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Installation and Usage of OpenVPN with Mac OS 10.12 (Sierra) and newer

Installation

Download the OpenVPN-Software for Mac OS X on your mac using safari:

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Follow the image guide:

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Usage

Connect OpenVPN

Click on the gray tunnel symbol in the top-right corner.

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You have to pick one of the imported connection profiles, depending on you affiliation and current location.

Who? Where? Profile
Employee Campusnetz (University campus) pers-pub
Student Campusnetz (University campus) stud-pub
Employee Internet (e.g. from home) pers-ext
Student Internet (e.g., from home) stud-ext

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A connection attempt will be made (may take up to 30 seconds). If the connection attempt has been successful, the tunnel symbol next to the clock will turn black:

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If you have problems with the authentication you will get the username and password prompt again. Please check the following common problems:

  • Did you enter your username and pasword correctly?
  • Is your password still valid and do you have enough emergency logins available?
  • Do you have another VPN connection with the same credentials active? Only one connection profile can be opened per user simultaneously. After an unexpected connection loss it can take a few minutes until the server accepts a new connection from the same user.
  • Did you pick the correct profile for your account and location?
  • Try again after a few minutes. There might have been a temporary issue on the server side that might have resolved itself in the meantime.

Disconnect OpenVPN

Click on the tunnel symbol next to the clock and then 'Disconnect'.

If you disconnect your network connection without disconnecting openvpn first, it will take a few minutes until the server will clean up the inactive connection and allow a reconnect. During this time you might be unable to connect using openvpn. We recommend to disconnect the openvpn connection before you terminate the network connection.

Disconnect after a few minutes

It is possible that Tunnelblick will terminate an established openvpn connection after a few minutes.

Solution: Go to the Details menu in Tunnelblick and remove the checkbox for Set Nameserver.