The intricate antique brass door knobs to the entrance of the original Meadows Museum.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

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The Virtual Private Network, or VPN, connection is used most when working off-campus. This connection will allow you to securely access specific resources that are restricted to the SMU Network. This includes library resources, network storage drives, many applications, and intranet websites.

  • You must have an existing internet connection before connecting to SMU VPN.
  • Connecting to the SMU VPN allows access from an external ISP to on-campus internet and intranet resources (library resources, policies, internal sites, etc.).

Get Started

Installing the Cisco Secure Client (formerly AnyConnect) to establish a VPN connection.

  1. Click the Sign In button above.
  2. Log in with your SMU credentials.
  3. In the Cisco Secure Client Download window, click the Download button to save installation package.
  4. Run the installer package to install the Cisco Secure Client.
  5. An install wizard will start, click Next or Continue to walk through the steps.

For full walk throught with screenshots, please see the SMU VPN Wiki page. 

Using the Cisco Secure Client (formerly AnyConnect) to connect to the SMU VPN

Initiate an AnyConnect VPN session with the Cisco Secure Client to provide applications on your desktop with network access through SMU VPN. For example, an AnyConnect session might be necessary to access services, such as Sitecore.

  1. Open Cisco Secure Client.
  2. Enter vpn.smu.edu.
  3. Click Connect.
  4. When prompted, enter SMU credentials.
  5. Click LOGIN.
  6. Authenticate with Microsoft Authenticator.

When it is connected, the app icon will have a closed (locked) padlock. 

macOS Users:

If using macOS, you will need to allow the VPN application in your Security & Privacy settings under System Preferences… before connecting.