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--- services:remotelab [2020/04/19 14:00] – jas
+++ services:remotelab [2022/05/16 14:28] (current) – jas
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== EECS Remote Lab ======
+====== Remote Lab (EECS) ======
-The EECS Remote Lab allows you to connect to EECS lab workstations from within your web browser.  It is clientless as no plugins or client software are required.  It uses a product called [[https://guacamole.apache.org|Apache Guacamole]].
+The EECS Remote Lab service allows you to connect to EECS lab workstations from within your web browser.  It is clientless - no plugins or client software are required.  It uses a product called [[https://guacamole.apache.org|Apache Guacamole]].
 Visit the EECS Remote Lab here: https://remotelab.eecs.yorku.ca
-Login to the Remote Lab using your EECS credentials. If you are enrolled in a first year EECS course that requires the use of the Remote Lab **in the current term**, you will be able to login using your Passport York username with your student number as password.
+Login to the Remote Lab using your EECS credentials. If you are a student presently enrolled in an EECS course and do not have an EECS account, please create your account here:  https://webapp.eecs.yorku.ca/activ8
-Not all EECS users have access to the Remote Lab.  For example, students will only have access to machines relevant to the courses for which they are enrolled.
+**If you enter an invalid password 5 times, your account will be banned from the system for half an hour.**  If you have forgotten your password, please use Activ8 to reset it.
-Any problems or questions using the Remote Lab should be directed to the EECS Technical Support team - tech@eecs.yorku.ca.
+Not all EECS users will have access to all labs in Remote Lab.  Students will only have access to machines relevant to the courses for which they are enrolled.
-**NOTE:** This system is presently under testing.  Only a small set of accounts has access to any resources.
+Any problems or questions using the Remote Lab should be directed to the EECS Technical Support team - tech@eecs.yorku.ca.  Please also check the [[https://wiki.eecs.yorku.ca/dept/tdb/login:remotelabs-tips:start|FAQ]].
+====== Supported Hardware ======
+The EECS Technical Support Team has tested Remote Lab on a wide variety of Desktops and Laptops running Windows, MacOS X, and Linux with the latest version of [[https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/|Mozilla Firefox]] web browser.  While Remote Lab is likely to function perfectly fine with other operating systems, web browsers, and even mobile devices including phones and tablets, the tech team cannot provide support for those devices.  Information in this documentation for mobile devices is there for informational purposes only.
 ====== Home Screen ======
-Once you have successfully logged in to the Remote Lab, you will be taken to either the Guacamole home screen, where all available connections are listed, or directly to a connection, if you only have access to one connection.
+Once you have successfully logged in to the Remote Lab, you will be taken to the home screen, where all available connections that you can access are listed. You will see thumbnails of any recently used or active connections. If you have access to a large number of connections and wish to quickly locate a specific connection, you can enter search terms within the "Filter" field to filter the list of connections by name.
-The home screen will contain a list of all connections to which you have access, along with thumbnails of any recently used or active connections. If you have access to a large number of connections and wish to quickly locate a specific connection, you can also enter search terms within the "Filter" field to filter the list of connections by name.
+Click on the "+" beside a connection group to see the list of machines available in that group.  Click a machine, and it will open up that connection in the current web browser tab.  You can open up multiple browser tabs with one connection in each.  Note that you will only be permitted to open one connection from each connection group.
-Clicking on any connection will open that connection within the current window or tab, but multiple connections can be used simultaneously. You can easily navigate back to the "Home" screen without disconnecting by using your browsers back button or the "Home" button in the
+You can easily navigate back to the "Home" screen without disconnecting from your session by using your browsers back button or the "Home" button in the
-[[services:remotelab#the_guacamole_menu|Guacamole Menu]].  Each connection you open will remain active until you logout, or have been idle for 1 hour.  If you need to disconnect temporarily, or your computer crashes or loses power, you will be able to log back in and access your session.  Active connections can be seen as thumbnails updating in real-time on the home screen.
+[[services:remotelab#the_guacamole_menu|Guacamole Menu]].  Each connection you open will remain active until you logout, or have been idle for one hour.  If you need to disconnect temporarily, or your computer crashes or there's a quick power failure, you will be able to log back in and reconnect to your session within five minutes. After that, your session will be terminated.
 ===== EECS Connections =====
-If you to login to the Remote Lab as a first year student, you should immediately get a connection to a Linux machine.  Since you don't have an EECS account, you will be logged into the machine as user "user" just like you'd do in the computer lab.  Remember that once you logout of this session, all files in the home directory will be cleared.
+Once you login to Remote Lab, you will see the list of connection groups to which you've been granted access.  Each connection group contains many workstations.  Some of the connection groups you may see include:
+^ Connection Group ^ O/S ^ Users Allowed per Workstation ^
+| Remote Desktop (EDU) (crimson) | Linux | 50 |
+| Remote Desktop (EDU) (ea) | Linux | 2 |
+| Remote Desktop (EDU) (red1) | Linux | 10 |
+| Remote Desktop (EDU) (rl) | Linux | 2 |
+| Remote Desktop (RES) (indigo1) | Linux | 10 |
+| SSH (EDU) (Command Line ONLY - No GUI] | Linux | n/a |
+| SSH (RES) (Command Line ONLY - No GUI] | Linux | n/a |
+Click the "+" beside the connection group to open up a list of workstations in the group.  Select a workstation to login.  If available, try to select a workstation that is not in use. Workstations in use will show a message like "Currently in use by 1 user" in the workstation list.  Some workstations support multiple simultaneous users, while most support only a few users at a time.
-If you are any other user, you will see zero or more of the following connections:
+There are four different workstation types:
-  * Connect by SSH (Faculty, Grad, Staff) [Command Line ONLY - No GUI]: Select this connection for SSH access to indigo and indigo1.
+  * Linux: These hosts run our Departmental Linux configuration.  You will be logged into the machine as the user for which you logged into Remotelab.
-  * Connect by SSH (Undergrad) [Command Line ONLY - No GUI]:  Select this connection for SSH access to red, red1, and red2.
+  * Linux USER: These hosts also run Linux.  However, you will be logged in as user "user" with a custom home directory.  Any changes you make to the home directory will be deleted when you logout.  These machines are reserved mostly for first year courses.
-  * Linux Host: Select this connection for a Linux lab host. This is a standard lab workstation.
+  * Windows ONLY: These hosts run our Departmental Windows 10 configuration.
-  * Linux Host (User): Select this connection to be connected to a Linux host as user "user".  This is the environment for first year courses.  Any changes you make to the home directory will be cleared when you logout.
+  * Dualboot: These hosts can run both Linux and Windows.  In order to switch the O/S follow these steps:
-  * Windows Host: This is a standard Windows Host.
+    * To switch from Linux >> Windows: Click on "Activities" in the top left corner of the screen, then type "Win" in the "Search field", then click on "Switch to Windows".  Alternatively, you can open a new terminal by right-clicking the desktop, and selecting "Open Terminal", then typing the "towin" command.
+    * To switch from Windows >> Linux: Open up the "Shortcuts" folder on the desktop, and double click "Switch to Linux".
+  * Please note that switching the OS of the machine will require a machine reboot.  You will be disconnected from the remote session during this reboot, but you may reconnect afterwards.
+  * In some lab bookings, the ability to switch between operating systems may be disabled.
 A few additional notes:
-  * SSH options are command line only.  They are there for your convenience.  You cannot run graphical applications there.
+  * When connecting to a host, there can be a delay of up to 30 seconds.  Please be patient.
-  * In everything but "Linux (user)" you will be logged into the system using your EECS credentials.
+  * Host connections left idle for 60 minutes will be automatically logged out without warning.  Any unsaved changes will be lost.
-  * When connecting to a remote Linux host, there is a delay which can be 30 seconds or more.  Please be patient.
+  * Disconnected sessions will be terminated after 10 minutes.  Any unsaved changed will be lost.
-  * You can only choose a connection pool (eg. "Linux"), and not the specific machine in that pool to connect.
+  * Remote lab relies on a stable network connection between your PC and the Remotelab server.
-  * Host connections left idle for an hour will be automatically logged out without warning.
-  * There is a limit of 1 connection per user per connection pool.
 ===== User Menu =====
@@ Line 63: / Line 79: @@
 The Guacamole menu provides options for:
+  * Selecting an alternate host
   * Navigating back to the home screen
   * Reading from (and writing to) the clipboard of the remote desktop