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Install on Windows

A click-by-click walkthrough. No command line needed. Plan for ~10 minutes and two downloads. If you prefer watching, the demo video shows the whole thing end to end.

What gets installed, and why

What Why Who installs it
OpenConnect-GUI ships openconnect.exe (the VPN engine), the Wintun driver and the routing script you, in Step 1
automatic-vpn.exe this app — the friendly front-end that drives the engine you, in Step 2
openconnect-sso the login helper (handles the SSO/2FA browser login) the app, one click in Step 3

Step 1 — Install the VPN engine (OpenConnect-GUI)

  1. Open gui.openconnect-vpn.net/download.
  2. Scroll to the Windows download and click the installer link (a file like OpenConnect-GUI-Setup-x.x.x.exe). Save it.
  3. Double-click the downloaded installer to run it. If Windows asks “Do you want to allow this app to make changes?”, click Yes — the installer needs admin to place the Wintun driver.
  4. Click Next on the welcome page, then I Agree on the licence page.

  5. The components page — the one step everyone misses. You'll see a list of checkboxes. Tick the “command-line / console version” (sometimes labelled “OpenConnect CLI”).

    Don't skip this checkbox

    That checkbox is the openconnect.exe this app drives. If you leave it unticked, only the graphical client is installed, openconnect.exe is missing, and later the app's prerequisites check will keep saying “openconnect.exe not found”. (You install it; you never open it.)

  6. Leave the install folder at the default C:\Program Files\OpenConnect-GUI\ and click Install.

    Why the default folder matters

    The app auto-detects openconnect.exe in that standard location. A custom folder still works, but you'd have to point the app at it by hand later.

  7. Wait for it to finish, then click Finish. You never open OpenConnect-GUI yourself — automatic-vpn launches the engine for you.

Step 2 — Download the app

  1. Open the latest release.
  2. Under “Assets” (scroll down a little if needed), click automatic-vpn.exe to download it.
  3. Double-click automatic-vpn.exe to run it.

  4. Windows SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC”. Click “More info”, then the “Run anyway” button that appears.

    Why the warning?

    The .exe is unsigned (a free community tool — code signing costs money). The source is public on GitHub; nothing is hidden.

  5. The app window opens.

Step 3 — First run: the guided setup

Because nothing is configured yet, the app opens straight into the setup form. Fill it top to bottom:

  1. Email — your university email. This is your SSO username for the login.
  2. Server — pre-filled with univpn.uni-graz.at. Leave it unless you're connecting to a different gateway.

  3. Password — your login password.

    Where your password goes

    Into the Windows Credential Manager (the OS keyring) — never into a config file or a log. That's why you type it once here.

  4. TOTP seed (2-factor) — three ways, pick one:

    • type the base32 seed string, or
    • click “Load QR-code image…” and select a screenshot/photo of your authenticator's QR code, or
    • click “Paste URL / JSON…” to paste an otpauth:// link or a Google Authenticator export.

    Not sure where to get it? Click “How do I get the seed?” for a walkthrough (also in Two-factor setup). Why: this lets the app generate your 6-digit code itself, so you never type a 2FA code again.

  5. Install the login helper. If the app flags openconnect-sso as missing, click “Install now”. It installs it quietly with uv (and uv itself first if needed) — no admin prompt, no Python knowledge. Wait for it to report done.

  6. openconnect.exe from Step 1 is detected automatically. If for some reason it isn't, click “Locate openconnect.exe…” and browse to C:\Program Files\OpenConnect-GUI\openconnect.exe.

  7. Click “Set up (one-time admin prompt)”. A UAC prompt appears — click Yes.

    What that one admin prompt does

    The tunnel adapter (Wintun) needs Administrator rights. Rather than ask every time, the app registers a Scheduled Task once under this single UAC prompt. From now on Connect needs no admin prompt and opens no console window. You approve admin exactly once — right here.

  8. You'll see “Done”. The window switches to the main control screen.

Step 4 — Connect

  1. Click “Connect”. The status moves through “Signing in …” → green “Connected”. A login browser may flash up briefly — it fills itself in from your keyring and closes on its own.

    If it takes a moment

    A slow login browser can make it sit on “Signing in …” for a bit — that's normal. The app waits for the real result; it won't falsely say “failed”.

  2. Open webmail.uni-graz.at (or any internal page) to confirm you're going through the tunnel.

  3. Click “Disconnect” when you're done.

After setup — useful buttons

  • “Configuration…” — reopen the setup form to change email/server/password/2FA (then “Save changes”).
  • “Check prerequisites” — re-runs the engine/login checks and offers fix buttons (the same “Install now” / “Locate openconnect.exe…” helpers).
  • “Show log” — the connect log, for troubleshooting / “Report a bug”.

Autostart at login

Settings → Start & tray → Autostart registers the app under the HKCU…\Run key, so it launches into the tray every time you log in.

Type your 2FA code anywhere

With a TOTP seed stored, Ctrl+Alt+P types your current 6-digit code into whatever field has focus — handy for webmail or any 2FA prompt, not just the VPN. See the TOTP hotkey. (Windows only.)

Advanced — install without the .exe (via uv) 

uv tool install --with PyQt6 --with "setuptools<70" --with opencv-python-headless --from git+https://github.com/saiko-psych/automatic-openconnect automatic-openconnect
Then run automatic-vpn.