UF Health VPN Information » Clinical Research Hub » Clinical and Translational Science Institute » University of Florida (2024)

Due to HIPAA requirements and UF Health Security Policies, communications between your home computer and the UF Health network must be encrypted as they may contain PHI, passwords, or other sensitive data. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can secure all of the traffic between your remote computer and the UF Health network.

The UF Health VPN client uses your myUFL (Gatorlink) username and password to authenticate you. It then creates a secure channel between your remote computer and the UF Health network, and routes all traffic to and from UF Health through that channel. The VPN will allow you to access UF Health systems as if you were onsite.

UF Health VPN is supported on all modern computer and mobile operating systems. There are several ways you can connect to this VPN. The Office of Clinical Research recommends that you use Pulse Secure Access Client software to access the UF Health VPN.

Mobile VPN

Don’t Have Pulse Secure?

If you do not already have the Pulse Secure Access Client, do the following:

1. On your phone or tablet, ensure that you have a wireless or data connection.
2. Go to the “App Store”.
3. Search for and install Pulse Secure.
4. Open the Pulse Secure app.
5. On the Welcome screen, type in the UF Health VPN URL: vpn.ufhealth.org.
6. If this is the first time using the app, you may need to add a new connection. Use the following settings:

• Connection name: UF Health
• URL/Server name: vpn.ufhealth.org
• Username: <your username>
• Password: <your password>
• Realm/Domain: Enter the appropriate one for your login account type: UFAD or Shands or UMC

7. Tap on the newly listed UF Health vpn.ufhealth.org item to connect.
8. Enter your login information.

When the connection is properly set, you will see the VPN connection indicator in the notifications area on your device. If you want to disconnect from VPN, you must reopen the app and choose disconnect.

Already have Pulse Secure?

Going forward, once you have the Pulse Secure Access Client, all you will need to do to access the VPN is:

1. Ensure that you have a wireless or data connection.
2. Tap on the Pulse Secure icon.
3. Tap “Connect” for the UF Health item.
4. Enter your login information.

Desktop/Laptop VPN Client

Don’t Have Pulse Secure?

If you do not already have the Pulse Secure Access Client on your computer, do the following:

1. On your computer, ensure that you have a wireless or data connection.
2. Visit vpn.ufhealth.org.
3. Enter your Username and Password.
4. Choose the appropriate domain/realm for your login account type: UFAD or Shands or UMC.
5. Click Sign In.
6. Under the Client Application Sessions tab, you should see an entry for Pulse Secure.
7. Click Start.
8. Answer Yes to all download/installation requests from your computer.
9. Return to your web browser page for vpn.ufhealth.org and click Sign Out on the upper left corner of your screen.
10. Open Pulse Secure by clicking the Pulse Secure icon on your desktop or system tray.
11. When prompted, choose the appropriate domain/realm for your login account type: UFAD or Shands or UMC.
12. Click Connect.
13. Enter your login information.

If you have trouble downloading the Pulse Secure Access Client from vpn.ufhealth.org, you can also download it from here:

1. Visit ufhealth.org/vpn.
2. On the right side of your screen, find a list of different links for downloading VPN software.
3. From the UF Health/Shands VPN section, choose and download the appropriate client link that matches your computer’s operating system.
4. From this download, install the Pulse Secure Access Client per your system’s typical installation prompts.
5. Open Pulse Secure by clicking the Pulse Secure icon on your desktop or system tray.
6. When prompted, choose the appropriate domain/realm for your login account type: UFAD or Shands or UMC.
7. Click Connect.
8. Enter your login information.

When connected properly, you will see the connected Pulse Secure VPN client icon in your system’s “application tray”.

Already Have Pulse Secure?

Going forward, once you have the Pulse Secure Access Client, all you will need to do to access the VPN is:

1. On your computer, ensure that you have a wireless or data connection.
2. Open Pulse Secure by clicking the Pulse Secure icon on your desktop or system tray.
3. When prompted, choose the appropriate domain/realm for your login account type: UFAD or Shands or UMC.
4. Click Connect.
5. Enter your login information.

Some Alternatives to Pulse Secure

UF Gatorlink VPN

You can also connect to the UF Health network using vpn.ufl.edu (Gatorlink VPN) and the Cisco AnyConnect client.

To be able to access resources in UF Health from the Cisco AnyConnect client, you must use vpn.ufl.edu as your server address and your username must be formatted as: username@ufl.edu/health

For detailed instructions, go to the UF Health Remote Access webpage and click on the
Remote Access to Work Tools Instructions. AnyConnect instructions begin on page 8.

Remote Desktop without a VPN Client

If you are only using Remote Desktop to connect to your onsite computer, you might consider using mydesktop.shands.org to start your remote desktop session. This method does not require a VPN Client.

For detailed instructions, go to the UF Health Remote Access webpage and click on the
Remote Access to Work Tools Instructions. Remote Desktop instructions begin on page 3.

Need Help?

Contact UF Health IT Help Self Service and place a help desk ticket.