Virtual Desktop

The compute server uses a VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) to instantiate virtual clones of the linux machine each time a user logs in.

Table of content

Accessing the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

The CBS server uses VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure to provide virtual machines:

  1. Navigate to: https://vdi.robarts.ca
  2. Download and install the Omnissa Horizon Client (previously VMware Horizon Client): https://customerconnect.omnissa.com/downloads/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/omnissa_horizon_clients/8
  3. Launch the Omnissa Horizon Client software and set up a new connection server
  4. Use vdi.robarts.ca as the connection server address
  5. Log in with your full UWO email address (e.g., username@uwo.ca) and your UWO password
  6. Use the same credentials to log into the Ubuntu virtual machine

Important: If you were previously connected to vsecurity.robarts.ca, you must delete the old connection and add a new one pointing to vdi.robarts.ca.

Managing your session

  • Disconnecting: If you need to keep your virtual machine running (e.g., active processes), quit the Omnissa Horizon application or select "Disconnect" from the Connection menu. Your session will remain active and you can reconnect later
  • Screen locking: If your screen locks due to inactivity, you can unlock it to continue your session and refresh your authentication ticket
  • Shutting down: If you have no active processes, be considerate of shared resources and shut down your virtual machine by selecting "Log Out" from your Ubuntu account menu or the Omnissa Horizon Connection menu

logout

Important: Session behavior depends on how you exit:

  • Closing the Horizon client window: This will terminate your VDI session
  • Disconnecting properly: Your session continues running and can be resumed
  • Screen lock: Session remains active and can be unlocked to continue

Note: While there is no formal policy, the CBS server administrators reserve the right to shut down virtual machines that have been left running but otherwise idle for a significant length of time. Current guidelines will shutdown CBS Basic machines after about 15-30 minutes of inactivity. CBS Heavy machines will be shutdown after 24 hours of inactivity. Leaving an idle virtual machine running takes resources away from other users.

Password management

You use your existing Western University credentials to access the CBS server. Password changes are managed through Western University's standard password change procedures, not through the CBS server directly.

Authentication tickets and session management

The CBS server uses Kerberos authentication tickets from UWO that have specific lifespans:

  • Ticket lifespan: 10 hours with automatic renewal
  • Maximum renewal period: 7 days
  • Automatic renewal: Tickets are automatically renewed approximately every 7 hours
  • Ticket reset: New tickets are generated when you log in or unlock your console, resetting the 7-day renewal window

Important: After 7 days of continuous use, you will need to log out and log back in (or unlock your screen if it's locked) to generate a new authentication ticket. This prevents loss of access to mounted storage during long-running sessions.

Storage on the VDI

Please refer to this page or our wiki.

Software on the VDI

The VDI system is running Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS, with a variety of software pre-installed. For those that have not used Ubuntu before, please see Ubuntu Getting Started. Some software is accessible through the application launcher, but most is available through the command-line, via the Terminal application.

Users of the VDI do not have admin (sudo) access to install software directly onto the VDI system, but can either install software into a folder they can access (home directory or /cifs/<pi_last_name>), or make a software install request by contacting support-cbs-server@uwo.ca.

Environment modules

Most software, wherever possible, will be installed into the /srv/software NFS share, and can be added or removed from each user's environment using the module command.

To show the modules installed: module list

To unload all modules: module purge

To list the available modules: module avail

To load a module: module load matlab

To load a specific version: module load matlab/2024b

To get more extensive help on module: module

User-specific or group-specific module files can also be created, please see the lmod documentation or contact support-cbs-server@uwo.ca for help.

Using Python on the VDI

Python3 and virtualenv is installed on the server. You can also use Microsoft VS Code (available in launcher), or Pycharm Educational (available as a module), to manage your environment.

Instructions for setting up virtualenv:

virtualenv ~/myenv
source ~/myenv/bin/activate
pip install ...

Use of Anaconda is discouraged since it does not work well in multi-user environments. If you want your own conda environment, you can install miniconda in your home directory:

Instructions for local install of miniconda:

wget https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
sh ./Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh
conda init

Now after logging out and back in, or source ~/.bashrc, you can conda install ... or pip install ... into your base conda environment

Software install requests

Please e-mail support-cbs-server@uwo.ca for software install requests.