Troubleshooting VPN

The following steps will help you resolve problems with your VPN connection. Start at the top and work through them in order.

Confirm that you have permission to use VPN

You must request access to the VPN by submitting a Helpdesk ticket; users no longer have access automatically. If you were granted access previously but have not used VPN in over six months then your permissions are removed automatically and you will need to request access again.

Verify That You Have An Internet Connection

First, try to access a site that doesn't require VPN. If you can view it successfully then you know your Internet connection is indeed active.

Not sure if a site requires VPN? See our list: Resources Requiring VPN for Off-campus Access (http://go.middlebury.edu/needvpn).
 

Initial Error Messages

Do you get an initial error message when you try to connect to VPN, such as:

• Unauthorized to use this service. [See Permission issue below]
• User does not belong to any roles. [See Permission issue below]
• Time out / can't connect. [See Connection Failure issue below]
• Script error.  [See Microsoft Contact Information Update Required below]
• Connection Failed: The network connection is unreachable..
  (and portal address is correct and device is not on Midd network; VPN debugging
  logs may include an error number 8004100E). [See WMI Repository fix below]

Permission Issue

Permission issues can be resolved by submitting a ticket to the Helpdesk. Be sure to mention the specific error message you received, as well as the username you used to attempt your VPN connection.
 

Connection Failure Issue

The following steps will help narrow down the cause of the connection failure.

• Try to ping vpnmidd.middlebury.edu -- You should get replies from 140.233.104.255
   

  On a PC: Search for, then launch, the Command Prompt app (CMD).

  Type ping vpnmidd.middlebury.edu then press the Enter key.
   

  On a Mac: Use Spotlight Search (Command + Spacebar) to search for, then launch, Network Utility.

  Click the Ping tab, then enter ping vpnmidd.middlebury.edu for the network address. Click the Ping button. then press the Return key.
   

• If your ping gets no reply, trace route can gather useful information about where the connection is breaking down. Take a screen snapshot of the trace route results to share with the Helpdesk for review.

  
  On a PC: Open the Command Prompt as before, then type tracert vpn.middlebury.edu then press the Enter key.
   

  On a Mac: Open the Network Utility as before, then click the Traceroute button. Fill in vpn.middlebury.edu for the Internet address, then click the Trace button.

Microsoft Contact Information Update Required

Microsoft prompts us to verify our contact information every six months. Microsoft does this to ensure that self-service password reset will work for you, should you ever need it. The GlobalProtect app seems to get confused by these prompts, resulting in a failure to connect with a generic "script error". To resolve the issue, please:

• Visit https://myapps.microsoft.com in a web browser.
• Sign in with your Middlebury credentials and, at the prompts, 
• After logging on, Microsoft will prompt you to confirm that your contact information is up to date.
• After you have confirmed your contact information is current, go ahead and try to connect with GlobalProtect again. You should be all set.
• If this does not work properly please open a ticket to the helpdesk, preferably with the operating system version of the computer and a screenshot of the error, along with the time the error was generated.

WMI Repository fix

This may be a less common issue and this fix has the potential to require that other applications be reinstalled. Please verify whether it is required before running. 

• Search for "cmd" on the local computer, right-click, and Run as Administrator.
• Check if there is a problem: 

• winmgmt /verifyrepository

• A "repository is not consistent,” would suggest continuing below, otherwise search a different solution!

• winmgmt /salvagerepository

• Then execute the command to see if it now comes back as consistent-

• winmgmt /verifyrepository

• If it says that Repository is not consistent, then you need to run:

• winmgmt /resetrepository