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Logging on with Pre-Logon Access Provider for Windows Vista

Release 10.01 provides the Pre-Logon Access Provider (PLAP). A PLAP is a credential provider that allows you to make a network connection before logging on to your PC.

You cannot use the Prelogon Access Provider (PLAP) functionality in conjunction with digital certificate authentication. For PLAP to work with digital certificates you require a smartcard but PLAP does not work with smartcards. When you attempt to make a connection, the error message Failed to connect to following reason: Authentication failure appears. You can use digital certificates, including those used with smartcards, for VPN authentication but not with PLAP.

To ensure security, PLAP does not support PreLaunch and PostLaunch applications and users cannot configure profiles or other NVC settings from PLAP.

You must install PLAP before logging on Windows with PLAP. You must select Global Profile when configuring an Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) profile to enable PLAP.

For more information on configuring profiles, see  Creating an IPSec profile using Manage Profles and  Creating a SSL profile using Manage Profles.

Log on the NVC with PLAP by performing the following procedure:

  1. Log on to your PC by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del to initiate the logon process. A logon window appears.
  2. The Ctrl+Alt+Del keystroke sequence is called a Secure Attention Sequence (SAS). An administrator can enable or disable the SAS.

  3. Click Switch User to return to the main logon window.
  4. Click the PLAP icon in the lower right-hand corner of the Nortel VPN Client window. One of the following windows appears:
    1. If a tunnel is not connected, the Establish a VPN Connection window appears. Go to step 4.
    2. If a tunnel is connected, the VPN Tunnel is up already window appears. Go to step 5.
  5. If there is not an established tunnel and you are at the Establish a VPN Connection window, perform the following:
    1. Click the submit button (arrow) following Establish a VPN Connection. The window displays the message NVC is starting up, please wait. This may take a few minutes then changes to NvcGUI is still running. Waiting for it to finish up. The Connection window appears.
    2. The first time that you are attempting to launch NVC after a restart you can experience a 20 second or less delay in launching. But you can wait up until 3 minutes. If the NVC PLAP does not connect before 3 minutes, a message stating NvcGui didn't respond. Please try again later appears. You are then returned to the Establish a VPN Connection window.

      Subsequent successful connections reduce the wait time after each attempt when establishing a connection.

    3. Select a preconfigured global profile from the VPN Connection list.
    4. Type a password in the Password field if it is not saved, and then click Connect. The Connect status dialog window appears. The message VPN Tunnel has been established by NVC appears on the window and then the main logon window appears.
    5. To ensure security, you cannot change the profile, make configurations, or other changes in the pre-logon stage.

    6. Log on to your PC.
    7. You can click Disconnect beside the PLAP icon to disconnect the VPN connection as well as all other connections brought up by PLAP.

  6. If there is an established tunnel and you are at the VPN Tunnel is up already window, perform the following:
    1. Click the submit button (arrow) following VPN Tunnel is up already. The main logon window appears.
    2. Log on to your PC.
    3. You can click Disconnect beside the PLAP icon to disconnect the VPN connection as well as all other connections brought up by PLAP.


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