Connecting to the MSU VPN with Cisco Secure Client on Linux

Cisco Secure Client is used to connect to the MSU VPN in order to use certain university IT resources remotely. Please refer to the instructions below for installation and use of Cisco Secure Client on Linux computers.

Jump to:

• Downloading and installing Cisco Secure Client
• Connecting to the MSU VPN
• Disconnecting from the MSU VPN

Downloading and installing Cisco Secure Client

1. Go to vpn.msstate.edu. Choose the appropriate group for your type of user, enter your NetID and NetPassword, then click Login. Authenticate with Duo when prompted.
   
   
   
2. Click Start AnyConnect.
   
   
    
3. You will see a message that says "The installer is detecting your operating system and CPU. Please wait..." Once the detection is complete (it can take up to 60 seconds), click Download for Linux.
   
   
   
4. Once the installation script has finished downloading, locate the file with your file system. Generally, this will be within the Downloads directory.
   
   
    
5. To run the installation script, open your terminal and navigate to the directory where the installation script is located. Once in the correct directory, execute the command: sudo bash cisco-secure-client-linux64-#.#.#####-core-vpn-webdeploy-k9.sh (note that in many Linux distributions, you can press TAB to auto-complete the file name).
   
   

Connecting to the MSU VPN

1. Start the Cisco Secure Client application. There are several different methods to do this. 
    
   • To start from the terminal, execute the following command: gtk-launch com.cisco.secureclient.gui
     
     
      
   • You can also launch it from the applications list or by pressing the Super key (Windows/Command key) and searching for Cisco Secure Client.
     
     
      
2. If the server field is blank, type in vpn.msstate.edu and click Connect.
   
   
    
3.  Select the appropriate group for your type of user. To do so, you may need to move the log in window aside (or minimize it temporarily) to access the Group selection window. Once the correct group is selected, log in with your credentials (as shown below) then authenticate with Duo, when prompted:
   
   Username: your NetID
   Password: your NetPassword
   Duo Password: push
   
   
    
4. Once you are connected your connection state in should be "Connected." You can find this within the Statistics tab in the Cisco Secure Client.
   
   
   
    

Disconnecting from the MSU VPN

1. When you are finished using the VPN, you can disconnect by opening the Cisco Secure Client dashboard and selecting Disconnect.
   
   
    
2. When you are ready to reconnect to the VPN, please follow the instructions for Connecting to the MSU VPN from the section above.