Remote Access

The University provides remote access to some IT services. Different services are remotely available for students and staff. If you are a student, you will be able to find information below on the services you can access remotely. If you are a member of staff, you will find information below on the services you can access, and additional advice on connecting to your PC remotely, accessing Research IT services, and acquiring access for third parties and external collaborators.

If you need further support, please contact the IT Support Centre or visit the IT Support Portal, choose Request Support and search for “General request or IT issue”.

Some University services can be accessed remotely from your personal or University owned device without having to take additional steps, if you want to use one of these, you don’t need to read any further.

Information for students

If you are a student – to access some remotely available services, you need to install software called Global Protect on your personal device. Global Protect creates a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between your computer and the University.

Information for staff

To access remote services, you need a University managed Windows or Mac laptop, or a University configured Linux laptop. More information about University managed devices and how to get one is available through the Computer Provisioning Service.

Information for researchers

There are different requirements for access to University Research IT services and the Research IT website provides extensive information.

Access to Research IT infrastructure services for external collaborators

If you have one or more external collaborators who needs access to University systems, you will need to request a University account for them.

To obtain an account please visit the Directorate of People and Organisational Development Visitors web page. This page provides guidance on which route to take depending on which type of visitors needs an account.

Once the account is set up, the new members to the University will be able to complete IT signup the next day at https://iam.manchester.ac.uk/activates.

Following activation, they can then use this account to remote access certain Research Infrastructure. If they need access to other systems you will need to request access to the relevant applications, system or services on their behalf. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “AppsSysServ” and then complete the form with that name.

Accessing academic instrumentation from off-campus

If the instrumentation is a desktop device and you need remote access you can follow the guidance in the section on this page titled “Remote access to desktop PCs on campus”.

If the instrumentation is within a server room or hosted by IT Services you will need to complete the AppSysServ form. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “AppsSysServ” and then complete the form with that name.

If the instrumentation requires external internet access, you will also need to request this. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “incoming internet connectivity” and then complete the form with that name.

Remote access to desktop PCs on campus

To gain remote access to a PC from off campus, you will need to read this article which explains how to collect required information from the campus PC and set it up for access.

Before remote access will work, you need to request an exception. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “Request a Global Protect exception for RDP connections” and then complete the form with that name.

Once this exception has been completed you need to follow the instructions in one of the articles below, depending on what type of devices you are using.

The instructions in these articles refer to a “network transformation” and vary depending on whether the device is in a building that has been upgraded to be on the University transformed network. You can find out if you building is on the transformed network by referring to this article: Network Transformation: Building list. You should also review this article if you are connecting to a device on the transformed network: Remote Access: Using Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) on a transformed network

Remote access for external people and 3rd parties (external suppliers)

This section provides guidance on how to get access for people and 3rd parties who are not part of the University and do not already have accounts.

External People (Visitors)

If you have a person who requires remote access to any University of Manchester systems and services, they need to have a University account. Once this is done, you need to request access to the specific systems, services, or applications for them.

To obtain an account please visit the Directorate of People and Organisational Development Visitors web page. This page provides guidance on which route to take depending on which type of visitor needs an account.

Once the account is set up, new members to the University will be able to complete IT signup the next day at https://iam.manchester.ac.uk/activates.

Once their account has been activated you will need to request access to the relevant applications, system or services on their behalf. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “AppsSysServ” and then complete the form with that name.

External Suppliers

If you have an external supplier with staff that need remote access to university applications systems or services. You will first need to contact the Information Governance Office to validate that supplier.

Once your supplier has been screened you then need to request accounts for the external supplier staff who need access, and then request remote access for those people to the applications, systems or services involved.

To obtain an account please visit the Directorate of People and Organisational Development Visitors web page. This page provides guidance on which route to take depending on which type of visitor needs an account.

Once the account is set up, the new members to the University will be able to complete IT signup the next day at https://iam.manchester.ac.uk/activates.

Once their account has been activated you will need to request access to the relevant applications, system or services on their behalf. Please visit the IT Support Portal, click Request Support, search for “AppsSysServ” and then complete the form with that name.

Frequently asked questions.

I would like to get remote access to PC clusters.

Remote access to PC clusters is no longer generally available. If you are teaching and need to discuss remote access to PC clusters please contact your Service Relationship Manager.

I wish to connect to some instrumentation on-campus from off-campus.

Please see the section on this page titled “Accessing academic instrumentation from off-campus”.

I am an honorary member of staff, what services can I access remotely?

Please see information about the status of honorary appointments. If you need access to additional IT services, your status may need to be updated. Please see this guidance: Directorate of People and Organisational Development Visitors.

I manage a server which is currently only available on-campus and I would like staff to be able to access it from off-campus.

Please see the section on this page titled “Accessing academic instrumentation from off-campus”, the guidance is the same.

I manage a server which is currently available only on-campus, and I would like my undergraduate or postgraduate taught students, postgraduate researchers or staff to be able to access it from their own devices.

For security reasons, the range of services available to students off-campus is very limited, researchers or staff should be using a University managed device where appropriate: More information about University managed devices and how to get one is available through the Computer Provisioning Service.

I am a Postgraduate researcher and I have returned my managed University owned laptop, but I still need remote access to some resources.

Please review this page, there are some services that you can access from your own personal device. If you are sure that you need a managed University owned laptop please contact the IT Support Centre or visit the IT Support Portal, choose Request Support and search for “Laptop or desktop request”, then on the form options choose “Laptop or desktop requests”, then choose “I want advice on purchasing a laptop / desktop”. The support team will discuss the best way for you to get access to a managed university device.

I have a question about remote access or a problem that hasn’t been answered after reading this page, how do I get further help?

If you need further support after reading this please contact the IT Support Centre or visit the IT Support Portal, choose Request Support and search for “General request or IT issue”. When completing the form please include the term “remote access” to ensure it is assigned to the correct team as quickly as possible.