Faculty and staff may use Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent to access their work machines remotely. This method allows your personal computer to access your work computer without the use of VPN.

Mac Users: If you choose to download the Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent to your computer, you will need to allow the installer to continue. When you receive a prompt stating the download cannot be opened, click OK. You will be directed to your Security and Privacy settings, click Open Anyway. On the second prompt click Open to continue to the installation process.

Connecting to your computer

To access your work computer, perform the following:

1. Go to https://citrix.illinoisstate.edu/vpn/index.html.
2. Sign in with your ULID and Password.
   2a. After signing in, first time users may be asked to download the Citrix Receiver. To remote into your computer without the need to install software, click the Light Version link to open via browser.
3. Click Desktops from the top menu (Figure 1).
   
   Figure 1:
   
   
4. Click RemoteAccess (Figure 2).
   
   Figure 2:
   
   
5. After clicking the RemoteAccess desktop icon, you will be logged into the computer and able to access the resources you need. 

Disconnecting from the computer

After you have completed remote work and are ready to log off, do the following:

1. Sign out of the computer.
   • For Windows:
     • Click Start →  Click the Logo at the top of the left hand column of the Start menu →  Click Sign Out.

   • Important

     Make sure to sign out of the Virtual Desktop by clicking on its Start Menu, as opposed to your own desktop. The Start menus will be next to one another, with the Virtual Desktop being the one on top (Figure 3).
     
     Figure 3:
     

   • For Mac:
     • Click the Apple icon →  Click Logout.
     • If you are using a Mac to remote into a Virtual Windows Desktop computer, click on the Start Menu within the Windows Virtual Computer and choose Sign Out next to your username (Figure 4).
     • Figure 4:
       
       
2. Disconnect using the Citrix menu.
   • Light Version:
     • Click the Citrix menu icon in the top center of the browser window →  Click the (ellipsis) three dots (Figure 5) →  Click Disconnect (Figure 6).
       Figure 5:
       
       Figure 6:
       

• Desktop (Receiver):
  • Click the down-facing arrow icon in the top center of the window (Figure 7) →  Click Disconnect (Figure 8).
    Figure 7:
    
    Figure 8:
    
    

For additional assistance with using Citrix, see the following instructional videos:

• How to Log Into and Download Citrix
• How to Access a Virtual Desktop in Citrix

How to Get Help

• Technical assistance is available through the Technology Support Center at (309) 438-4357, by email at SupportCenter@IllinoisState.edu, or by Live Chat at Help.IllinoisState.edu.