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Note: This article is set to be archived in 30 days, it has been replaced with the following: VPNs and GlobalProtect | Learn More, the information below may be outdated.
What is Viscosity?
Viscosity VPN allows Mines' students, faculty, and staff access as if they are physically in the office. This allows for access to file servers, computers, databases, internal web pages, and other services not found outside the Mines network.
What should I know?
The system only encrypts traffic to/from Mines.
If you are on a website or service that is not directly connected to Mines, it will not be encrypted.
Installing & Running Viscosity (Mac)
1. Required Downloads
Where to Download the Viscosity Client
If you have an existing copy of Viscosity, you may skip this download of the Viscosity client.
Download Link: https://its.mines.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/116/2019/03/mines-mac-vpn-setup.zip
Where to Download your Viscosity "Unique Configuration Profile"
To configure the Viscosity client for Mines, you will need to download your unique configuration profile.
- To obtain your configuration profile for Viscosity, navigate to https://ras.mines.edu
- Enter your Mines ID and Password as prompted.
- If you are an employee using the DUO multi-factor system, type the word push and press return (if you only have key fob enter the 6-digit code from your key-fob).
- Once you are logged in, download your user-locked profile using the link "Yourself (user-locked profile)"
- Note where you saved this file, as you will use it later.
2. Installing Viscosity
If you have an existing copy of Viscosity, you may skip this series of steps to 4. Importing a Connection.
- Extract the mines-mac-vpn-setup.zip file.
- Open the Mines-Mac-VPN-setup.pkg (usually located in your Downloads folder) by double-clicking it.
If prompted "Mines-Mac-VPN-setup.pkg can’t be opened because Apple can’t open it to check for Malicious software," complete the following steps:
- Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General tab.
- Click the 'Open anyway' button.
- The installation should start normally.
3. Running Viscosity
- Launch Viscosity from your Applications folder.
4. Importing A Connection
The simplest way to import a connection into Viscosity is accomplished by double-clicking on the configuration file that was downloaded from the ras.mines.edu site, named client.ovpn
The Viscosity client should automatically configure the connection.
If opening the "client.ovpn" file does not automatically configure the Viscosity connection, complete the following steps:
Step 1
Open Viscosity
Step 2
Go to the Viscosity menu and select “Preferences…”. The preferences window should appear.
Step 3
Make sure the “Connections” toolbar item is selected, and then click the “+” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the window.
Highlight "Import Connection" then select "From File..." from the menu that appears.
Step 4
Select the "client.ovpn" configuration file downloaded previously from https://ras.mines.edu
Select the "Open" button.
Step 5
Your connection will now appear in the Viscosity menu.
Step 6
The Viscosity menu is the main way of interacting with Viscosity and your connections. The Viscosity menu can be found at the top right hand corner of your screen (near the clock). Clicking on the icon once will bring up the menu.
The Viscosity menu allows you to connect or disconnect a connection by selecting it from the menu, open Viscosity's Preferences window, open Viscosity's Details window, and to quit Viscosity. Your connections will be automatically disconnected when Viscosity quits.
Please note that by default Viscosity does not appear in the dock.
The Details Window
The Details window allows you to monitor your VPN connections. If you wish to check the status of a connection, experience trouble connecting, you should first check the details window for information. The Details window has three main sections, as outlined below. You can switch between these sections by clicking on the relevant buttons near the middle of the window.
- Traffic Graph: The traffic graph will graph network traffic. It will automatically scale to match the maximum traffic rate. The vertical axis on the left will list the range of data rates, while the In/Out values list the current data rate of traffic passing through the VPN connection.
- Traffic: The traffic section lists total data amounts that have passed through the VPN network adapter. These values are reset each time the connection is re-established.
- Log: The log section displays the OpenVPN log output. The log will contain important information if you are having trouble connecting to Mines.
The Preferences Window
Viscosity's Preferences window allows you to access and edit your VPN connections, as well as change Viscosity's overall settings. The toolbar at the top of the window can be used to navigate between the following sections.
- General: The General area allows you to modify general global preferences, including automatic update settings. Mines highly recommend allowing automatic updates.
- Appearance: The Appearance area allows you to change the look and feel of Viscosity, including the menu bar icons and the behavior of the Details window.
- Advanced: Settings in the Advanced area should only be changed by Mines technicians.