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There are many useful instructions and information about Finance IT in this section. If you do not see what you were looking for please Submit a Ticket, so that we can answer your questions and provide assistance. These How do I ...? Instructions are generated from our user requests, so please feel free to ask about something so we can expand our support offerings.

For more general IT help, check out the knowledge base center on the VT4Help site.

  1. Open Excel
  2. Click on the File Tab, then Options, Then Add-Ins
  3. Click ‘Go’ at the very bottom of the screenby the Mange drop-down that has Excel Add-ins selected
  4. Then it will show the installed add-ins you have, the ones in use will be checked.  You can check/uncheck the ones you want.  If you want to add an excel add-in that insn't installed continue reading
  5. Click Browse
  6. Navigate to .xla file to add
  7. The Click on ‘OK’ to return to Excel and you will have a ‘ADD-IN’ tab that has add-ins on it
  8. Your add-ins will be ready to use now

Accessing a Shared Mailbox using Outlook Web Access

All members of a Shared Mailbox's permissions group have the ability to open a Shared Mailbox using Outlook Web Access. In order to do so, users must enter a specific URL identifying the shared mailbox to be opened.

Use Outlook Web App to Open a Shared Mailbox

1.  Open a web browser using a supported browser. Note that you must access web outlook with a supported browser because you need to use the "Full" version of Outlook Web App to configure rules.

2.  Log in to Web Outlook using your credentials.

3.  Right click on your credentials and open in a New Tab.

4.  This is what you will see. https://weboutlook.vt.edu/owa/

5.  Replace the URL for the shared mailbox with the URL for a shared mailbox
https://weboutlook.vt.edu/owa/paytoll@vt.edu
https://weboutlook.vt.edu/owa/timeclock@vt.edu
https://weboutlook.vt.edu/owa/vtw2@vt.edu

6.  If you have permissions to that mailbox, it should open and you can perform functions within it.

  1. Important: Close Outlook, Mail for Mac, all other desktop email clients connected to Exchange, and turn off all mobile devices connected to Exchange.
  2. In Firefox or Internet Explorer, go to the ADadmin Web site. Browsers other than Firefox and Internet Explorer are not supported by ADadmin.
  3. If prompted, log on with your Hokies ID (which is the same as your PID) and Hokies ID (Exchange) password.
  4. In the left menu, click the Persons link.
    Click the Persons link.
  5. Under Persons, click the Change Password link.
    Click the Change Password link.
  6. In the Current Password: text box, type your current Hokies ID password.
  7. In the New password: text box, type a new password.
  8. In the Confirm password: text box, re-type the new password.
    Type a new password.
  9. Click the Change Password button.
    Click the Change Password button.
  10. Immediately update all desktop email clients and all mobile devices that connect to Exchange with your new password. This is to prevent your account from getting locked. Be sure to update your email clients one at a time, because starting all of them at once may cause you to be locked out.
  1. Go to the Password Change Application Web page.
  2. Click the link corresponding to the type of Oracle / Banner password you want to change.
    Click the appropriate link.
  3. In the Oracle Id: text box, type your PID, which is the first part of your @vt.edu email address.
  4. In the Current Password: text box, type your current password.
  5. In the New Password: text box, type a new password. Do not use the "@" symbol in your password.
  6. In the Verify New Password: text box, re-type the new password.
  7. Click the Change Password button.
    Enter your credentials and a new Banner password.

When you change your password in the Banner instance, the change will synchronize with the vatech, vtfbanner, and warehouse instances as well. However, all other instances will not change.

  1. Go to the My VT Web page.
  2. Click the Log on with CAS link.
  3. Type your PID and PID password.
    1. In the Username text box, type your PID, which is the first part of your @vt.edu email address.
    2. In the Password text box, type your PID password.
    3. Click the Login button.
      Image of the Login service prompt for username and password.
  4. Near the top of the window, to the right of Home, click the Personal Info tab link.
    Image of the Personal Info tab link.
  5. Under Contact Info, click the Manage your Accounts link.
    Click the Manage your accounts link.
  6. In the PID account overview section, to the right of your name, click the Change password link.
    Click the Change Password link.
  7. In the Current password text box, type your current PID password.
  8. In the New password text box, type a new password by following the Password Requirements on the right of the page.
  9. In the New password again text box, re-type the new password.
  10. Click the Change Password button.
    Enter a new PID password.
  1. Go to MyVT Accounts, and select My Accounts.
  2.  On the Login page, type your PID and PID password, and click the Login button.
    Image of the Login service prompting for Username and Password
  3. When prompted to enroll, click the Enroll Now button.
  4. Click the 4Help link below corresponding to the type of device you want to use as your authentication method (4Help strongly suggests enrolling a second device, in case your primary device has failed, is temporarily lost or broken, or left at home. (For instructions, see Enroll Additional Device.)), and follow the instructions:
  • To enable or disable auto-send push notifications, see the Enable or Disable Auto-Send (Duo Push) section of this page.
  • To:
    • Change your default second factor device,
    • Reactivate the Duo Mobile app,
    • Change the display name of a device, or
    • Add/Remove or delete a device:
      1. In your browser, open a new "Private" window. (see the Private Browsing section of this page)
      2.  Go to MyVT Accounts, and select My Accounts.
        Image of the My Accounts highlighted on the Web page.
      3. On the Login page, type your PID and PID password, and click the Login button.  IMPORTANT: Do NOT complete authentication with your second factor, yet.

      4.  NOTE: If you receive an automatic call or push notification, in the browser, click the Cancel button.
        Image of the Duo iframe with the Cancel button highlighted which is in the lower-right corner of the iframe
      5.  In the Duo frame, under the Virginia Tech shield logo, click the My Settings & Devices link.
      6. Complete the authentication with your second factor to access My Settings & Devices.
      7. Follow the instructions in the appropriate section of the Managing Your Devices page to add, remove, or rename a device, or reactive Duo Mobile app.

Important: When you enable this auto-send feature, the "Remember Me for 7 days" feature cannot be turned on. In other words, you cannot use both auto-send and "Remember Me for 7 days".

If you have auto-send enabled, whenever you are prompted for your second factor, you will see "Sending push to your device" and "Login with U2F" even if the token is not in your computer. Complete authentication by either approving the push notification or physically tapping the U2F token. Once authenticated, you may disable auto-send or un-register the U2F token if you like.

  1. In your browser, open a new "Private" window. (see the Private Browsing section of this page)
  2.  Go to MyVT Accounts, and select My Accounts.
    Image of the My Accounts highlighted on the Web page.
  3. On the Login page, type your PID and PID password, and click the Login button.  IMPORTANT: Do NOT complete authentication with your second factor, yet.

  4.  NOTE: If you receive an automatic call or push notification, in the browser, click the Cancel button.
    Image of the Duo iframe with the Cancel button highlighted which is in the lower-right corner of the iframe
  5.  In the Duo frame, under the Virginia Tech shield logo, click the My Settings & Devices link.
  6. Complete the authentication with your second factor to access My Settings & Devices.
  7. Turn auto-send on or off:
    • To turn auto-send on:
      1.  At the bottom of the Duo frame, from the Default Device: drop-down list, select the telephone device that you want to automatically be used each time you sign into a service that requires 2-factor.
        Image of the Device Options and When I log in drop-down lists set to enable Duo Push
      2. From the When I log in: drop-down list, select either Automatically send this device a Duo Push or Automatically call this device.
      3. Click the Save button.
    • To turn auto-send off:
      1.  At the bottom of the Duo frame, from the Default Device: drop-down list, select the device the device that is currently being used automatically.
        Image of the Default Device and When I log in drop-down lists set to disable Duo Push
      2. From the When I log in: drop-down list, select Ask me to choose an authentication method.
      3. Click the Save button.

'Remember me for 7 days'

When prompted to select your authentication method, there is a Remember me for 7 days checkbox.

If you place a check in this checkbox and successfully authenticate with your second factor, you will not be prompted for your 2nd factor again for 7 days when: 

  • on this computer, and
  • using this browser.

This will remain in effect for 7 days, even if you use the "CAS Logout" feature

You will still be prompted for your PID and PID password when logging on, but not for your second factor

For Mac OS setup go here

  1. Log on to your computer with an account that holds administrator privileges.
  2. Verify that you are registered to use the remote access - VPN service. For more information, see the Remote Access - Virtual Private Network page.
  3. To download the Pulse installer, click the following link: vtVpnSetup.exe.
  4. Save the installer file to your computer.
  5. When the download is complete, to launch the installer, in Windows Explorer or File Explorer, double-click the vtVpnSetup icon.
    Double-click the vtVpnSetup.exe icon.
  6. If prompted by a Windows protected your PC window:
    1. Click the More info link.
      Image of the More info link highlighted
    2. Click the Run anyway button.
      Image of the Run anyway button highlighted
  7. In the user account control window, click the Yes button.
  8. Click the Install button.
    Image of the Install button.
  9. When the installation is complete, click the Finish button. Pulse will start and minimize to the notification area.
    Image of the Finish button.

For Mac OS setup go to 4Help instructions here

Follow the instructions to connect to either option 1 - VT Traffic over VPN or option 2 - All Traffic over VPN. (If you do not know which to use, try option 1 - VT Traffic over VPN. If that does not allow you to access the service you need, try option 2 - All Traffic over VPN.)

1 -  VT Traffic over VPN in Windows 7 / 8 / 10

  1. If you have not yet installed Pulse, follow the instructions above: Download and Install Pulse in Windows
  2. In the Windows notification area in the lower-right of the screen, click the Pulse icon.
    Image of the Pulse icon in the notification area.
  3. Select 1 - VT Traffic over VPN.
  4. Select Connect.
    Image of the Connect item highlighted in the drop-down list
  5. In the User Name: text box, type your PID.
  6. In the Password: text box, type your network password. Important: Your Hokies ID password will not work. 
  7. Click the Connect button. When the connection is complete, the window will automatically close.
  8. If prompted about an upgrade to Pulse:
    1. Click the Upgrade button.
    2. In the user account control window, click the Yes button. Pulse will download and install the upgraded version, restart, and you will be reconnected to the remote access - VPN.
  9. When you are finished using the remote access - VPN, disconnect from it. To do this:
    1. In the Windows notification area in the lower-right of the screen, click the Pulse icon.
      Image of the Pulse icon in the notification area.
    2. Select 1 - VT Traffic over VPN.
    3. Select Disconnect.
      Image of the Disconnect option highlighted

2 - All Traffic over VPN in Windows 7 / 8 / 10

  1. If you have not yet installed Pulse, follow the instructions above: Download and Install Pulse in Windows.
  2. Connect to option number two.
    1. In the Windows notification area in the lower-right of the screen, click the Pulse icon.
      Image of the Pulse icon in the notification area.
    2. Select 2 - All Traffic over VPN.
    3. Select Connect.
      Image of the Connect option highlighted
  3. Enter your credentials.
    1. In the User Name: text box, type your PID, which is the first part of your @vt.edu email address.
    2. In the Password: text box, type your network password. Important: Your Hokies ID password will not work.
    3. Click the Connect button.
  4. If prompted about an upgrade to Pulse:
    1. Click the Upgrade button.
    2. In the user account control window, click the Yes button. Pulse will download and install the upgraded version, restart, and you will be reconnected to the remote access - VPN.
  5. When you are finished using the remote access - VPN, disconnect from it. To do this:
    1. In the Windows notification area in the lower-right of the screen, click the Pulse icon.
      Image of the Pulse icon in the notification area.
    2. From the list, select 2 - All Traffic over VPN.
    3. Select Disconnect.
      Image of the Disconnect option highlighted
  1. Download Oracle Database Client (12.1.0.2.0) for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) from the following location: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterpriseedition/downloads/database12c-win64-download-2297732.html 
  2. An Oracle account is required; registration for this account is free. 
  3. Unzip the downloaded file to an accessible location (e.g. flashdrive, hard‐drive, etc.) 
  4. From the location designated in step #3, navigate to and run the setup.exe installer (This is usually found in the \client32 folder of the unzipped package) 
  5. In the “Oracle Database Client Installer” window, choose “Runtime”, click “Next” 
  6. Select Language (English already selected) then “Next”. Leave “Use Windows Built-in Account” then click “Next” 
  7. Change the “Oracle base” location to “C:\ Oracle”. Leave the second field as is. 
  8. Next – Finish – (Installing) – Close 
  9. Copy the TNS file (tnsnames.ora) to “C:\Oracle\product\12.1.0\client_1\network\admin” folder. Download the TNS file here: https://webapps.es.vt.edu/confluence/display/DBMSPUB/tnsnames.ora 

Private Browsing is a privacy feature in some web browsers to disable browsing history and the web cache. This allows a person to browse the Web without storing local data that could be retrieved at a later date. Privacy mode will also disable the storage of data in cookies and Flash cookies.  Below is how you private browse in certain browsers:

Google Chrome: Open an Incognito Window

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, click More More and then New Incognito Window.
  3. A new window will open. In the top corner, check for the gray Incognito icon Incognito mode.

You can also use a keyboard shortcut to open an Incognito window:

  • Windows, Linux, or Chrome OS: Press Ctrl + Shift + n.
  • Mac: Press ⌘ + Shift + n.

Firefox: Open an Private Window

  • Open a new, blank Private Window
  • Click the menu button New Fx Menu and then click New Private Window.

    private tab menu 57 win

Microsoft Edge: Open an InPrivate Window

  1. When you use InPrivate tabs or windows, your browsing data (like your history, temporary internet files, and cookies) isn't saved on your PC once you're done.
  2. In Microsoft Edge, select the More   and then icon, and then New InPrivate window.

Microsoft Edge InPrivate browsing