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You can access and remotely operate computers at PSU from off campus by establishing a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). Before following the directions below, review the article on PSU's Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Prerequisites

To establish a remote desktop connection, you will first need to adjust the standard PSU power management settings of the computer you are connecting to remotely. Otherwise the computer will power down to a "sleep" state and prevent you from connecting to it. For instructions on how to exempt your computer from the standard PSU power management settings, review the Power Management Standard.

Connecting to your PSU workstation

On-campus machine setup

1. Contact your technology administrator, or call the Helpdesk at 5-HELP when you are at your on-campus computer, to have Remote Desktop enabled and Remote Desktop access granted to you for your computer.
2. From the Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel > System. Record your full computer name, located in the Computer Name tab. You will need this to connect later.
3. Your machine must be powered on and and connected to the PSU network to connect.

Off-campus machine setup

macOS to Windows

1. Connect to the VPN.
2. Download the Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac.
3. Once downloaded, run the program.
4. Follow on-screen prompts to install the software.
5. Open Remote Desktop Connection from the Applications folder.
6. In the Computer field, enter: "________.psu.ds.pdx.edu," with your on-campus machine’s name in the blank.
7. Select Connect.
8. Enter your Odin username and password when prompted, but leave the Domain blank.

Windows to Windows

1. Connect to the VPN.
2. From the Start menu, select Programs.
3. Select Accessories.
4. Open Remote Desktop Connection Utility.
5. In the Computer field, enter: "________.psu.ds.pdx.edu," with your on-campus machine’s name in the blank.
6. Select Connect.
7. Enter your Odin username and password.
   Note: If you are connecting from a non-PSU owned system, enter your Odin username as psu\<OdinUsername>
8. To disconnect, select Disconnect from the Start menu.

Further resources

For more information on how to find your computer's name, see Finding Your Computer's Name.