{"id":104,"date":"2019-09-04T09:39:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T08:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/?page_id=104"},"modified":"2025-10-29T14:54:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:54:29","slug":"rvds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/general-usage\/rvds\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Virtual Desktop Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Estimated Time to Complete:<\/strong> 15 minutes<\/p>\n<h2>Overview<\/h2>\n<p>The Research Virtual Desktop Service (RVDS) is the recommended method for connecting to the iCSF\/CSF and other platforms within the CIR ecosystem. Using the RVDS will allow you to login to the various CIR platforms via a GUI-based session from anywhere in the world. In addition it allows to login from one location, suspend, then reconnect to the same session from another location.<\/p>\n<p>This Tutorial will show how to create a session in X2go and then connect to the Interactive Computational Shared Facilty (iCSF) via the Research Virtual Desktop Service.<\/p>\n<h2>Requirements<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>X2go Client &#8211; version \u2265 4.1.1.1<\/li>\n<li>UoM 2FA Device<\/li>\n<li>Virtual Desktop Account<\/li>\n<li>CSF\/iCSF Account<\/li>\n<li>Some basic command line knowledge<\/li>\n<li>If Off-Campus you will need to be connected to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/ourservices\/popular\/vpn\/\">UoM VPN<\/a> (Global Protect) with 2FA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Further information and instructions for other operating systems can be found by following this link. <a href=\"http:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/virtual-desktop-service\/x2go\/\">http:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/virtual-desktop-service\/x2go\/<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Create a new Session<\/h2>\n<h4>Video<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/personalpages.manchester.ac.uk\/staff\/chris.grave\/tutorial\/rvds\/videos\/x2go_create_new_session.mp4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/personalpages.manchester.ac.uk\/staff\/chris.grave\/tutorial\/rvds\/images\/x2go_create_new_session.png\" alt=\"Video Create a New Session \" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" border=\"10\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"steps\">Steps<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>Open the X2go and from the Menu bar create and new session.\n<ul>\n<li><code>Session &gt; New Session<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>Session<\/strong> Tab enter the following in\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Session Name<\/strong>: <em>Enter<\/em> session name e.g. nyx7 virtual desktop<\/li>\n<li><strong>Host:<\/strong> Enter one of the following hosts\n<ul>\n<li><code>nyx5.itservices.manchester.ac.uk<\/code><\/li>\n<li><code>nyx6.itservices.manchester.ac.uk<\/code><\/li>\n<li><code>nyx7.itservices.manchester.ac.uk<\/code><br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Please note<\/strong>: These hosts provide the virtual desktop they are shared by many users at any one time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Login:<\/strong> <em>Enter<\/em> your <code>central username<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>SSH port:<\/strong> <code>22<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Session type:<\/strong> <em>Select<\/em> <code>MATE<\/code> from the drop down list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>Connection<\/strong> tab depending on your connection speed select one of the following:\n<ul>\n<li><code>ADSL<\/code> if connecting from home<\/li>\n<li><code>LAN<\/code> if connecting from on-campus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Under the <strong>Input\/Output<\/strong> tab <em>SET<\/em> the following options\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Display:<\/strong> <code>Custom<\/code> &#8211; Width <code>800<\/code> Height <code>600<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Clipboard Mode:<\/strong> <code>Bidirectional Copy and Paste<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Keyboard:<\/strong> <code>Auto detect Keyboard Settings<\/code><br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Please Note:<\/strong> Allowing X2GO to automatically choose the keyboard settings is usually the best option. If it can\u2019t detect your keyboard settings then keys may behave incorrectly (e.g., cursor keys don\u2019t work or some characters such as @ and \u201d are the wrong way round.) In this case, choose Configure Keyboard and change the Keyboard settings to match your own hardware. Note that for British English keyboards specify gb (rather than uk). Try using pc105 for the model and gb for the layout. Variant is usually left blank.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Under the <strong>Media<\/strong> tab <em>UNCHECK<\/em> the following options\n<ul>\n<li>Enable Sound Support<\/li>\n<li>Client Side Printing Support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In order to save the session SELECT <code>OK<\/code> at the bottom of the window<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Start Session<\/h2>\n<h4>Video<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/personalpages.manchester.ac.uk\/staff\/chris.grave\/tutorial\/rvds\/videos\/x2go_start_session.mp4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/personalpages.manchester.ac.uk\/staff\/chris.grave\/tutorial\/rvds\/images\/x2go_start_session.png\" alt=\"Video Create a New Session \" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" border=\"10\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"steps-1\">Steps<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>In order to start the session SELECT the <em>&#8216;Baby Seal&#8217;<\/em> icon .<\/li>\n<li>When prompted ENTER your central username and password<\/li>\n<li><strong>On-Campus<\/strong> &#8211; If you use the Duo mobile app as your 2FA device, Enter &#8216;1&#8217; at the prompt and press Enter. Once the push notification has been received via the Duo mobile app &#8216;Approve&#8217; the request in order to log on.\n<p><strong>or<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you use a Duo fob as your 2FA device, generate a passcode with the fob, type the passcode at the prompt and press Enter<\/li>\n<p>        <strong>Off-Campus<\/strong> &#8211; If logging in from off-campus you will first need to be connected to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/vpn\">University VPN (GlobalProtect) with 2FA<\/a><\/p>\n<li>If you see the following pop up &#8216;Host key verification failed&#8217; SELECT <code>Yes<\/code><\/li>\n<li>It may take a moment to load the desktop once the desktop is loaded from the MENU bar open the Terminal Application\n<ul>\n<li><code>Applications &gt; System Tools &gt; Terminal  (MATE Terminal)<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>This should open a separate window with a white background. This is the command line at the prompt $ ENTER the following\n<ul>\n<li><code>$ ssh -X &#x75;&#x73;&#x65;&#x72;&#x6e;&#97;&#109;&#101;&#64;inc&#x6c;&#x69;&#x6e;&#x65;&#x32;&#x35;&#54;&#46;&#105;tse&#x72;&#x76;&#x69;&#x63;&#x65;&#x73;&#46;&#109;&#97;&#110;che&#x73;&#x74;&#x65;&#x72;&#x2e;&#x61;&#99;&#46;&#117;k<\/code><br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Please note<\/strong>: In this example we are connecting to the iCSF(incline) you may want to connect to a different platform such as the CSF or the RDS-SSH gateway please replace hostname accordingly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Next Steps<\/h2>\n<p>You should now be able to create a new session within X2go, connect to the virtual desktop service and subsequently connect to the various Research IT computational platforms.<\/p>\n<p>If you experienced any problems or require further support then please contact us via our <a href=\"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/hpc-help\">help form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Further Reading<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/virtual-desktop-service\/x2go\/\">Virtual Desktop Service<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.x2go.org\/doku.php\">X2go Main Page<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Feedback<\/h2>\n<noscript class=\"ninja-forms-noscript-message\">\n\tNotice: JavaScript is required for this content.<\/noscript>\n<div id=\"nf-form-2-cont\" class=\"nf-form-cont\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-labelledby=\"nf-form-title-2\" aria-describedby=\"nf-form-errors-2\" role=\"form\">\n\n    <div class=\"nf-loading-spinner\"><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n        <!-- TODO: Move to Template File. -->\n        <script>var formDisplay=1;var nfForms=nfForms||[];var form=[];form.id='2';form.settings={\"objectType\":\"Form Setting\",\"editActive\":\"1\",\"title\":\"Feedback\",\"created_at\":\"2019-08-02 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Time to Complete: 15 minutes Overview The Research Virtual Desktop Service (RVDS) is the recommended method for connecting to the iCSF\/CSF and other platforms within the CIR ecosystem. Using the RVDS will allow you to login to the various CIR platforms via a GUI-based session from anywhere in the world. In addition it allows to login from one location, suspend, then reconnect to the same session from another location. This Tutorial will show how.. <a href=\"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/general-usage\/rvds\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":70,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-tutorial.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-104","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":544,"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104\/revisions\/544"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ri.itservices.manchester.ac.uk\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}