REMOTE DIRECT ACCESS WILL FINISH SOON
With the return to on-campus teaching our remote direct access feature will be switched off
You will still be able to use the lightweight VDI for remote plotting but for the heavier applications there will no longer be a service to dial in to our machines here (since they will be needed for physical access)
We will soon be implementing another route to accessing all apps at home via Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.
The machines in the School that have been cordoned off for social distancing reasons have instead been made available to access directly from your machine at home. In this situation you take over the machine and have access to the power and software resources on it from your own Mac, PC or Chromebook – with the hard work being carried out by the Uni machine rather than your own machine – which is just a conduit to it.
To set yourself up for direct access you should first download and install the client software for your Mac, PC or Chromebook (the following example shows procedure for Mac).
NOTE: In April / May the remote machine will disconnect you if you leave it idle for 10 hours. This is up from the usual 2 hour disconnect time. If you leave a render going then you can reconnect with 10 hours and it will still be logged in.
Installation
Visit : studentdesktop.gre.ac.uk and click the link for Install VMware Horizon Client (use this link, not via Microsoft Store)
You will see a list of the clients for different platforms; choose Go To Downloads next to your machine platform and Download Now to get the installer.
The process for installing VMware varies according to device but for a Mac you would just drag it across to your Applications folder then launch it from there.
Connect to a Uni Machine
Create a new connection to the Uni with the address studentdesktop.gre.ac.uk and hit Connect
And then login with your Uni id in the format ab1234c@gre.ac.uk
You will then see two “pools” which represent the remote machines in the first floor computer area:
GM-DST : these are the machines in the first floor studios.
You can plot from these machines and they include ArcGIS / NetFabGM-L2001 : this is the teaching lab on the second floor.
If a class requires the remote machines you may be logged off.
ArcGIS / NetFab is NOT installed in 2001.
Double click to choose the pool you want to take a machine from and you will be logged in and connected to it.
It is worth trying this out so you can become accustomed to the setup – it can be a little disorientating at first having Windows in a window and hopping between your own OS (the host) and the remote one.
Notes
You cannot use USB devices directly through the remote access – but you can use your Uni OneDrive space to transfer files.
You cannot copy and past between the host and the remote OS
When you join the pool you will be allocated an available machine at random – there is no way to choose a particular machine
You can find out which machine you have – and the hardware it us running – by pressing the Windows key and typing MSINFO followed by enter
These machines will be available any time – but 2001 may sometimes need them for timetabled classes.
If you leave the machine for two hours it will automatically log you out.
If you don’t explicitly log out of the Windows session and instead just quit VMware you are still logged in (for two hours)
Please logout / signout from the remote machine rather than quitting the VMware application – otherwise you are tying that machine up for another two hours