 4 OpenVPN Install Wizard

Fig. 6 OpenVPN config folder

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Setting Up OpenVPN / Working with the Charité NetworkThe OpenVPN GUI can be started using the Windows start menu or the link on the desk-

top which was created during the installation process. In contrast to earlier versions you

don’t have to explicitely start OpenVPN by Programm als Administrator ausführen (Run as

administrator). This is now default.

The resulting programme start is quite unspectacular; simply an icon showing a grey

screen with a lock appears in the taskbar, fig. 7. Attention: sometimes the icon is hid-

den behind a collection symbol, the triangle.

To connect to the Charité net right click on the icon in the taskbar and then on Verbin-

den (Connect) in the drop down menu, fig. 8. Should the item be absent in the drop down menu, the configuration file is not found in the config folder – as shown in fig. 6.

The Aktueller Status (Current State) window opens and displays the con-

nection steps. This is the most important information for the VPN advisors

(vpn@charite.de) in case of problems. In addition, the Benutzer Authenti-

fizierung (User Authentication) window opens where you enter your user

name (as received per email) and password (Charité mail passwort resp. as

defined in the password portal), fig. 9. During the login process the VPN

icon in the taskbar is yellow; if your login is accepted an information pop-

up shortly appears and the color of the icon changes to green, fig. 10.

The Aktueller Status (Current State) window can be directly opened to check

the successful connection, or in the case of an error, copied and sent as an

email to the VPN advisors. To do this, right click on the OpenVPN icon in

the taskbar and then click on Log Information in the drop-down menu.

After establishing the connection you

should check all settings done correct.

http://vpntest.charite.de provides a one-stop

web service to check if the VPN connec-

tion is working properly. Three green dots

indicate a fully operational VPN, fig. 11.

In case of errors you’ll bei given hints on

what might be wrong and how to fix it.

Users without a Charité email account will in general get a red dot on test #3 due

to their missing authorization for using

Charité proxy.

OpenVPN using Windows (10, 8, 7) – Page 3/4

Geschäftsbereich IT

Fig. 7 OpenVPN GUI icon in task-bar or hidden

Fig. 8 Connecting OpenVPN

Fig. 10 Connection process and Connected message

Fig. 9 OpenVPN user name and password

Fig. 11 Website https://vpntest.charite.de

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Using the Charité proxy while connected via OpenVPNPlease remember you have to use the Charité Proxy to access internet

web pages –as long as there is an OpenVPN connection. Current Win-

dows versions will search for a proxy by default, so test #3, fig. 11,

will be successful.

Important hint: The browser is retrieving the autmatic proxyconfiguration on startup only. This means that you need to restart the browser after connecting or disconnecting from the VPN!

If the option automatic proxy connection is not yet configured, pro-

ceed as follows:

Open Einstellungen (Settings) from the Windows menu, fig. 12. In the

Einstellungen window click the category Netzwerk und Internet (Net-

work & Internet)and choose Proxy there, fig. 13. With Proxy automa-

tisch erkennen (Automatic proxy setup) the switch should be activated,

fig. 14.

If you use Mozilla Firefox, the corresponding option is »Die Proxy-

Einstellungen für dieses Netzwerk automatisch erkennen« and can

be found in the Extras menu under Einstellungen ➙ Erweitert  ➙ Net-

zwerk ➙ Verbindung

OpenVPN using Windows (10, 8, 7) – Page 4/4

Geschäftsbereich IT

Fig. 12 Windows Settings

Fig. 13 Network & Internet

Fig. 14 Automatic proxy setup