Summary
How to log in and sign out of a Chromebook on the U-M campus.
Chromebooks allow you to access your U-M email, Google Drive, and the internet from a portable device. Chromebooks are great for working on collaborative documents, managing your email, and using any programs in the Google Suite. If you need to get away from your desk to work on a proposal in Google Docs or if you want to make a presentation using Google Slides, verify policies on SharePoint or the LSA Gateway, or take notes in a meeting in Google Docs, a Chromebook is a good option.
Chromebooks are not full laptops or laptop replacements nor are they intended to be. They do not have installed programs, so will not run programs such as PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, or Adobe Illustrator. If you need to work off-site and use Adobe Acrobat Pro or connect to the S-Drive, the Chromebook will not offer the functionality you need. When deciding whether to reserve a laptop or a Chromebook, you’ll need to keep this in mind.
Environment
UM-Ann Arbor campus, Chromebooks, MWireless
Directions
Logging in to a Chromebook
- When the Chromebook starts up, you will see either the profiles for people who have used the device before you or a pop-up asking you to sign in to MGuest for wireless. Close out of the pop-up window by clicking the X in the top right-hand corner. Do not use MGuest.
- When prompted, select “MWireless” for your connection. If you are not prompted to do so, look in the bottom right hand corner of the screen for the wireless connectivity icon. Click on the icon to bring up your wireless connection options.
- Once you’ve selected MWireless, you will be prompted to fill in details about your profile. Select PEAP for “EAP method.” Leave all other options as defaults.
- For Identity and Password, enter your uniqname and password.
- Make sure that “Share this identity and password” is NOT selected. If it is, this will keep your uniqname and password for all subsequent sign-ins to MWireless by any user.
- Once you’ve signed in to MWireless, the Chromebook will prompt you to login with your U-M email and password. Sign in with your full email address: uniqname@umich.edu. You will then be logged into the Chromebook.
Signing out of a Chromebook
- To sign out, click on your icon at the bottom right-hand side of the screen. From there, select “Sign out.”
- The screen will turn black briefly and then return to the home screen. Once the Chromebook returns to the home screen, you can select the “Shutdown” button on the left-hand side of the screen. Please ensure that the Chromebook is fully shut down before you return it.
External resources
Printing — On a Chromebook printing is done through Google Cloud Print. Unfortunately, this is not available in the U-M wireless environment, so printing from a Chromebook on the U-M campus is generally very limited. One option is using the MPrint web interface in order to print Google Docs, or documents from your Dropbox account. To print using MPrint, go to https://mprint.umich.edu/ and follow the instructions on that page. Please be aware that printing options are limited.
VPN — For getting the UMich VPN to work on the Chromebook, please add this extension for the Cisco AnyConnect client. Once added, it'll show up as an extension icon in Chrome. After adding it as an extension, click on the icon in Chrome and choose, "Add New Connection". You want to use your uniqname and Kerberos password with this server address: umvpn.umnet.umich.edu