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Submitted by dan on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 16:13
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If you're having trouble with  the VPN, you can contact the Support Center  as described on the VPN service page or, if they're available to you, you can contact your unit's IT support.  If want to look into the issue a bit more before you ask for help, then following are suggestions that may help.  These entries are adapted from the Support Center's troubleshooting notes, so don't be surprised if they start by asking the same questions if you call for assistance.

Each of these categories covers some of the most probable causes of trouble, based on what we've experienced.  It's not an exclusive list, so it's always possible that something unusual is happening in your case.

First, to make sensible suggestions, it's important to know at what point you're having trouble.  Are you

 

Installing the Cisco VPN Client software: 

This part normally goes without incident, so issues here are often a host operating system installation issue. Those problems are beyond the scope of this page, so you'll want to treat this as a software installation problem and seek help from your usual sources for software installation support. The Support Center is certainly one option for that.

 

Trying to connect for the very first time:

If you are using the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client:

  1. With the client software disconnected, is the client system able to contact campus?
    1. Can it bring up www.gatech.edu in a web browser?
    2. If not, then you have a network connectivity problem that you'll need to resolve before proceeding.  You can de-install the VPN client software if you think it might be a factor in the connectivity loss.
  2. Is the client software installed properly?
    1. Does the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client panel appear when accessed from Start>Programs>Cisco>Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client>Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client? (Or Applications>Cisco>Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client on the Mac?)
    2. Does the connection entry “anyc.vpn.gatech.edu” show in the pulldown list on the Connection panel?
    3. Is the version on the About tab at least 2.4?
  3. Is there any response after selecting “anyc.vpn.gatech.edu” and clicking “Select”? If the field is blank you can manually type anyc.vpn.gatech.edu.
    1. Is the request for authentication (GT account/password) is displayed immediately?  If not, then this may be a location which blocks VPN accesss on the local network (or all the VPN concentrators may be down or there is no connectivity to campus but that should have been ruled out in step 1).
  4. Does the request for authentication repeat itself?
    1. If so, this implies a problem with login credentials. There is currently not a way to differentiate between “invalid password” and “valid password, but not authorized” errors from the VPN logging. Try logging in to something else on campus that requires your GT account and password.  http://my.gatech.edu is one such place.  If the credentials work here, then there is likely an authorization issue.  These are very rare for Atlanta campus users, but if this is the case you will need to contact the Support Center.

If you are using the Cisco IPSEC VPN Client: 

  1. With the client software disconnected, is the client system able to contact campus?
    1. Can it bring up www.gatech.edu in a web browser?
    2. If not, then you have a network connectivity problem that you'll need to resolve before proceeding.  You can de-install the VPN client software if you think it might be a factor in the connectivity loss.
  2. Is the client software installed properly?
    1. Does the VPN client panel appear with “Not connected” in the lower left corner when accessed from Start>Programs>Cisco Systems VPN Client>VPN Client? (Or Applications>Cisco VPN on the Mac?)
    2. Does the connection entry “ipsec.vpn.gatech.edu” show in the list of Connection Entries on the panel?
    3. Is the version in the title bar at least 5.06 for Windows and 4.9 for Mac OS?
  3. Is there any response after selecting “ipsec.vpn.gatech.edu” and clicking “Connect”?
    1. Is the request for authentication (GT account/password) is displayed immediately?  If not, then this may be a location which blocks VPN accesss on the local network (or all the VPN concentrators may be down or there is no connectivity to campus but that should have been ruled out in step 1).
  4. Does the request for authentication repeat itself?
    1. If so, this implies a problem with login credentials. There is currently not a way to differentiate between “invalid password” and “valid password, but not authorized” errors from the VPN logging. Try logging in to something else on campus that requires your GT account and password.  http://my.gatech.edu is one such place.  If the credentials work here, then there is likely an authorization issue.  These are very rare for Atlanta campus users, but if this is the case you will need to contact the Support Center.


Trying to connect from a new place: 

If you are using the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client:

  1. Is the system actually connected through the VPN?
    1. Click on the Statistics tab. The Connection State: should display "Connected." The Client Address: should begin 143.215… (or possibly one of the other campus prefixes). An alternate method is to browse http://whatismyipaddress.com; they should get an address beginning with “143.215…”? If so, the system is connected.  If not, then it really isn't connected.
  2. Does the request for authentication repeat itself?
    1. If so, this implies a problem with login credentials. There is currently not a way to differentiate between “invalid password” and “valid password, but not authorized” errors from the VPN logging. Try logging in to something else on campus that requires your GT account and password.  http://my.gatech.edu is one such place.  If the credentials work here, then there is likely an authorization issue.  These are very rare for Atlanta campus users, but if this is the case you will need to contact the Support Center.
  3. Is there a problem accessing a device that’s not visible to the internet from Georgia Tech, such as a local printer or file server?
    1. This may well be a feature instead of a bug.  All traffic from the client is redirected to a Georgia Tech IP address; if the device they seek isn’t accessible from Georgia Tech, then it won’t be accessible when the VPN is connected.
    2. There is an exception for devices on the same subnet as the VPN client, such that those devices can be accessed by IP address. Click on the Preferences box on the Connections tab and make sure Enable local LAN access is checked.

If you are using the Cisco IPSEC VPN Client: 

  1. Is the system actually connected through the VPN?
    1. Open Status>Statistics and choose the Tunnel Details tab. Check the “Address Information: Client” entry; it should begin 143.215… (or possibly one of the other campus prefixes). An alternate method is to browse http://whatismyipaddress.com; they should get an address beginning with “143.215…”? If so, the system is connected.  If not, then it really isn't connected.
  2. Does the request for authentication repeat itself?
    1. If so, this implies a problem with login credentials. There is currently not a way to differentiate between “invalid password” and “valid password, but not authorized” errors from the VPN logging. Try logging in to something else on campus that requires your GT account and password.  http://my.gatech.edu is one such place.  If the credentials work here, then there is likely an authorization issue.  These are very rare for Atlanta campus users, but if this is the case you will need to contact the Support Center.
  3. Is there a problem accessing a device that’s not visible to the internet from Georgia Tech, such as a local printer or file server?
    1. This may well be a feature instead of a bug.  All traffic from the client is redirected to a Georgia Tech IP address; if the device they seek isn’t accessible from Georgia Tech, then it won’t be accessible when the VPN is connected.
    2. There is an exception for devices on the same subnet as the VPN client, such that those devices can be accessed by IP address. 
      1. Disconnect from the VPN.
      2. Choose the ipsec.vpn.gatech.edu connection entry and press “Modify”.
      3. Under the “Transport” tab, click the checkbox “Allow Local LAN Access”.
      4. Click “Save”.
      5. Reconnect.


Trying to connect from a place that used to work:

This situation usually means that you're looking for something that has changed.  Unless someone has changed network policies without telling you, it narrows it down to your computer.

  1. Have their been any software changes -- perhaps network-oriented applications or large service packs -- that might interfere with the VPN's client's ability to connect? 
  2. Have there been operating system or hardware upgrades?
  3. Can you access the usual public sites from this location?  www.gatech.edu, cnn.com, www.google.com?  If not, you can be quite sure that the VPN client won't work either.

If none of these suggestions shed any light on your situation, look at the section on "Trying to connect from a new place" "Trying to connect for the very first time" to see if any of those issues apply.

Seeing error messages? 

Here are some of the common error messages generated by the AnyConnect VPN client and their solutions: 

  1. "The vpn client agent was unable to create the interprocess communication depot."
    1. This is an indication that Internet Connection Sharing is Enabled on one or more interfaces. The client will not work even if the interface is not in use (such as a wired interface when you are using wireless). Here are Microsoft's instructions on how to disable ICS. 
  2. "Failed to initialize the connection subsystem."
    1. This may indicate that Internet Explorer is configured to Work Offline. The client will not work even if IE is not in use. Go to File and make sure "Work Offline" is not checked. 

 

We will add more common ones as they become clear. You may also want to browse Cisco's documentation on the subject.