VPN Connection Instructions
There have been recent updates to the School of Nursing VPN, please read the article below for more information:
Beginning early in the Spring 2026 semester, the School of Nursing VPN will only allow connections from Penn-owned/secured/encrypted computers. This means you will no longer be able to connect to the Nursing VPN from a personally owned home computer.
All school-owned machines have the Nursing VPN client installed. To access the VPN, look for a globe icon on the bottom right of your screen (Windows) or the top right of your screen (Mac). When you launch the application, you will need to provide the Portal Address: vpn.nursing.upenn.edu
You will then click on Connect. Clicking on the Connect button will cause a browser window to open and prompt you for your PennKey credentials through the usual WebLogin screen.
The School of Nursing VPN will allow you to access all protected resources, including secure research servers, file servers/network drives, and remote desktop.
If you must work from a personal machine, you will still be able to use the University VPN. The University VPN will allow you to access some protected resources, including remote desktop and access to other Penn systems run by Finance or DAR. You will also be able to use Outlook and Teams - neither of which require using any VPN at all.
To connect to the University VPN, simply change the portal address for your VPN to “vpn.upenn.edu” instead of “vpn.nursing.upenn.edu”.
You will NOT be able to access the Nursing file servers (network drives). Only Nursing-owned and secured machines will be permitted to connect to the Nursing VPN and then on to the file servers. This provides an added layer of security for the high risk data stored on our file servers.
If you need to access the Nursing file servers directly from off campus, you will either need to use your Nursing-issued laptop, or connect to a virtual desktop (VDI) from your personal machine. Please see the link below for more information, including a link to VDI information:
https://penno365.sharepoint.com/sites/nursingits/sitepages/nursing-vpn-restrictions.aspx
As a reminder, it is never appropriate to download sensitive or protected data directly onto a personally-owned device. This could include sensitive financial documents that may include private information, or research data/PHI/DUA-protected data.
For more information about the University VPN, including initial installation instructions for computers that have never used the VPN, please visit: https://isc.upenn.edu/resources/university-client-vpn
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